Gardening 2021

[potsy]

Might as well ask this here as it seems as good a place as any.

Which is more suitable for creating borders, a multi purpose compost or top soil?

 

[Hicky]

Might as well ask this here as it seems as good a place as any.

Which is more suitable for creating borders, a multi purpose compost or top soil?

What are you putting in it, flowers or veg and what volume/size borders?

 

[jowwy]

Finished off the veggie plot yesterday.....all ready for planting up

 

[potsy]

What are you putting in it, flowers or veg and what volume/size borders?

Just flowers/shrubs, no veg.
I would say 500mm deep and around 7m length in all.

 

[jowwy]

Just flowers/shrubs, no veg.
I would say 500mm deep and around 7m length in all.

Top soil to fill up to around 80% and then a good all purpose compost for the rest and a bark topping to stop weed growth......

 

[midlife]

Shop around for top soil, price is pretty random for a Dumpy Bag round here.

 

[jowwy]

And thats the pyramid stage complete

 

[PaulSB]

Might as well ask this here as it seems as good a place as any.

Which is more suitable for creating borders, a multi purpose compost or top soil?

Adding any type of multi-purpose peat based "compost" is a waste of time, effort and money. There is no such thing as "peat compost" it's a marketing term.

It will do nothing to improve your soil unless you want to make it more acidic. Using peat simply adds to the ever increasing destruction of peat bogs.

What you should be adding is well rotted organic matter. This can from many different sources, garden compost, farmyard manure, spent mushroom compost, spent hops, composted bark, composted stable manure, chicken manure. Look to apply 8-10kg per square metre. If you can't obtain these locally it's surprisingly easy to buy online - yes you can buy farmyard manure online for home delivery.

Use bark as a top dressing to surpress weed growth if you must. I prefer to top dress with one of the above products. The small amount of weed which will germinate is easily removed.

 

[randynewmanscat]

Raised beds are great for drainage, accessibility and bad backs, something I may consider in the future on my allotment..

Pallet collars are your friend. They stack, they fold flat when not in use, they are cheap and the preservative used in any modern collar is safe.
After the plants have got some height I install cheapo aliexpress irrigation dripper lines and cover the soil with hay to control weeds and keep the water in.
The only thing I cannot do is drive a rotovator through them in late winter, next winter I will cover them with black poly to keep the soil loose.

 

[PaulSB]

Boring but essential stuff for me. Our lawn is pretty awful and we took a load of thorny bushes and brambles out when we moved in last year.

We've dug over the mud, taken weeds out, levelled and added some sand and fertiliser. We want to seed that and also re-seed the lawn.

I've read that you can do that in either spring or autumn, but that autumn is best as soil is warmer, less need to water and weeds start dying off rather than go mad from spring.

Anyone else done this and got any advice? I am inclined to wait till autumn as not keen to put the whole lawn out of commission this summer especially, as it'll be nice for my lad to have his friends over and play on the garden...

You can sow grass seed in both autumn and spring. Autumn is considered the better option as the ground is warm and moist and the young grass will have the winter and early spring to establish before you want to start using the lawn. The difficulty with establishing a lawn in spring is you will need to water regularly and should we head in to an early spring and long summer the grass may struggle to establish itself.

If you have young children who want to use the garden I would let them enjoy themselves through the summer and look to establish the grass in autumn when they are less likely to want to be outside.

if using new seed whether its spring or autumn, you need to ensure the seed doesnt dry out and die.......so in autumn you need to water at least 3 times a day, in spring a lot less as the ground is wetter

Generally speaking the ground is damper in autumn and will become increasingly damper as the season progresses towards winter. There is no need to water three times a day, should the ground be so dry that this becomes necessary much of the water will either run off or evaporate.

 

[jowwy]

You can sow grass seed in both autumn and spring. Autumn is considered the better option as the ground is warm and moist and the young grass will have the winter and early spring to establish before you want to start using the lawn. The difficulty with establishing a lawn in spring is you will need to water regularly and should we head in to an early spring and long summer the grass may struggle to establish itself.

If you have young children who want to use the garden I would let them enjoy themselves through the summer and look to establish the grass in autumn when they are less likely to want to be outside.


Generally speaking the ground is damper in autumn and will become increasingly damper as the season progresses towards winter. There is no need to water three times a day, should the ground be so dry that this becomes necessary much of the water will either run off or evaporate.

But also grass starts to stop growing as head out of autumn and into winter, so if the new seeds dont germinate, you’ve wasted your money.........ive done both and right now my spring grass is establishing a hell if a lot better than the autumn grass did.

but hey, we all have different opinions and views.

 

[PaulSB]

But also grass starts to stop growing as head out of autumn and into winter, so if the new seeds dont germinate, you’ve wasted your money.........ive done both and right now my spring grass is establishing a hell if a lot better than the autumn grass did.

but hey, we all have different opinions and views.

The point I quoted you on was the need to water three times a day in autumn. Regardless of the time of year if the seed bed is in a condition where it needs watering three times the ground was probably to dry to consider sowing in the first place.

In a very warm dry autumn once a day could be needed but if seed sowing took place under the correct conditions this would be unusual. Generally if soil is in the correct condition a gentle watering every 3-4 days is adequate.

 

[Tribansman]

You can sow grass seed in both autumn and spring. Autumn is considered the better option as the ground is warm and moist and the young grass will have the winter and early spring to establish before you want to start using the lawn. The difficulty with establishing a lawn in spring is you will need to water regularly and should we head in to an early spring and long summer the grass may struggle to establish itself.

If you have young children who want to use the garden I would let them enjoy themselves through the summer and look to establish the grass in autumn when they are less likely to want to be outside.


Generally speaking the ground is damper in autumn and will become increasingly damper as the season progresses towards winter. There is no need to water three times a day, should the ground be so dry that this becomes necessary much of the water will either run off or evaporate.

Thanks for this, great advice and information. Will wait till autumn and hope it germinates ok 👍

 

[jowwy]

Thanks for this, great advice and information. Will wait till autumn and hope it germinates ok 👍

Personally and i have done, is get it done now and enjoy the new garden during the summer........

 

[VelvetUnderpants]

Pallet collars are your friend. They stack, they fold flat when not in use, they are cheap and the preservative used in any modern collar is safe.
After the plants have got some height I install cheapo aliexpress irrigation dripper lines and cover the soil with hay to control weeds and keep the water in.
The only thing I cannot do is drive a rotovator through them in late winter, next winter I will cover them with black poly to keep the soil loose.
View attachment 584609

Sorry if this sounds like a daft question but where do you source these pallet collars, are they purchased new online or used and found locally.