I was going to say, look at all that planting space. ![]()
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Thank you ManjiB, luckily we so far live in a part of the uk which does not yet have a hosepipe ban. Though we are very careful in how we manage things.
That planting space is spoken for lol
Dat kan ook!
This blurb is only added as a filler as the above sentence does not meet the minimum 20 character requirement for a post. And so now, I might as well give you my usual chapter and verse!!
Sorry, I get the urge every noe and then to use the above phrase.
These are Mum’s exact thoughts/words when she sees something like this.
That grass would soon be replaced by all sorts of plants be they fruits or veg, though she would leave a token patch of grass. She would rather pull out weeds than mow the lawn ![]()
My father is the same, and I inherited the same condition. His current home has a jungle for a back garden. The house came with a raised swimming pool, so he filled it up with earth and planted stuff in it. He even grows things like pumpkins from trees in order to maximise growing space. I asked him recently what he did with all the fruit grown, did he make conserves or jams? He sharply, barked back as if I was daft, we eat it, he snapped.
Hydrangeas can thrive in those conditions, I used to have one in my last place, and masterwort will do well, it is more subtle a plant, I have some growing at the moment. I’m not the biggest fan of hydrangeas but some people love them. I’m more of a fruit and herb man, so have less experience with flowers.
Clay soil will usually tend towards alkaline, which azaleas don’t like. For a shady spot on clay hardy geraniums are a good bet, astilbes do well in those conditions in my garden as well. If you like foliage hostas and ferns are a good choice. I like to just try things in different places and if they don’t look happy I move them. Experimentation is one of the joys of gardening for me.
I am right noe on a steepish learning curve wrt gardening.
I have all sorts going on and so many questions. With your help dear readers, I have got some apples, tomatoes and spinach doing quite well, but I daresay I will require further advice on this later on.
For now, I come to you with a question regarding squash plants.
These pictures show how the garden has been cobbled together with little understanding of what should be grown and where etc. but all considered it’s doing quite well.
The question I have related to the squash plants which as taking over the garden and they are starting to tangle and attach themselves to anything including the apple tree, the tomato plants, the pigweeds and the clothes line.
I have a feeling that I may have missed a trick and like the tomato plants and the apple tree (at the start of the season), these squash plants should have been pruned.
There’s a couple squashes growing but I feel there would be more if this was better managed.
Any thoughts on what I might do at this late stage would be appreciated.
I must say, overall this little project has been a success ![]()
You wouldn’t ordinarily but you can tip it out at the laterals so it puts more growth into the primary vine. Love that it is growing up your clothes line.



