Starting a garden now?

Buceph

In my mothers infinite wisdom, she suggested it might be therapeutic if I started working on a garden. I have absolutely no experience doing any gardening (bar a bit of work I did on a golf course a few years ago.) The biggest thing that strikes me is that now is pretty much the wrong time to start something. I do hope I'm slightly wrong with that because I'd really like to get something going.

What I'm looking from the garden is something therapeutic. I'm not working at the moment, so can put in some hard work over the next few weeks to get things going. After that I figure regular maintenance would be handy. What type of garden I'd be looking for is something I can work on, a little patch of niceness in a big field. Flowers wouldn't be my main priority (I am a manly man! :P) Although it'd be nice to be able to gift flowers to the ladies in my life on occasion. Otherwise, I'd quite like some vegetables, herbs and few plants along with the odd flower.

Is it possible to begin something like that now? And where do I begin? I figure the first thing I do is ask you lot for help (and I've asked for help on a few non-gardening forums as well.) The biggest help I could get is what websites and resources can I start looking at?

This is what I have to work with, so I'd be carving out a small patch to work on in that field.


I have someone willing to help, but I'd be doing the hard graft.

Any help or directions to where I can inform myself would be genuinely appreciated.

redser7

Time isn't on my side to give a long answer, sorry. But you could go up to amazon.co.uk. Search for 'Hessayon Expert'. This man has written a series of books (The Expert Series) that pretty much cover all aspects of gardening inlcuding fruit and veg. and DIY. You name it he has a book about it. Very user friend from begginer up to experienced level. Browse the books and check the second hand copies available. Typically they sell for 1p (yes 1p), you just need to cover the cost of shipping which is usually about 3 or 4 euro. You could build up a good library to see you through the autumn and winter so you are ready to go in Spring.
You could spend those months doing any harscaping/DIY etc. and be ready to sow in spring.
I'm sure others will be along to make suggestions. Good luck

looksee

Plenty you could to to get started.
Choose a patch of ground, not too near those trees and avoid anywhere that might be boggy. Strip off the sods. Stack them upside down tidily in a place that will be your compost heap eventually.
Double dig (check that up on one of the websites ) the area, put in a couple of paths as necessary.
Put some fencing round - you almost certainly have hares and rabbits in the area that will be very keen to help you harvest.
You might need to improve the soil, though it looks pretty good in the pic. If you get manure be aware of an issue with herbicide residue http://www.allotment.org.uk/garden-diary/257/aminopyralid-herbicide-residue-in-manure-killing-crops/
You might be better to dig in some commercially prepared manure - the stuff you buy in bags.
A traditional way of preparing the soil is to plant a crop of potatoes, which you would do next spring.
This autumn you could plant some raspberry canes (plant them in a block so that you can cover them against birds as necessary), blackcurrents, gooseberries. You would only need a couple of the last two unless you have a manic jam maker or wine maker in the family. Gooseberry makes lovely wine.
You could also put down a strawberry bed. You could also consider planting a small orchard - apples sweet and cooking, plums, pears.
Not an lot of veg you can plant at this time of year, but better to have the garden ready for the spring. It will not be as easy to do the work in the cold months of winter and early spring. The winter cold will break down lumps in the soil and improve it.

Rinker

Buceph I really think that getting the services of a garden designer would be a great start. They could advise on laying out the site, choosing a style, doing something inkeeping with the local environment and within your ability to maintain.
Even if you don't want to pay for a finished design getting a designer to walk the site with you will tell you a lot about what decisions you've got to make, how much you'll need to spend etc.

Your site is beautiful- dont do anything too zany with it:)

greenart

Hi Buceph, you can start a garden and grow something at any time of the year. Particularly if you want to create raised beds for vegetables or other plants. It is possible to plant containerised plants and trees at any time of the year. Nov-March is a good time of year to plant bare rooted trees and hedging etc which can work out cheaper than containerised ones.
This month is a good month for sowing grass seed. The only thing is working with soil can be muddy when it is wet but there are plenty of ways to create a garden all year round with careful planning and forethought. Landscapers create gardens all year round. (except when the damn snow is here causing problems for us all) For any tasks that you may not be skilled to do there are plenty of skilled landscapers out there looking for work and garden designers also.

Buceph

Rinker wrote: »

Buceph I really think that getting the services of a garden designer would be a great start.

We're not looking to get the whole place landscaped, happy to have it as a field that my oul' fella cuts with his ride on mower. Just looking to get some things growing in there. It's more of a personal thing than an aesthetic thing.

greenart wrote: »

Hi Buceph, you can start a garden and grow something at any time of the year. Particularly if you want to create raised beds for vegetables or other plants. It is possible to plant containerised plants and trees at any time of the year. Nov-March is a good time of year to plant bare rooted trees and hedging etc which can work out cheaper than containerised ones.
This month is a good month for sowing grass seed. The only thing is working with soil can be muddy when it is wet but there are plenty of ways to create a garden all year round with careful planning and forethought. Landscapers create gardens all year round. (except when the damn snow is here causing problems for us all) For any tasks that you may not be skilled to do there are plenty of skilled landscapers out there looking for work and garden designers also.

Trees would be about the sum of what we'd be planting, and we're going to be looking into that over the next few days/week or so. Like I said we're not looking to do up the whole place. Really it's just going to be me (under my mothers direction) growing a few vegetables, shrubs and a couple of apple trees in a corner of the field. It's for gardening's therapeutic values of growing things rather than to create a glorious 4 acre garden.

The Garden Shop

Hi Buceph,
now would be the time to start working away..depending on what you were going to do. The time of year when shrubs and trees arent growing vigorously is the time to plant them in the ground to help them get established.As another post said, yes a good time to start sowing grass seeds. looks like a lovely plot you have...jealous.

looksee

I'm a bit puzzled. Two people have suggested a landscaper, two have talked about sowing grass seed.

The OP has more grass than he needs and does not want to landscape the area. He wants to develop a bit of a flower and veg garden too keep his mother off his neck him out of mischief and get a bit of exercise.

The only solution OP is to find a spot and start digging. You could plan to put your trees and flowers on the house side of the plot to keep the view nice, but otherwise that is how everyone starts gardening. You do something and learn from the results, and maybe do it a different way the next time. Don't try and do everything at once, just get out there and get digging!

Buceph

looksee wrote: »

He wants to develop a bit of a flower and veg garden too keep his mother off his neck him out of mischief and get a bit of exercise.

Yep, that's it pretty much. I'm past my partying days and tolerated kindly put up in the house due to exigent circumstances. It was suggested that it would be of benefit to me and the house if something like this was done. Help me in finding something that isn't computer related to do (days spent job searching, making sure I keep my degree up to date and forum whoring,) and my mother would also chip in seeing as she's enjoyed growing a few herbs in pots.

The only solution OP is to find a spot and start digging. You could plan to put your trees and flowers on the house side of the plot to keep the view nice, but otherwise that is how everyone starts gardening. You do something and learn from the results, and maybe do it a different way the next time. Don't try and do everything at once, just get out there and get digging!

Aye, that's what it seems to have come to. There's a spot lower down in the garden that has a small bit of shelter, so it looks like it'll be down there. The soil is very clay like (I've been reading and investigating) so it looks like it'll need a good dig. I'll also need to find somewhere to buy manure* that can be put in the ground in the next few weeks to get it in in time for winter weathering. Also I'll need some fertilizer and a couple of big holes if we're to plant a bush or two and some trees.

Apart from that it's just getting an idea of what we plan on planting next spring and figuring out from that how much space we need. And then I'll be putting in some hard graft to dig that up.

*If you know somewhere in Cork to get manure or something else to ready the clay like soil, I'd appreciate hearing of it. There's a riding school up the road from us, but I don't know if they would have the older manure that's ready to use now.

Sonnenblumen

OP the general view is rather plain and as you've indicated apart from putting in a few trees, you're not planning any significant planting/landscaping? Fair enough, but trees will help frame the views and may be utilised in a number of ways to create compartments and add more interest to an otherwise open view of meadow and farmed fields?

I'd recommend you concentrate now on identifying preferred tree types, positions and preparing the ground. Planting is probably better done (and more economical) later in year Nov+. At least then you'll get bigger and more affordable trees, which will require less attention than if planted now.

A visit to a good tree nursery would be recommended.

Buceph

Operation "A little square of field" has begun.

I've begun digging up the grass that's been there for donkeys years. When I looked at it first I thought, "I'll need a bigger patch than that!" After digging for an hour and a half the bit set aside is plenty big enough. And yes, all I managed was that little row in an hour and a half. My boots are too small for me. And the shovel is going to give my thumb a callus. This digging stuff is no fun. I just want to grow some spuds.

redser7

A chillington hoe is the man you want. Great for breaking new soil and thereafter for general hoeing and trench making. They make light work of it and much better for your back.

http://www.chillingtonhoes.com/

kincsem

I've just spent about two months digging my back garden preparing it for planting wildflowers. It is about 12 x 10 yards. About five years ago it was a knee high jungle of weeds. After the first clearance I planted the whole area with a half-dozen potato varieties, mainly as the foilage would keep down the weeds. But digging out potatoes is back-breaking work. Onions are easier. Anyway my garden is now level and ready to be seeded tomorrow.

As you are starting I suggest you get Rambo 360 from a garden centre and use it to kill the grass and weeds before you start digging. It is easier to dig bare earth than dig grass sods.

I recommend Bulldog forks and spades. It is best to have a large fork (normal size) and a small fork for digging. I have a lot of Wolf Tools. They are expensive but worth it imo.
I bought from here as Irish Garden centres either do not stock these or they have a very limited range.
http://www.garden-goodies.co.uk/

I highly recommend this soil miller http://www.garden-goodies.co.uk/acatalog/Wolf_Multi_Change_Tools_DAM.html
and this (not for ridgeing but to plough the soil (you must dig once at the start but easier than digging a second time)
http://www.garden-goodies.co.uk/acatalog/Wolf_Multi_Change_Tools_JAM20.html

At this time of the year you are only going to be breaking the soil and preparing for next spring. If you wait for spring the work burden will be too much then. If you break up the soil now frost and rain will help you over the winter. After the first dig you might get more weeds growing, so get the small fork and dig them out. Keep an eye on the plot and keep digging out the weeds. You might spend some time looking at your site and see what is in sun, what is in shade throughout the day before you decide your sowing.

You can easily put up a fence with plastic netting (strong green plastic preferably, not flexible net type) and bamboos about six foot high (thread them through the holes in the plastic mesh.) A wooden stake at each corner will keep the shape.

My soil is heavy clay. I bought 500 bags of manure on two pallets and dug it in. That was very expensive. You might be able to get some loose and cheap.

kincsem

Wear garden gloves always.

Micheal GIY

Hi Buceph
You were sounding a bit unenthusiastic but fair dues to you, you got stuck in and di some digging.
Just a few suggestions.
If you want spuds, it is a great way to clear land. Look up 'lazy beds' as the way to do this.
For clearing ground, you could cover it over with plastic (weighted down) and that will leave it clear and easier to dig in spring.
For me, I'm afraid I have less interest in landscaping and more interest in growing food. When it comes to trees, I will leave suggestions on decorative ones to the experts here on the site, and instead throw in my tuppence worth of productive trees and bushes. As somebody said already, we are heading for the time of year for planting trees and bushes, so now is the time to plan what to put where. You could come up with a great selection of apples, pears, plums, damsons and even nuts like hazel (or the cultivated forms - filberts and cobnuts... look up www.fruitandnut.ie for more on these). Also, you could go with bushes for some quicker fruit production - raspberries, blackcurrants and gooseberries are fairly straightforward.
This sounds like a lot of stuff to be planting, but watch out for bargains in the garden centers and also Aldi will have a great range of plants probably in October.
You also asked for suggestions for websites - for the food growing end of your project, look up giyireland.ie.
All the best

Buceph

Cheers guys.

Micheal, I have absolutely no interest in landscaping or decorative work.

We put in a load of trees about 15 years ago, and that was a lot of work. We had to get a JCB in, partly due to the amount of trees being put down, but also because beneath about two feet the earth becomes very rocky and it was impossible to dig by hand. The JCB had some special hole boring attachment and even that had trouble. So if we do put down trees it'll be small fruit trees. And maybe one or two fruit bushes.

If I was to put down raspberries or blackcurrants, how much of an area would I need to clear? I'd be hoping that the area set aside now wouldn't need to be used up by the bigger bushes.

Kincsem: As for getting equipment and the like in... While I'm in favour of it as I dig, it would defeat the purpose a bit. I'm unemployed at the moment and so have time to do things manually. If I manage to get a job in the next month or two we'd consider getting in rotovators and the like.

Also, my father is still doubting this little endeavour. So we'll be taking one thing at a time. Once the sod is cleared I'll be getting onto him about getting in manure to mix in with the soil. Although the soil isn't as bad as I first imagined. Quite a good deal of rocks mixed in with it, but not nearly as clay like as I remembered. Maybe it's only that we've had a few days of dry weather, but the soil certainly isn't clinging together too badly. The biggest problem at the moment is with the sod. As when the grass was cut it was always let sit on the surface, so a fairly thick thatch has formed above the soil, which makes it hard work to dig up the sod.

After mixing in some manure when digging we'll either move onto looking at getting in some trees before winter fully sets in, or getting a fence put up. My biggest worry and the thing most out of my control with the patch of field is the wildlife in the area. We've tonnes of birds around us, so we'll need small enough trees (I'm guessing) that we can net, and the same goes for anything planted or bushes. Any new trees planted will have to be protected becuase rabbits and hares killed off about a tenth of new trees we planted fifteen years ago. We had those plastic protectors put on them but they climbed up over them or literally ate through them. Although the hares might be in trouble at the moment as we've had a fox move into the area. (Beautiful animal, although still a pest.)

The most immediate thing is to get a fork for helping dig the land, and most importantly a new pair of boots. My good pair from when I was 18 no longer fit, I've grown about three sizes since then. And digging in old runners is no fun, the spade comes right through the soul.

Micheal GIY

You asked about the amount of space needed for a few fruit bushes. They don't need much ground space at the start, just dig a hole bigger than the roots and mix in some well rotted manure. You dont need to clear the whole area and can just mow around them to keep the grass down. You can even spread a bit of cut grass around the bushes to keep the weeds from competing, but I gather this is a bad idea with gooseberry bushes as it suits one of their pests.