Lijemc's Profile

I live in South East London and am relatively new to gardening and have only been doing it for the last 4 years. It started off when my dad died and my initial aim was just to keep the garden tidy in his memory, as he worked hard on the garden and enjoyed it a lot. My previous experience was indoor plants which all died on me, so I didn't hold out much hope of growing anything in the garden! I'm ashamed to say I didn't even really notice the garden beforehand, but now realise how much hard work is involved! Thanks to my dad the structure is already there, so I can have more fun with planning the planting and the actual planting (which is probably my favourite job in the garden).

I gradually became more interested in gardening, when some plants that I'd planted actually grew! My method is simple ~ just dig a hole, pop the plant in, water and then hope for the best! This method seems to work for the majority of plants. There have been a few casualties, but I have learnt from these mistakes.

I enjoyed watching the plants grow and found each stage rewarding. Watching the flowers open was fascinating (and still is). It's an amazing process. I really enjoy planning what I will grow each season, choosing the plants and colour schemes. I like to choose differently each time so the garden never looks the same. Most of the time it works.

I find gardening therapeutic, calming, satisfying and rewarding. I have two small gardens (front and back), but they offer sufficient work for me. Although, I would love to have a greenhouse, but there is just not enough room. A a compromise, I have recently bought 2 mini greenhouses (yet to arrive) and will look forward to experimenting with them once they have been installed.

I never thought of taking photo's of my garden, but browsing through some of the photo's from other members on this site has inspired me to start. I have bought a new camera, so it looks like photography will become another hobby! So watch this space ...