It is well known amongst my friends and family that, to date, the only thing that I’ve been able to grow with any real success has been weeds. Actually I am putting myself down unnecessarily here, not only have I totally mastered the skill of growing weeds; I have excelled at filling my garden with them!
Next month I move house and swap my long (eighty feet!) and thin garden / meadow for a large patio garden. You have no idea how much this excites me. Lord Dodo, who looked on in exasperation as I killed the cress, the beanstalk and the sunflower that my eldest son brought back from school, has given me a copy of the Dodo Book of Garden Cuttings, fixed upon me that look which tells me I really need to sort myself out, and has left me to it.
HELP!
I freely admit that it is unlikely that I will ever be the Mother who sends her child with home-grown fruits and vegetables in an artfully arranged hamper for the school raffle or, at the end of the year, bestows upon the grateful teacher a bouquet of fragrant roses plucked from my own garden. To be honest I really am not sure whether it is entirely necessary for any parent to show the rest of us clutching shop-bought soap or chocolates up in this way. That said I would like to turn my garden into something that I can be proud of.
My children are keen gardeners and I envisage a costly trip to the garden centre for tubs, soil and whatever one needs when planting things is on the horizon. The issue that I have is, well, I have no idea where to start. Is it too late to plant anything now in time for spring? Is there anything I should avoid planting in a patio garden because it will attract wasps / bees or generally not be great for the kids?
