"garden virgin" - wrote in message
...
Hello,

We are new to gardening, sorry if all of this sounds daff but...

1. We have a brand new composter, basically a green plastic bin with a lid
&
a removable base which we've installed in the back corner of our garden.
We
have lots of brown leaves from last autumn lying around the garden, should
we put these into the composter first then kitchen wastes like veg.
peelings? which would rot down first basically? and how long does it take
for it all to breakdown into compost? do i need to stir it from time to
time
or do i just leave it to do it's thang.

I would keep leaves seperate, they can go into a wire netting container, veg
peelings etc and all the rest can go in, will either break down by fungal
action to compost or if your heap ends up like mine it will be full of worms
which eat everything you put in and reduce it to soil. we find we empty ours
about once a year replacing the uneaten top back in the bottom of the MT
heap.


2. the garden wall looks sad & old, still solid though & not falling over
yet... i'm thinking of giving it a once over with a metal brush & patching
up any loose mortar, do i buy ready mixed cement/mortar from a DIY shop &
patch it up & paint it over after with masonry paint to protect it from
the
elements? it's already painted white but it looks like it was done many
years ago.


If you want to do the work yourself, use an old screw driver to rake out the
loose morter, repoint using your hands in a pair of washing up gloves (you
don't sound as if you would be skilled with a trowel!) remember to place a
clean board under where you are working to catch what you drop.
Its cheaper to buy sand and cement seperate but if its only a small area
then ready mix is probebly more convieniant.
You do not need to paint it except for cosmetic reasons.

3. we are going to put a wooden trellis on one side of the *repaired*
garden
wall once it's done. How do i fix/attach it to the garden wall? We are
going
to plant a rose for this trellis & from what i've seen, the trellis needs
to
be a few inches away from the wall.

Yes its a good idea to have an air gap, brick walls are easy enough to raw
plug into, I tend to put up tanalised battens first then the trellise.

--
Charlie, gardening in Cornwall.
http://www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of National Plant Collection of Clematis viticella (cvs)