Excuse me taking the easy way out and coming straight here.

Total beginner at growing anything and working with a garden that has been
neglected for years.
I've cleared the weeds and started work with a fork breaking up the very
hard earth.

I presume I need to break the earth up until it is quite fine. Not the big,
hard lumps I have at the moment. I'm guessing the next step will be mixing
in some kind of fertiliser before I plant.

Can anybody recommend a easy way of breaking up the soil because with the
fork it is still in big lumps. Secondly, what should I add before I start
planting. (Herbs are my first venture and they are in pots at the moment).

Regards

g'day periproct,

will raised beds work? no back breaking digging required.

http://www.lensgarden.com.au/straw_bale_garden.htm

On Wed, 14 Jul 2010 04:15:32 +0100, "Periproct"
wrote:
snipped
--

Matthew 25:13 KJV
"Watch therefore, for ye know neither
the day nor the hour wherein the Son
of man cometh"

Mark 13:33 "Take ye heed, watch and pray:
for ye know not when the time is".

len

With peace and brightest of blessings,

"Be Content With What You Have And
May You Find Serenity and Tranquillity In
A World That You May Not Understand."

http://www.lensgarden.com.au/

On 14/07/2010 04:15, Periproct wrote:
Excuse me taking the easy way out and coming straight here.

Total beginner at growing anything and working with a garden that has
been neglected for years.
I've cleared the weeds and started work with a fork breaking up the
very hard earth.

I presume I need to break the earth up until it is quite fine. Not the
big, hard lumps I have at the moment. I'm guessing the next step will
be mixing in some kind of fertiliser before I plant.

Can anybody recommend a easy way of breaking up the soil because with
the fork it is still in big lumps. Secondly, what should I add before
I start planting. (Herbs are my first venture and they are in pots at
the moment).

Regards
Old gardeners would plant potatoes in it for the first year, to break up
the soil and improve it for following years.
Don

"Periproct" wrote ...
Excuse me taking the easy way out and coming straight here.

Total beginner at growing anything and working with a garden that has been
neglected for years.
I've cleared the weeds and started work with a fork breaking up the very
hard earth.

I presume I need to break the earth up until it is quite fine. Not the
big, hard lumps I have at the moment. I'm guessing the next step will be
mixing in some kind of fertiliser before I plant.

Can anybody recommend a easy way of breaking up the soil because with the
fork it is still in big lumps. Secondly, what should I add before I start
planting. (Herbs are my first venture and they are in pots at the moment).

Depends on your soil type, after 5 years on our new allotment the ground
still packs down to concrete with heavy rain. Digging spuds yesterday I had
clods too big to lift because it's now dried out. We need the ground to have
just the right amount of moisture before it will break up and even then it
won't turn into a fine tilth even using a rotovator and copious amounts of
manure over the years.

Herbs come mainly from the Med area so want sun, good drainage and not much
fertilizer, I would not use any especially as the ground has been fallow for
some time.

--
Regards
Bob Hobden
W.of London. UK

In message , Periproct
writes
Excuse me taking the easy way out and coming straight here.

Total beginner at growing anything and working with a garden that has
been neglected for years.
I've cleared the weeds and started work with a fork breaking up the
very hard earth.

I presume I need to break the earth up until it is quite fine. Not the
big, hard lumps I have at the moment. I'm guessing the next step will
be mixing in some kind of fertiliser before I plant.

Can anybody recommend a easy way of breaking up the soil because with
the fork it is still in big lumps. Secondly, what should I add before I
start planting. (Herbs are my first venture and they are in pots at the
moment).

Regards

I think one of the first things to do would be to hire a rotovator from
your local hire shop. Also, early on, I'd take a soil sample and test it
(cheap DIY Test Kits available at any decent garden centre ... possibly
Wilkinsons etc. too). This will tell you what type of soil you have ....
certain plants prefer soil of a particular type; acid or alkaline (most
vegetables are not too fussy). One good, productive way to break up the
soil is to plant spuds, but it may be rather late this year.

Good luck; this group is usually very helpful to gardeners who are
beginners. HTH.

--
Gopher .... I know my place!

"Donwill" wrote in message
...
On 14/07/2010 04:15, Periproct wrote:
Excuse me taking the easy way out and coming straight here.

Total beginner at growing anything and working with a garden that has
been neglected for years.
I've cleared the weeds and started work with a fork breaking up the very
hard earth.

I presume I need to break the earth up until it is quite fine. Not the
big, hard lumps I have at the moment. I'm guessing the next step will be
mixing in some kind of fertiliser before I plant.

Can anybody recommend a easy way of breaking up the soil because with the
fork it is still in big lumps. Secondly, what should I add before I start
planting. (Herbs are my first venture and they are in pots at the
moment).

Regards
Old gardeners would plant potatoes in it for the first year, to break up
the soil and improve it for following years.

It's not potatoes that break up/ clean up the soil, it's the digging and
earthing up involved with them.

Apart from herbs, what is planned for this garden?

Steve

"Periproct" wrote in message
...
Excuse me taking the easy way out and coming straight here.

Total beginner at growing anything and working with a garden that has been
neglected for years.
I've cleared the weeds and started work with a fork breaking up the very
hard earth.

I presume I need to break the earth up until it is quite fine. Not the
big, hard lumps I have at the moment. I'm guessing the next step will be
mixing in some kind of fertiliser before I plant.

Can anybody recommend a easy way of breaking up the soil because with the
fork it is still in big lumps. Secondly, what should I add before I start
planting. (Herbs are my first venture and they are in pots at the moment).

Regards

A driver who was lost asked a local how to get to a village a few miles
away. The local thought for a moment and replied "If I were you, I wouldn't
start from here."

And that's the advice I would give to you. Don't start now. Wait until
you've had some rain to soften the soil. If you have hard soil (and I
assume that means it has a high clay content) it will be backbreaking to
work it into something decent at this time of year. Don't think that a
rotavator will help - if the soil is baked hard and compacted it will simply
ride over it, and you will use more effort trying to keep it down and
cutting into the soil than you would use with a fork or spade! Also, if it
has been neglected for years it is possible that bricks, concrete lumps,
scrap metal, or other stuff may have been thrown out on it and lost just
beneath the surface. Your rotavator blades will not like these at all.

Once you can get into the soil relatively easily (probably around
mid-September) then you can add spent mushroom compost and mix that in using
the rotavator. Then it would be best to leave it over winter to allow
frosts to work on the soil and break it down further. If you are in a hurry
to get something in, then just plant what you want in a few square yards.
Maybe concentrate on breaking up this area of soil with a fork and spade,
mix in sharp sand and grit to increase the drainage, and then plant your
herbs.

Good luck!

--

Jeff

"gardenlen" wrote in message
news
g'day periproct,

will raised beds work? no back breaking digging required.

http://www.lensgarden.com.au/straw_bale_garden.htm

Thanks for the interesting link. I had a good browse.

"shazzbat" wrote in message
...

"Donwill" wrote in message
...
On 14/07/2010 04:15, Periproct wrote:
Excuse me taking the easy way out and coming straight here.

Total beginner at growing anything and working with a garden that has
been neglected for years.
I've cleared the weeds and started work with a fork breaking up the very
hard earth.

I presume I need to break the earth up until it is quite fine. Not the
big, hard lumps I have at the moment. I'm guessing the next step will be
mixing in some kind of fertiliser before I plant.

Can anybody recommend a easy way of breaking up the soil because with
the fork it is still in big lumps. Secondly, what should I add before I
start planting. (Herbs are my first venture and they are in pots at the
moment).

Regards
Old gardeners would plant potatoes in it for the first year, to break up
the soil and improve it for following years.

It's not potatoes that break up/ clean up the soil, it's the digging and
earthing up involved with them.

Apart from herbs, what is planned for this garden?

I had plans for vegetables as well but I'll have to get a book to find out
when I can plant what.
I've been told that sweetcorn is a totally different beast when freshly
picked compared to shop bought.

"Bob Hobden" wrote in message
...


"Periproct" wrote ...
Excuse me taking the easy way out and coming straight here.

Total beginner at growing anything and working with a garden that has
been neglected for years.
I've cleared the weeds and started work with a fork breaking up the very
hard earth.

I presume I need to break the earth up until it is quite fine. Not the
big, hard lumps I have at the moment. I'm guessing the next step will be
mixing in some kind of fertiliser before I plant.

Can anybody recommend a easy way of breaking up the soil because with the
fork it is still in big lumps. Secondly, what should I add before I start
planting. (Herbs are my first venture and they are in pots at the
moment).

Depends on your soil type, after 5 years on our new allotment the ground
still packs down to concrete with heavy rain. Digging spuds yesterday I
had clods too big to lift because it's now dried out. We need the ground
to have just the right amount of moisture before it will break up and even
then it won't turn into a fine tilth even using a rotovator and copious
amounts of manure over the years.

Herbs come mainly from the Med area so want sun, good drainage and not
much fertilizer, I would not use any especially as the ground has been
fallow for some time.

This doesn't sound promising. My little selection of herbs are thriving in
the conservatory but I haven't enough shelf space for them to stay there
much longer.

"Jeff Layman" wrote in message
...
"Periproct" wrote in message
...
Excuse me taking the easy way out and coming straight here.

Total beginner at growing anything and working with a garden that has
been neglected for years.
I've cleared the weeds and started work with a fork breaking up the very
hard earth.

I presume I need to break the earth up until it is quite fine. Not the
big, hard lumps I have at the moment. I'm guessing the next step will be
mixing in some kind of fertiliser before I plant.

Can anybody recommend a easy way of breaking up the soil because with the
fork it is still in big lumps. Secondly, what should I add before I start
planting. (Herbs are my first venture and they are in pots at the
moment).

Regards

A driver who was lost asked a local how to get to a village a few miles
away. The local thought for a moment and replied "If I were you, I
wouldn't start from here."

And that's the advice I would give to you. Don't start now. Wait until
you've had some rain to soften the soil. If you have hard soil (and I
assume that means it has a high clay content) it will be backbreaking to
work it into something decent at this time of year. Don't think that a
rotavator will help - if the soil is baked hard and compacted it will
simply ride over it, and you will use more effort trying to keep it down
and cutting into the soil than you would use with a fork or spade! Also,
if it has been neglected for years it is possible that bricks, concrete
lumps, scrap metal, or other stuff may have been thrown out on it and lost
just beneath the surface. Your rotavator blades will not like these at
all.

Once you can get into the soil relatively easily (probably around
mid-September) then you can add spent mushroom compost and mix that in
using the rotavator. Then it would be best to leave it over winter to
allow frosts to work on the soil and break it down further. If you are in
a hurry to get something in, then just plant what you want in a few square
yards. Maybe concentrate on breaking up this area of soil with a fork and
spade, mix in sharp sand and grit to increase the drainage, and then plant
your herbs.

Good luck!

Thanks for the advice. I'll concentrate on a small area and try and get my
herb collection out there before they overrun the conservatory.

There are quite a lot of strange things coming out of the ground.

Maybe next year there will be vegetables as well.

On Wed, 14 Jul 2010, Periproct wrote:

Herbs come mainly from the Med area so want sun, good drainage and
not much fertilizer, I would not use any especially as the ground has
been fallow for some time.

This doesn't sound promising. My little selection of herbs are thriving
in the conservatory but I haven't enough shelf space for them to stay
there much longer.

Don't be put off. There are plenty of herbs which don't need a
mediterranean climate. It's spices which are more difficult. You'll have
no problem with mint, chives, rosemary, bay, etc.

David

--
David Rance
writing from Le Mesnil Villement, Calvados, France

In article ,
David Rance wrote:
On Wed, 14 Jul 2010, Periproct wrote:

Herbs come mainly from the Med area so want sun, good drainage and
not much fertilizer, I would not use any especially as the ground has
been fallow for some time.

This doesn't sound promising. My little selection of herbs are thriving
in the conservatory but I haven't enough shelf space for them to stay
there much longer.

Don't be put off. There are plenty of herbs which don't need a
mediterranean climate. It's spices which are more difficult. You'll have
no problem with mint, chives, rosemary, bay, etc.

Er, not quite. The rec.gardens.edible herb FAQ is very useful, and
is NOT USA-biassed.

Rosemary and bay are Mediterranean plants, and get very unhappy if
the conditions are TOO different - i.e. too cold, wet and dark.
But all of the Mediterranean herbs commonly grown in the UK can
handle most UK conditions, though perhaps not those of the Highlands
and Islands! Some of them actually do better in pots that are left
outside, because the drainage is better. I can't keep rosemary
alive for very long, for example, even though my soil is well-
drained - it doesn't like the winters much - though it is easy to
layer and start new plants. Sage and thyme can have the same problem,
but sage grows better from seed.

Mint, chives, angelica, sweet cicely, lovage, horseradish and a few
others are northern plants and often don't handle Mediterranean
conditions at all well - mint is a waterside plant and hates being
dry.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.