At the moment I am sitting looking out at the garden, and I see clematis, roses, lilies dahlias, fuchsias, petunias, rudbeckias, nasturtiums, chrysanthemum, crocosmia, (5 diffrent patches of it, when I thought I had removed it all last year) sweetpeas, marigolds, hostas along with several other flowering and foliage plants and I am thinking that I get a lot of pleasure growing, working and looking at them, so I am now thinking of doing away with my raised vegetable beds and any veg that I want I can grow in containers, to change everything wouldn't be too difficult, as the 3x2 slabs that make up 2 of the beds can be used to protect the boundary fences and the timber which make up other 2 can be used as edging, but I will give it a bit of thought rather than starting right now, anyway I have peas, beans, potatoes, onions, cabbage and cauliflower along with several different salad veg growing at the moment, usually when I think of something I go for it, possibly the reason why I don't have that many mature plants and bushes in the garden, well apart from some of the clematis and a honeysuckle a rowan tree a dwarf pine along with a Ginkgo Baloba tree, if I go for this I suppose it will be my permanent garden, as OH keeps telling me to slow down, also I could get assistance from the grandchildren, which sort of sways my to doing it, as it would give them some experience plus ofcourse like Veggie I am not getting any younger
If that’s what’s going to make you happy then you should definitely do it.
Spec, I've moved your thread to the Dear Diary Board where you can add photos and ramble on as some of us do.
As for changing your garden, just do it! Despite being younger than you, I'm also cutting back on growing veg and turning "beds" over to flowers. Gardening should bring you pleasure, not heartache/backache!!
I'm going the other way and growing less in pots, I just find it too much work. Most things seem to grow better in the ground, I don't want to have to use so much compost, filling pots can be hard on the back, they need more frequent feeding and if the summer is hot it's difficult to keep on top of the watering.
I don't do pots intentionally- my halfway house - seedlings potted on take up a huge amount of my time watering.
I stopped growing lots of veg. I have growing enough to go around and pick for lunch or dinner - beans, courgettes, Tom's etc. Just a couple of kale and chard plants. The flowers have taken over and they really make me smile.
Don't you get any pleasure looking at your: "peas, beans, potatoes, onions, cabbage and cauliflower along with several different salad veg growing at the moment"? Particularly thinking about the money you are saving at the greengrocers?
I do! But I don't preserve as much
- as the freezer is full. I don't have as much to give away. That isn't a bad thing? As the boys aren't here so much we end up wasting lots.
I've been cutting flowers and sticking some out on the main road in bunches - I'm very surprised but people are actually buying them! Will manage to pay for my heat mat soon
The pleasure that comes from looking at your veg is, so often, lost when your veg are ruined by pests, weather etc. and they don't make it to your plate.
I've stopped trying to grow the veg/fruit that I find the hardest to get right and, like Scarlet, am growing the veg that have always given me a decent crop without too many losses.
Was thinking the other day, wouldn't it be great if cabbage whites ate courgettes instead of brassicas?