I'm a disaster in the garden :-(
By donna1
8 comments
Hi guys, I’m Donna from Ongar in Essex, I have a few veggie beds in my back garden plus a greenhouse,I’m a complete disaster in the garden dept so I hope I can learn how to be a better gardener with your help
I planted loads of stuff early this year but it’s all gone pete tong! I had a nice batch of peas but now they have all gone brown and crispy, my beetroots have grown to the size of swedes, lettuces look like weeds, spuds all spindly with the odd leaf, broad beans look ropey and being munched, I have managed to grow 1 leek he seems fine at the moment, my onions and garlic have all been eaten by what I have no idea my fruit trees look all sad and droopy did have blossom but all feel off. I have tomatoes outside and in the greenhouse they’ve all gone brown and the fruits on them are going patchy.
I have a nice crop of strawberry plants they look healthy as do my sweetcorn. I did spray everything a few months back when there was the abundance of slugs about but I used a veg and fruit spray!
Please help me sort out my mess of a garden
Donna xx
8 Aug, 2012
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Comments
I can't think of anything that happily munches on onions and garlic (apart from me) so maybe they rotted in your wet weather?
9 Aug, 2012
Oh Dear Donna, I had to laugh! I can empathise with you though. We all have disasters from time to time, you sound enthusiastic enough to bounce back from them though. Its all about trial and error. Im sure you will get lots of encouragement, as I have done from the good people here on goy. As Tuesdaybear says, it has been a bit of a bad year this year, put it down to experience and maybe it will be better next year. Welcome to Goy, hope you get as much out of it as I have.
9 Aug, 2012
My big mistake was not getting Organic Slug Bait.
I trusted soot, and the 5 weeks of rain washed it into the ground. We live and learn.
9 Aug, 2012
Thank you guys so I can put some blame on the weather.
Re my onions and garlic they were strong healthy shoots they seemed to of disappeared over night and there was no signs of being dug up it's baffled me.
Well I've dug up me peas, gonna clear all the toms tomorrow the thing is what do I plant now? any suggestions :-)
9 Aug, 2012
I think you should not plant too much at once
and I strongly suggest a trip to the library or bookshop.....I'd be lost without my books.
If you want to buy look at the 'expert 'range by D G Hessayon, they aren't too expensive,. have clear pictures and explainations even of pests and diseases(if you look on amazon you'll see what I mean)
Veg often have specific requirements and also need to be rotated a book will tell you what to do more or less step by step
The advice with veg, salad veg especially is to sow little and often, why not prepare a small patch and just sow a few lettuce and radish, then watch them like a hawk!
10 Aug, 2012
Thats good advice on the Hessayon books. They are really good for beginners, explain everything and also lots of pictures. I can remember using them when I first started gardening. Also watch Gardeners World on TV. Monty will tell you what to grow and when. Theres also a blog on the Gardeners World site. So there's really loads of information available. Keep us posted with what youre up to and maybe we can help some more.
10 Aug, 2012
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8 Aug, 2012
If it's fruit and veg gardening, I'm not your man, so-to-speak, but I can tell you that with this year's weather, even experienced gardeners have had a hard time as evidenced by Monty D. on GW. If you're new here, I can tell you that you will get lots of advice and encouragement from those who do know a thing or two. So, good luck!
8 Aug, 2012