On 16/03/2011 12:20, Jennings wrote:
Hi Guys,

My name is Jennings, I am 40-odd years old and I am a gardening noob. I
have never been interested in gardening. I have always seen it as the
dwelling place for the clinically dull.

However that changed when I recently moved into a new house. What
changed? Well either gardening became fascinating or I became dull.
Either way suits me.

The house has quite a large front garden and a medium sized back garden.
The back garden was a mess. Well...I mean, it was nicely designed - but
terribly overgrown.

I decided to do the bare minimum to make it look reasonable. I found
that with some effort clearing rotten wood and ivy there was a really
cool patio underneath. And I could improve the patio with some simple
'patio magic'. I pruned back some shrubs with crazy latin names, so they
weren't growing into each other. I soon learned about 'thinning cuts'
and 'bearing cuts' and soon people were saying - ooh your garden looks
better.

So now I enjoy my garden. Maybe I will get bored in the next few weeks -
or maybe I will stick with it. Who knows? But for now it is rewarding
and enoyable.

I really want to grow a topiary of some description - you know a little
tree in the shape of a ball (not everyone's cuppa, I know). I also want
my lawn to look nice (currently it is 20% moss!). I also want to make a
little patio down the side of the house - so I can use my main patio for
BBQs and not storing my huge collection of recycle bins and bags. In the
front I have a huge (30M squared rockery - what on earth do I put in
there!?) So much to do.

Anyway, I dont have any specific questions for you fellow dullards, but
I will lurk a little and learn what I can about the basics.

Thanks for reading,

Jennings

Nice to see another one joining the sad brigade!

Regarding your topiary question, most people start with a clipped Box
tree. These are usually not too expensive if bought fairly small. But
watch out for Box Blight, which will do any Box tree no good at all.
Further info (with alternatives to Box) he
http://apps.rhs.org.uk/advicesearch/profile.aspx?pid=96

You don't say how long you've been in your house or where it is. Now
you've tidied the garden up, wait to see what comes up this year.
That's particularly true of the rockery, where there may be many dormant
herbaceous plants and bulbs which will only appear during spring and summer.

If you find that you get interested in rock gardening (ie go up a notch
on the "boring" scale like many of us) you might want to see if there is
an Alpine Garden Society group nearby:
http://www.alpinegardensociety.net/g...-and-contacts/

--

Jeff