Ground Preparation
 

Hi all :)

Just a quick question. I'm wanting to tackle the (neglected) garden this year, but I'm not sure where to start. It is quite large, and I have several areas of full sun and others dappled from trees above.

The garden has gone completely haywire from previous owners, with part plant and mostly weed coverage where i want to work. I was going to remove everything that was there and start fresh, but do I need to do anything with the soil first? I wanted a patch for growing veg, nothing too big, just a few pieces, and more for flowers - seeds and bulbs. what should i do with the soil before i start? do i need to mix compost into it? when should i start? sorry if i sound stupid, but im a bit of a novice!

If anyone has any tips on how i can reduce pest infestation and disease please let me know! many thanks!

danny

Twisted Hazel
 

On Tue, 12 Feb 2008 19:01:35 +0000, danny22
wrote:


Hi all

I have just been bought a Twisted Hazel Tree from a colleague at work,
and I'm not so sure on how to take care of it! I can't put it in the
ground yet until I start on the garden. it is in a a 10inch pot and is
about 4 and a half foot tall, so i think the pot is too small. i know
they like partial sun, is there anything i need to know?

many thanks!

I'd put it in a bigger pot if it were mine, and keep it moist until it
can be planted.
They grow well, but you must watch out for any straight stems coming
from the base and cut them right off, otherwise they will take over as
they are more vigorous than the twisted stems.
Not very attractive in summer, as the leaves look twisted and sad, but
lovely in winter! I soon moved mine from my front garden as people
kept asking me if it was diseased!


Pam in Bristol

"Been there, done that, got the T shirt". My 'garden' consisted of pigsties, Nissen huts, brambles and over 800 linear feet of ivy. Contrast this with the opening page of my web site. The site describes the discovery and the work I've done since and the 'why'. There are step-by-step photo details of numerous projects within the garden.

First figure out where you want you to plant your veggies and work on cleaning up that area. If you attempt to do it all at once you'll get depressed. Yes compost is a good start, but maybe you should figure out what type of soil you have. A simple test is get some soil between your fingers then spit on the soil and mesh the soil between your fingers and if it is elastic it is clay based if it is granular it is sand based. Clay has alot of nutrients, it just needs to be broken up, and sand does not and composting would work in either case. If you want flowers grab some from your friends or neighbors before they start budding. Go to http://propagatingperennials.blogspot.com to get a heads up lesson on plant division and layering. Remember gardneing should be fun and not a chore.

Twisted Hazel
 

On Feb 13, 11:11*pm, Pam Moore wrote:

Not very attractive in summer, as the leaves look twisted and sad, but
lovely in winter! *I soon moved mine from my front garden as people
kept asking me if it was diseased!

Pam in Bristol

You could just kill it then it'd be like winter all year round.

Twisted Hazel
 

adder1969 writes
On Feb 13, 11:11*pm, Pam Moore wrote:

Not very attractive in summer, as the leaves look twisted and sad, but
lovely in winter! *I soon moved mine from my front garden as people
kept asking me if it was diseased!

Pam in Bristol

You could just kill it then it'd be like winter all year round.

If you knew the plant, you'd know that a great deal of its charm is the
abundant catkins on the bare stems.

--
Kay

Twisted Hazel
 

K says...
adder1969 writes
On Feb 13, 11:11*pm, Pam Moore wrote:

Not very attractive in summer, as the leaves look twisted and sad, but
lovely in winter! *I soon moved mine from my front garden as people
kept asking me if it was diseased!

Pam in Bristol

You could just kill it then it'd be like winter all year round.

If you knew the plant, you'd know that a great deal of its charm is the
abundant catkins on the bare stems.


I was looking at one today in the garden centre. It was a
mature specimen and looked lovely with all the yellow
catkins. Very expensive though. We left ours behind in
England when we moved to France. Wish I'd dug it up and
brought it with us now. Sigh :-(
--
David in Normandy.
To e-mail you must include the password FROG on the
subject line, or it will be automatically deleted.

Twisted Hazel
 

On Fri, 15 Feb 2008 03:10:43 -0800 (PST), adder1969
wrote:

On Feb 13, 11:11*pm, Pam Moore wrote:

Not very attractive in summer, as the leaves look twisted and sad, but
lovely in winter! *I soon moved mine from my front garden as people
kept asking me if it was diseased!

Pam in Bristol

You could just kill it then it'd be like winter all year round.

Thanks for the laugh. There aren't many plants you could say that
about!

Pam in Bristol