Killing off a website.

I'm so sorry it has come to an end Ian. I know it must be a big wrench to you to have to have ended your "baby". My best wishes, my friend.
Love Gilli x

There you are, Ian! I wondered where you'd been for the last couple of weeks. Sorry to hear your project came to an end. Hope all else is well? Be happy. :o))

What a shame Ian it was a canny site as well, although I never joined I used to have a look every now and again.(I dont feel confident enough to join smaller site's)....Hope you and your family are well is Holly looking forward to Halloween?:o)

Hi Gilli, Thank you so much for helping out in the beginning I'm very grateful and will always appreciate your input. It is a shame to end it but we had fun, didn't we?

Hi Nariz, I have been otherwise engaged for a while but I'm back now! Lol. Carol, Holly and I just keep plodding along and don't like complaining so we will be happy. ;~))

Mavis, Holly is so excited about Halloween we have had to tie a piece of string to her ankle to stop her from flying away! Lol. It is a shame about GF but all good things have to come to an end eventually and we all had a good time so it has to have been worth it!

Sorry to here its ended, but you still have us all here.

I did reply earlier to your email message, Ian. It's hard to let go of something that you've "reared" but you will feel a huge relief to not have the responsibility of running the site.

As I explained in my email...I spend so much time here on GOY that it's not always possible to get involved in a second website. I hope you'll stick with GOY and blog here for a long time yet. x

Hi Clarice, thank you, you and all my friends here is what makes turning the PC on worth while in the first place.

W'lass, I got your message and it was very much appreciated, thank you.
It is difficult to let things go but I am feeling a lot less stressed this morning.

I must have missed that you had a site Ian-- I struggle to keep up with Goy and couldn't have coped with another-- I realised lately that there are quite a few thing going on 'without me'! maybe now we're heading for winter I'll keep up!
I'm sorry it didn't work out for you but I'm sure a new project will soon come along foryou

wishing you, Carol, Holly, and that other special lady all the best wishes in the world. xx :o))

sorry to hear about your site ian... i didnt realise you ran one.... hope you will keep on here with good old g o y.......

Hi Ian so sorry you had to close it but 3 was getting a bit to much, like you said you read blogs on one then you'd see it again on another, do hope you will stay on this one.
All the very best to you Carol and Holly.....

Hya Ian, I too am sorry you had to close, I used to have a little peep now and again but it takes me more time that I have to keep up with GoY. !
My best wishes to you Carol and Holly.
Val x

hi ian and sorry about the site, i did join but being on here and other commitments i couldnt give it the time it deserved im sorry, but it always lovely to see you where-ever we meet, take care x

Hi Ian, I'm so sorry to hear this, what a sad day for you in putting your 'baby' to bed permanently.
I'm sure you have enough on your plate without all the hours you must have given over to running GF. Now you've made and carried out the decision I expect you'll feel a big load off your shoulders.
On the bright side I do hope this means we'll see more of you now on GOY, we've missed your presence and input in the last months :o)) Happy Halloween to all of you, especially Holly and watch out for more of those strange goings on! xx

I'm sorry that you had to make the difficult decision too, Ian. I know what hard work went into GF. I did try to pop in and contribute, as you know, but with other things going on in my life I couldn't 'give' as much as it needed. I'm sad to see it go, though. xxx

Hi Ian ...

As you know, I used to take peeps at Growing Forward,
just like Mavis and Valadel ...

I had your website saved on my Bookmarks Toolbar ...

... but other demands on my life don't allow me to get too involved in many websites ...

... not easy for you to decide to dismantle the site and then go through the process of deleting everything ...

Looking forward to seeing on you GoY from time to time ...

Have you put your Trommel video on GoY ?
I would love to see that again :o))) xxx

Thank you all, you have all been so kind and supportive over me closing down my site. I do appreciate it but when the time comes to do something I believe in not messing around and getting on with it.

I do still have my YouTube account and will still be making videos for the near future, so if anyone would like to check them out I have a link on my home page and I will add it to this blog. Please feel free to check out my channel page and leave a comment.

Again, thank you to everyone who took part in GF and to everyone who has left me such lovely messages.

Ian xx

Sorry I've tried to add a link to this blog but don't seem able to?

http://www.youtube.com/user/IanDigs

This link should work, Ian. It takes people to your most recent vlog. Hope that is helpful. x

Thanks W'lass, why didn't I think of that?

Don't answer that one! Lol

teamwork....more fun that way, Ian :)

;~))

I am sorry to hear that Ian ... you put a lot of precious time & effort into GF. I haven't had time lately for cuddling the cats leave alone anything computer orientated but I enjoyed my dips into your new venture & I know you must be sad to let it go.

What a shame ... it was a valiant effort Mr Digs & I enjoyed the quizzes last year ... that was a brilliant idea & good fun. I got all the answers right eh? Not!
I also liked the chatroom ... a new thing for me.

I've just watched your goodbye video & you look tired & down but you are right ... you have Carol & Holly to care for & your health to put first so if it was a decision you had to make then good for you & I wish you & the girls lots of love. xx

Aw thank you Fluff, I think we all enjoyed taking part in GF and yes it did take up a lot of time and energy (which I am now able to spend elsewhere)

We had lots of laughs over those quizzes didn't we, especially when the chat room decided to have a nervous breakdown half way through a session! Lol

If my memory serves me right you 'did' get all the questions right! {one eyebrow raised here. Lol}

When I made that video I think I had spent all night thinking about making the decision and I probably was looking tired and it wasn't an easy thing for me to do but now I feel much better about it and hopefully don't look so miserable. Lol.

Thank you again for your lovely wishes and I'll pass them on to Carol and Holly. xx

Never knew you had a gardening website, Ian! :-(( Shame I might have joined in as well! As it is I'm posting on 2 gardening sites, one dedicated to allotments, which I joined some months ago, & GoY.

I, like so many others, find GoY very addictive & spend more time on here than on any other website! :-)) Often there is so much to read & so many photos to view that I easily pass several hours on here! :-))

I enjoy the making of blogs on here but I often find it difficult to make a new one as there are always messages to read & posts to be made on other people's blogs!

That's so true Balcony, I used to spend hours and hours reading blogs and looking at photos but I had to limit myself! Lol

Hi Ian,
Have to say I feel exactly like Lily, I've missed the more fun and chatty side of GOY badly for a long time, it's got me down a bit. Expertise is a fine thing, but a laugh is even better!!! With winter coming again, and gardening-in-the-dark the only option in the week for daytime workers, we will be in sore need of more silliness to survive. Do hope you'll be able to chat and mess around more on here. : 0 )
Well done on the other project though - just goes to show what can be achieved with hard work. It's still very valuable you know, even if it was destined to be for a limited time.

I'm with you, Weeding, Lily and others who like a light-hearted approach, laughs and chat alongside the encouragement in my little garden project. Perhaps the winter months when our gardens are slumbering we'll all wake up to some fun :)

I'm all for anything or anyone who brings a bit of fun and laughter. There's enough seriousness in life without spending your free time immersed in it....at least as far as I'm concerned.

On that note, here is the joke of the day......
"A pilot landed a plane with a rather bumpy landing. As part of his job he was required to stand by the terminal door and say goodbye to the passengers as they exited the airplane. He was afraid that someone might say something about his rather less than perfect landing, but everyone left without saying a word except for one passenger, an elderly lady. She slowly approached the pilot after most passengers had exited the plane and asked, "Did we land? Or were we shot down?"

Thanks for the chuckle, Gilli :-)

Nice one Gilli....lol...:-))

Hee hee :o))

Sorry to rain on your parade - but you'll need to consider what you want from GoY carefully before you suggest that it 'lightens up'.

I find a chatty side already - I can and do laugh with other members now. Don't you? :-)

There is a real danger here, however, that if you want to weight it too far in that direction, people who take time and effort in posting 'gardening' blogs will feel that they can't, and the focus of this wonderful site will be lost.

Always need a balance, B....I do agree. I am happy with the ways we interact with one another on GOY and I've had some laughs (and tears too) in the short time I've been on the site. I wonder if over the winter months the site may go a bit quieter and some "fun" moments will erupt? Not been here long enough to know.

As long as people won't object to some light-hearted comments once in awhile I don't think the focus will be lost. I really have met through GOY some lovely folk and long may our friendly site continue...I'm going to need lots of advice once all this hard landscaping is underway :) My reason for joining was for gardening advice, ideas and encouragement and I've found that in abundance.

I'm really glad to hear that, Whl. I've found that the gardening focus does continue through the winter months, and so it should! I read that a gardener's year starts in November - guess who said that! :-)

That doesn't mean we can't have a laugh, though, and I hope that we'll always be able to chat and go off subject - which often happens, as you know !

Keep logging in - and all the reasons why you joined will still be here.

I've just sown seeds today in a plastic tub on my windowsill. It's years since I have grown any but it's delicious in sandwiches.....alfalfa sprouts!

I am really looking forward to seeing them sprout...and tasting them again after so many years....must be 40 yrs. at least! It'll be my first veggie crop! lol

How about mustard and cress next? LOL.

I have to say Spritz, that although I have been one of the biggest offenders when it comes to writing silly blogs I do agree with you. This site is such a unique and individual place that to spoil it now would be simply wrong.

As you know, I am "as", if not "more", guilty than anyone else when it comes to silliness but I do think we should keep it in context. I have written light hearted blogs that have been about gardening, which, in my opinion are OK, but I have also been known to write totally silly ones that have nothing at all to do with the garden and it's these that I have deleted recently and won't be repeating any time soon.

The comments, on the other hand, are the place to have a laugh and joke with each other and without them the site "would" become too dry to be popular any more. It's the community that gives GoY it's individuality and that community has to have it's fun.

Again, this is only my opinion and the last thing I want to do is upset anyone with it!

:~))

You haven't, Ian - well, not me, anyway! I agree with your comment. Let's try to keep it all in balance, and then everyone should be happy - I hope! :-)))

Nobody has had a guess who said about 'now being the start of the gardening year' yet.

Any takers?

I don't think there has been any lack of fun on GoY lately but there has been a lack of input from some of the 'older' members like Ian which is what I've missed. This is not meant to be disrespectful to newer members who are always welcome and some of them have made big contributions to the site. It's just that I've been missing some of my old friends. :o))

I'm sad that some have 'gone missing' since the make-over. I hope they come back!

Me too Spritz! You've got me puzzled, no ideas I'm afraid.
You're right that the balance can go too far in the fun direction but I think GoY has managed to maintain that balance overall with maybe the occasional "wobble".
There's nothing wrong with your blogs Ian, you usually have a good balance of gardening content written in a lighthearted way, so more of them please!

OK Lily, I get the message! Lol.
I haven't done anything at all in the garden just lately (and by that I mean the last couple of months!) so I will get out there and do something just so I can write about it for you! ! ! Lol.

There will, of course, be plenty to write about come the spring when I've got everything turned over and ready to plant, seed and organise!

I guess I should get some of my ideas down on paper or something. Does anyone know how to do this, and more importantly can you explain it so a five year old can understand it? Lol

I feel a bit like you too, Ian. I've got a notebook with loads of names of plants/shrubs that I have liked from GOYers gardens...and of course layouts of their gardens. But then the confusion sets in!

You were going to have some help from the local council to prepare your garden I thought? Is that not happening now?

At least we've got the winter to get those plans started in writing/drawing or whatever is recommended. Good luck with your efforts, Ian. :)

Hi W'lass, I'm still hoping the probation service are going to get in touch and come and sort it all out for me!

I know a lot of plants that I want in my garden but I have no idea how or where to plant them.

No probs, Ian and Whl.

Draw a large outline of the garden. Mark in any existing trees/shrubs - circles of varying sizes are best for this. Also existing hard landscaping if there is any and if it's staying.

VITAL. You need to know what soil you have - acid or neutral or alkaline. You can get a test kit from a GC very cheaply.

Then take a look at the real thing outside and think where any beds would look best according to the position needed. E.G. Ian wants a veggie patch, so he needs a sunny place. Mark that on your plan, about the right size...measure if you can.

Then add in flower beds, trellises, whatever you think you'll want out there, but only the shapes. You can cut pieces of paper the right shape and play around arranging them on your plan. Add in a lawn if you want one, and its shape - please think away from rectangles!!!! Cut this out of paper, too.

After that, when you know the form your garden will be, you can play with coloured pencils, and make little blobs of colour (also on little circles cut out!) which can be moved around. Here's where a bit of research is needed. You'll have to check on a) heights of plants b) spread, c) flowering times d) whether they need sun or shade e) if your soil will suit them.

Don't forget that you need a mixture of spiky-leaved plants and rounded leaves/grasses plus evergreens and/or winter flowering plants, to give you some winter interest.

Annuals from seeds will fill gaps before you think I'm telling you to go and spend a fortune! Bulbs, too, for the spring.

HA! I hope that little essay isn't too difficult for our 5 -yr old, is it, Ian? I also hope it was a help. Have fun! :-)))

Thanks for taking the time to give Ian (and myself!) some good advice. I've copied and pasted your comment so I can refer to it later.

I'll be getting topsoil added to the area to be grassed and into the borders so I am not sure what I do about testing the soil? Will I wait until the topsoil is in situ or should I be testing the soil that is in the garden now?

I'll be having quite a few pots I expect as my planting areas will not be massive (so I'll be keeping a watch for your info about that as you are able, Spritz).

And I won't be having a square garden/borders....I really like the shaped borders so I will keep that in mind. Ta very much again, Spritz.

Thank you Spritz, you're amazing!

All easy to understand and very informative. It also means I get to play with the scissors and glue with Holly, she's going to love that!

One thing though, do you remember that blog I wrote, many many moons ago, about combining ornamental planting with food crops? I would really like to give that a try. So, hopefully, there won't be any straight lines of carrots etc but mixed beds of flowers and veg. What do you think, is it possible?

Yes, it most certainly is. At that wonderful open garden Louise and I went to, there were several veggies that would look amazing amongst flowers - Chard was one. Herbs fit nicely into beds, too - Rosemary, thyme, parsley etc.

I'm glad my 'essay' was of use as a starter.

Whl, I'd do the soil test twice, before and after - don't forget that any roots will penetrate into your existing soil.

Rectangular gardens are fine for the 'minimalist' look, but you use curves so that you can make a smaller garden look bigger - add a focal point so that you aim towards it - it could be an architectural plant, like a Fatsia or a Phormium, or a bird bath, or a statue if you like them. Trellises don't all have to be against the fence, either - you can use them free-standing to block a view of say a shed, or just to grow something lovely to sit by - don't forget a seat, or more if you've room!

Oh - I'll shut up now. I could ramble on for ages! LOL.

I like your ramblings, Spritz :) We have an apple tree at the rear of the garden space and we've pruned it hard. If it survives it will provide the focal point and if not...we'll start with something else, in the same spot.

I'll have to get busy with the paper, scissors and glue! I've noted too that we should test the soil twice....Ta.

You're welcome. Just don't get me started on colour schemes! LOL.

How about a blog series Spritz? "Starting a garden from scratch" you could talk about the things you have mentioned here and then go on to colour schemes, planting heights etc. I bet that would be amazing!
You could go into a lot more detail as well!

How about it?

Please.
.
.
.
.
.

Pretty please?
.
.
.
.
.
with bells on? Lol

N.O. I'm not an expert, just an enthusiastic amateur. There are other members who are MUCH better qualified to do that.

I'll not argue with you as to whether you're an expert or an amateur but I still say you are easily able to do this!

With your eyes shut!

Oh Ian! You flatterer, you. <Blush, blush> I've already promised to write a blog on containers, and I took my camera round the garden this afternoon, too, to see which flowers were still in bloom.

We'll have a chat about it maybe. :-/

In your sleep!

Lol :~)))))

It's asking a lot with all the work involved, Spritz....but....it is a great idea Ian has asked you about! :)

Our landscaper has said we should have a path somewhere in our plans....I just can't work out where to put one...not tried on paper as yet, but I wonder if it would chop up the space too much.

Hi all,
that was v interesting stuff Spritz about planning a whole garden, I will also take note, as I often find the larger picture escapes me and I get too bogged down in detail.

As far as light-hearted/more serious stuff balance goes, I think GOY has it about right. I think I come at it from a very different perspective from some in that I'm stuck in an office 9-3 every week day and would dearly love to spend more time out there in the garden pottering and working and all the rest of it. Weekends can be taken up with family chores or thrills like buying uniform if I'm not careful! My "virtual" view of my garden and others comes into it there bcos I can pop "down the garden" now and again - that's how I actually put it to my line manager, and she smiles. And a bit of nonsense (or sense) with friends on here means I can fool myself I'm actually gardening!

LOL. That's fine, as long as we all support the gardening aspects, because often, a conversation goes off at a tangent, which can be a real laugh!

I agree - it's different for me, being retired...I can amble out and do a job outside when I want or need to, not when I 'have' to, like you. I

I wouldn't want GOY to be serious all the time - wouldn't it be bor-ing!

Thanks for the vote of confidence about my ramblings. :-)))

mini-real-gardening update for what it's worth:
we ordered a skip last week which is gradually getting filled with all the hundreds of bits of broken brick which our predecessor kindly bestowed on us. Otherwise I was just getting into the swing of weeding post-work and pre-soup/parents' evening when my fave 6 year old from 2 doors away turned up and asked to play... well at least I persuaded her to "play" bricks with me before another game!
and then the darkness arrived again. Maybe I should consider floodlighting in my overall garden vision?!

I think child labour was banned years ago, Weeding! lol
It seems tonight was parent's night for a lot of folk....hope it went ok.

hello, you're up late! are you a night owl too?
husband is asleep with bug/cold so i'm trying not to disturb him, lol, but now it's time for even me to think about sleep. I will banish the dear cat to the unwelcoming outside porch and clean my teeth.

Sleep well!

I've been reading your comments with interest, I am wondering that since the alterations are things just so more slower, I seem to spend about as much time here but do less-- if that makes any sense?-- I look at my news and whereas I would look at each subject now I ' cherrypick' then look at my favorites activity and the questions/blogs But everyting seems to take much longer to appear after i've clicked on it-- quite frustrating at times--and I often run out of time before getting to new things maybe its my pc but if others have noticed maybe its the cause of less people and activity on the site?

Hi Pamg ...
Yes, you do make sense ... some parts of GoY seem slower since the alterations, but others are much improved, such as the lovely clear font size for composing private messages.

I agree with you, that I run out of time before viewing everything I would like to see on GoY !

I agree too - my laptop almost grinds to a halt. It's slightly better on the PC, but still slooooowww... I can sit and read a page or more of a book or the paper while a photo gets posted!

at least I know its not only me!

Lol. Pamg. :o)))

Well, I seem to have missed this blog altogether, just can't seem to keep up these days. I am sorry the other site is going, Ian, but I understand why.

From a quick perusal, I note Spritz's advice about working out your garden on paper - I'd add another tip to that - buy yourself a pad of graph paper and if you haven't a long tape measure or one of those DIY 25m ones, beg steal or borrow one. Now go out in the garden and measure the length, width (do this in 3 places in a long garden, sometimes the width changes down the length and then reverts again). Draw the outline on graph paper, using each square to represent a foot or a metre, whichever you prefer, in INK. Now measure anything permanent already there - a tree you want to keep, a rockery, whatever. Plot its position by measuring from the nearest fence in, then down the garden and up the garden to work out where it is on the length. Mark them on the drawing, again in ink. Now bob's your uncle and fanny's your aunt - you'll need a pencil and a rubber now. Work out where you think you might want a bed or a specimen plant or another tree, mark it in pencil, fiddle around (very pleasurable) rubbing out bits and adding bits, till you think you've got it right. Now go and do the work!

thats very clearly expressed Bamboo --even I could follow it!, my OH did the planning here and me-- unable visualise how things would look-- had to use bits of anything I could find to 'see' what he meant-- hosepipe is great for curves, he designed the lawn easy to mow-- without sharp corners--

As to your first comment above we were saying that everything seems to take longer here now and find it difficult to catch up with comments let alone look at new ones without a 'real effort'!

I would like to mention how helpful Bamboo is in answering my questions on GoY ...

... thanks, Bamboo.. much appreciated :o)))

Some great advice, Bamboo. Thanks for clear instructions and for taking the time to offer them here. I'll get some graph paper next week and get measuring :)

A word of caution though- if you have a large garden or area, you might be better off going to Smiths or Ryman and buying a roll of graph paper - that'll be two A3 sheets, much bigger, or you might find yourself sticking sheets together from the A4 pad of graph paper. Still works, just more fiddly

Wow, I go offline for a couple of days and you all make great comments about ...... well everything really! Lol.

Thanks Spritz and Bamboo for the great advice about planning a garden. The graph paper is a simple but clever idea and would (to my analytical mind) make visualising everything in place a whole lot easier.

As for GoY grinding to a halt, try clearing your browser cache, it might help! I also wonder if the new GoY isn't as friendly on the servers as the old system as I gather they have changed more than just the layout. Maybe, given time and a few prods from us via the "contact us" link, Peter and Ajay can correct any issues and speed up the processing times.