Rabbits maybe? I think marigolds are tasty for most critters, crawly and otherwise. Catnip is also a good aphid deterrent, I grow it in the orchard near the cherry trees, I didn’t plant it initially for its pest repelling properties, I grew it because I loved watching the cats go dippy.
1 Like
Hi @Loshy. I too wondered about rabbits. They will happily munch marigolds. We have to plan our garden carefully as the parts our pet rabbit is allowed to free range in has to be non toxic (marigolds are fine) so it’s mainly perennial herbs and grass which we let him help himself to mainly because we can’t be bothered telling him off every 2 minutes. Funnily different rabbits have different tastes and they can be very fussy depending on how desperate they are. Your wild ones ( if that is what is defoliating them) clearly like marigolds, Julia x
2 Likes
trying to create a garden in the back of our bungalow where the soil is about an inch thick and then you hit slate. Pleased with my home made “raised bed” with strawberry plants that were raised as runners.
2 Likes
Morning @FionaB1. Well done for thinking of a solution. The strawberries will taste sweet and all the better that you didn’t have to buy them, just gave their off spring a new place to put down roots👍 Julia x
Hi FionaB1 back of our bungalow haven’t tested depth of soil yet.only moved in this Easter so all veg grown In various sized pots on patio in our own compost. We were mad compost makers in last accommodation, had six compost bins.my wife bagged it all up, brought all empty composters with us and refilled them the compost, it was far too valuable too leave and that bagging up and refilling the composters has transformed it into fantastic compost. With your shallow soil I’d raise level as much as I could or just grow shallow rooted rooted plants like alpines Dread to think what I’ll find out back but squash I planted out front did well🤗
The end of summer
Been away for a week and got back to the start of my chilli harvest. Will dry some (tin foil on top of radiators) for chilli powder and top pizzas with some. Certainly won’t need to buy any for some time. Grew these all from seed. Patience required as they have a very long growing season - I started these in an electric propagator in February and then all summer in the greenhouse. Unfortunately didn’t label them very well and have only a vague idea what is what. Chilli russian roulette any one? The yellow ones are hot lemon which I haven’t grown before and have only gone yellow while we were away as due to labelling issues was eating them green not knowing they were the hot lemon. They were hot then so I think they will live up to their name. Next year will invest in new labels and use an old fashioned sharp pencil which I know will last a season without fading.
2 Likes
Lovely @JuliaH, I grow chillis too, but not as impressive as yours. I love a bit of fresh chilli, chopped finely, and sprinkled on some dishes. A cakehole warmer for the winter.
1 Like
The chillies are fantastic - so tasty looking and colourful. We have been starting our back garden from scratch and there still isn’t a great deal in it but I’ve been collecting seeds for next year. I don’t have an electric propergator but am going to try starting some off in February on top of the radiator and see how if goes.
2 Likes
All in all a good harvest this year.moved into bungalow April this year without veg garden ,just lawn and borders and patio. Over 50 years a professional garden paid off. Lifted bit of lawn and dug trench of sorts for runner beans, essential.Boy that taught me a thing or two ! Cucumbers and squashes planted in borders to wander. Toms up next doors garages south facing red brick wall. Every thing else grown in a variety of sized pots on patio. Lettuce, courgettes, French beans radish,spring onions and greens which after a long battle we let the caterpillars win. So toms and cu’s till late September, last pick of runner beans last week.
Tom soup and beans in freezer. Scrounged enough apples to live off till next April all stored in garage. Next year the garden is my oyster. Brought large cloches with us so will lift a large area of lawn ? And get stuck in, am blessed with under gardener who gives me gentle nudges and kicks up Butt but unfortunately wants to grow more dahlia’s
1 Like
Sounds wonderful. Going to try sowing tomatoes earlier next year as most of mine are still green but I’m also using pots. The front of our bungalow is fairly established so all I have to do it trim bushes and the back is a bog, so I’m going to try to grow things that like living in water. Apart from flag Irises which I already have and ideas?
@Pds it sounds like you’ve done remarkably well with your veggies this year considering you’ve only been there since April. We had mixed success this year. Our runner beans were very tough (seems it was the case for everyone local this year), broad beans did very well, peas kept being eaten by the pheasants, onions & tomatoes did well & we’ve had a good crop of spuds. Parsnips look good as lobg as they’re not all tops 
we’ve, for the 1st time, planted some spuds that are due to crop at Christmas. Will see how they do. We too have plenty of apples currently stored in the shed.
@FionaB1 we had a lot of green tomatoes too but did also get a very good crop of red toms. Green tomato chutney maybe?
I will add that our crop of veggies is all my hubbys work…i just eat the results 
Good work @Pds, my father is the same, he can turn any space into a garden. Have you thought about planting cucumbers and squashes as hanging vines? It frees up ground space and they seek out to climb naturally.
Evening @Pds . Sounds pretty impressive for the first year. Who knows what you will achieve next year. Me and the undergardener hope more dahlias . I love my dahlias and they are still gainly flowering 
Julia x
Hi think I’ve managed to send two photos? Without any explanation. One is of Blue Hubbard Squash still swelling, the other is cloches used to cover late patio veg.two of these cloches can be joined to make mini glasshouse unit ,several form a crawl into glasshouse. Next year when I’ve got my act together which this technology I’ll be showing off
1 Like
Probably not but theres a lot still in fliwer this year that wouldnt normally be as its still quite mild in comparison to what it should be.
I should add i know nothing about gardening so I could have told you a load of rubbish with the best of intentions xx
2 Likes
Old herbaceous here young Sloshy, tis strange times we live in with this global warning. I still have a squash still putting on weight and a climbing,and a few dahlias are still struggling on though the trees all around shedding leaves but it has got noticeable colder. So with this warming think this extended flowering will become the norm
2 Likes
I bought myself a personal, early Christmas gift this year. After many attempts at grafting and seed germination, I bit the bullet and ordered a Medlar. I have now planted it. In five years time, hopefully, I will have some nice, bleated fruit to use for various purposes. I get a lot of work done over the Autumn and Winter, garden wise, as I am never put off working outside in the rain or cold while others stay indoors. This means that I can’t be tracked down, as no one wants to go outside, to coax me into doing other jobs.
3 Likes
My memory of medlars is that they can be effective when in flower and some years good autumn foliage.Fruit an acquired taste like a mushy conference pear. Pleasant surprise this year when I was given a sponge cake with medlar jam filling. My winter work was covering area of lawn with cardboard, emptying a composter container fantastic compost and covering cardboard. First sowings Has to be broad beans now. Have glass cloches to ensemble that are like Chinese nail puzzles we were given as kids each Christmas. Then come Jan showings of early carrots and lettuce on hands and knees.
May all who enjoy gardening have a good growing season next year 
Paul
3 Likes
Last Winter, the base of my fertiliser butt collapsed by virtue of fertiliser that had frozen, causing the weight of the butt to disturb the base structure. To be fair, my base structure, at that time, was fairly crude. This Winter, I have begun rebuilding it. As I can only do things at a snail’s pace, I took a bit more time to think about the base structure. I am a hobbyist dry stone waller, I know the principles but am a bit lazy with it, and prefer to just use the stones I have at hand, rather than nose around for suitable stones. This is the progress I have made so far, using slate as support. The last step is placing a cone of bigger stones around the exterior. I have these at hand. The butt contains a filtering method I have designed to filter comfrey and nettle, this transforms into a delicious, albeit, smelly fertiliser from rain water, that I use on some of the border plants I have.
Gardening in the Winter is less vigorous, so it suits me down to the ground. I have been mulching around the fruit trees, and begun Winter pruning which is a cathartic activity as it requires contemplative consideration of each tree.
1 Like