Doing up a jungle of a back garden on a very tight budget!

[Feral007]

Awesome! Lot of work, but sounds like you're all in it together and that can be fun

[northepaul]

Looking forward to seeing the progress!

[Tripmeup]

Spent most of the afternoon (it feels!) in an aisle in B & Q looking at decking oil/stains/protectors in various shades/clear/natural/matt/ am fed up! Finally decided on an oil/protector in natural oak. Tomorrow (fingers crossed that weather is dry) we'll begin the sanding of all the wood we put down last saturday and then apply the oil, big day ahead, better get an early night! Pictures will follow Am ridiculously excited about this haha

.....just wait til you get planting it......:-) :-) :-)

[Two_Sheds]

the house had 2 skips full taken out before

That's disgraceful. There's no excuse for dumping your rubbish in the garden and hoping someone else will deal with it. I hope the previous tenant was billed for the skips? *fat chance*

my small conifers.

They won't stay small. Have you googled the variety, to find out how big they get?
If you want them to stay small, plant them in pots and sink the pots in the soil ~ don't plant the conifer directly into the ground

.....just wait til you get planting it......:-) :-) :-)

Planning ... it already looks like Ancee is into planning and design.

If that was my space, I'd be creating a potager flowers and veg all grown together.

[ancee]

Two Sheds!!!!! I've just seen your potager plan! Does this site not have a little thing to inform you when someone comments on a post or do you have to check everything you've commented on in the last few days? Potager is the way i've decided to go, am collecting seeds and ideas ready for Spring I can't wait! Just want to fill it with flowers so plenty of bees come to visit. Also, I love flowers so want to squash as many in as I can, amongst the veg just because they are pretty and I like them

[veggiechicken]

Ancee, Go to Settings/My account/General Settings/Messaging and Notification and there's a dropdown box "Default Thread Subscription Mode". Choose your option! I have "Daily using email" and it arrives about midnight!

[ancee]

Thanks vc x Got in from work to find George (hubs) had sanded entire deck on his own. He's is covered in sawdust and tired out! We've just finished staining it, but it is now very dark. Will have to take photos tomo and then put them on here! Yay decking

[veggiechicken]

You're a good team, Ancee Look forward to seeing the photos!

[Mikey]

Ancee, you have made fantastic progress, my only comment would be don't sand the deck completely smooth, as it will get very slippery when wet. I'd sand it back, then open the grain with a steel brush before oiling, any oil is fine actually it doesn't have to be expensive. It soaks into the wood and repels moisture. It will need re-oiling at regular intervals

Also keep an eye out for the perimeter of your deck, for signs of entry, the lovely open spaces underneath the planks become lovely warm homes for rats.

Have you got any box plants, if you get one big one and trim off the stems and push them into a pot of compost you'll have a lot more plants to create a border in no time at all.

[ancee]

I don't think he had the strength in him to sand it smooth Mikey! Will bear in mind about the rats - shudder . The deck has dried overnight and, if I do say so myself looks fab!! Imagine an old John Wayne film, he lives in a log cabin somewhere in the Wild West, we have his floor! (hope he won't mind!) When I looked out this morning, it had soaked up the oil and now looks like the floor from an old western movie log cabin! Will take photos, but I keep getting home from work in the dark

[ancee]

Has anyone else been spending the awful-weather days perusing the seed catalogues? I've got Marshalls, Suttons, Thompson and Morgan and Unwins. Seem to have been drawn to Suttons as they seem to be cheaper, but they have a James Wong section and Oh, the things in it!! I have gone a bit mad, grape sized cucamelons, root beer flavoured wintergreen, electric daisies that taste like space dust and electric shocks!! Even though we have a swamp at present, and nowhere suitable to plant, i'm off shopping the seed catalogues this afternoon! Anybody tried anyhing unusual like these

[veggiechicken]

We had a chat about James Wong's new seed range here http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...ion_68070.html Watch the video link about Electric Daisies

[ancee]

Oh that video of the lady trying the electric daisies is brilliant! We are definitely buying those seeds! My kids can't wait, think a lot of pranks are in the forseeable future!

[chris]

Oh, VC did you HAVE to post that link!

*adds more seeds to the list* !

[veggiechicken]

*makes note - never eat anything offered by Chris or Ancee!*