Gemma's Inbox

Why don't you buy a living tree Gemma? Decorate it for Noël then plant it out after the New Year! Two birds, one stone!

Clematis cirrhosa - there are several varieties, including 'Freckles', 'Balearica' and 'Wisley Cream', are evergreen and flower in the winter/very early spring. Obviously you could plant other Clematis for different seasons, but these cirrhosa ones do brighten up the winter months!

Sorry, majeekahead I missed the Skimmia.

I'd say go for mahonia 'Charity' for winter interest. As majeekahead says, tehy're evergreen with interesting leaves and fragrant yellow flowers. This one is an upright variety so it won't take up much space and every few years, chop it back just after the flowers fade (that what I do with mine) and it doesn't mind at all. I take it down from 8 feet to less than half, just above a pair of leaves, so don't be afraid to be brutal

sorry i ment to say that the Photina and Aucuba can be cut back to the size you want. lol

not all of the plants i recommended would out grow a small garden, the skimmia is slow growing and not a huge plant, and the photinia and skimmia can be cut back to the size you want, the mahonia can get medium to large size but again quite slow growing and can be pruned its only the witch hazel that could be a problem in a small garden. but to be honest most plants will need some maintenence in my opionion there is no such thing as a maintenence free garden, but the things i have recommended would be low maintenence - just a bit of pruning once or twice a year. and would make a good background for summer flowing plants perennials and bedding ect. but if you would prefer smaller things that are evergreen in the winter you could go with Lavender, although it only flowers in the summer it is evergreen and easy to grow and maintain, there is also euonymus there are some lovely evergreen low ground cover varieties - but check which ones you are buying because there are also some large ones too! or the other one i have which is lovely this time of year is winter heather, you can get all sorts, colours sizes and flowering times easy to grow. and there is also winter bedding eg; Pansies, Viola, Cyclamen - all of which are small and can be grown in pots as well as in you flower beds.

Hi Gemma, What would also help is the area of the country you live in. For planting purposes, there are numbered zones which allow growers to select plants suitable for their area. If you are in the States, the Zone system is different from Canada's.

Hi Gemma, really all depends on the size of your garden, the plants majeekahead suggests are very good, but if you only have a postage stamp to play with they will soon outgrow their situation.

Hi Gemma, it sounds as if you need some winter interest? there are some things that flower in the winter, and others that are evergreen that will also give you a good background or base during the summer. one i could recommend for both would be Mahonia, it's a really interesting plant with evergreen holly like leaves and it is coming into flower now - the flowers are bright yellow and have a nice scent and it is easy to look after. i have just planted one in my garden so feel free to check out my latest photos to see what it looks like. another would be Skimmia again it is evergreen and it has bright red flower buds on this time of year which open into pink or cream flowers again well behaved and easy to care for. if you want something that will get a bit bigger than these two you could try Witch Hazel which has really interesting bright orange or yellow flowers in the winter and early spring, but it does drop its leaves in autumn but before it does they turn a brilliant orange, and the flowers are far more visable on bare stems anyway - the leaves are quite attractive in the summer so this plant does give all year round interest, and is easy to keep, but the one draw back is it can get big and resents too much pruning, so it is best to only opt for this one if you have the space for it! if your not too fussed about flowers Aucuba is a good evergreen plant and you can get some lovely varigated varieties such as 'Variegata' or 'Crotonifolia' and one last reccomend would be Photinia beautiful red foliege easy to grow but will need cutting back every so often. - just a few of my favorites i have pics of them all in my garden feel free to have a look. hope this info helps.

Like Spritz I find this site helps my record keeping, my garden feature holds a lot of information that I will add to and refer to next year, reading the blogs and questions is fun and it's so friendly, fun to give and get help
The new seed exchange looks promising too. Love all the wonderful photos, nice to see and it gives me inspiratin for my garden..

I was given the addy by my father in law, came for a look and stayed. It's such a friendly community and I never feel stupid asking what some may consider basic questions.The fantastic gardens that are shared on here aspire me to more in my own plot.
Great subjects, fab people !! One of the best sites on the net! Long live GOY

Another thought - since I joined and started taking photos of my garden and flowers, it has made me set up a proper filing system on my laptop (by months, subdivided into 'plants and flowers', 'tubs' and 'borders'). I've also got a 'Projects' file with before, during and after pictures. This system is now a good record that I can refer to next year in order to see what worked and what I should change. A great help to me! I wouldn't have been so organised without this site, I am quite sure.

hi Gemma, yes i completely agree with what the others have said, i just stumpled apon this website by chance it came up on my search engine when i was trying to get advice on toxic plants. and now i am completely addicted. any advice i need is alway here on any garden subject and i also love helping others out too. its great for insparation and ideas and also a great way of keeping record of what plants i have and whats going on in my garden, - i love plants and have quite a few in my fairly small garden so i can store all sorts of useful info as well as sharing experiences with others who are actually interested. i have already past it onto a few of my friends that have a bit of a dabble and they like it too! pat on the back to Ajay and Peter - fantastic idea!

Ditto ! i love this site and ive found some really nice helpful people ,made some nice friends who I may never meet but they are always here to give advice ,and just chat to you , long may GOY continue ! and a big Thanks to you all for starting it !

Hallo Gemma - I first heard about GOY in an article in the Amateur Gardening magazine - I know other members joined this way, too. As soon as I read the blogs and questions and looked at the photos I knew it was a friendly site and soon became completely at home here. I have found friends and like-minded gardeners. Any question posted finds an answer - people go to some trouble finding answers, I know I try to help when I can! The more you give, the more you get on this site. Encouragement, interest, help and friendship are what GOY is all about. A big thank you to Ajay and Peter for setting it up!

Just thought i would leave a comment after reading your blog. Myself i am not much of a garden gardener, i am more of a greenhouse gardener. I first heard about growsonyou through the booklet that comes from The National Begonia Society, as i am a member. I logged on for a look, and joined. I find this site is really very friendly, everyone seems eager to help everyone else which is brilliant. I feel i can write blogs about the growing of my Begonias and, as its a gardening site, will likely be of interest to others - most other sites would probably find it a bore! I've not yet looked into this new facebook feature, but shall be doing so shortly. As you may gather from my blogs, if you've seen them, i grow Begonias and show them at local shows during summer. I've not come across another site quite like this one! Writing blogs about the growing and various stages of the season may be a help to someone that is starting to grow Begonias, but also it is a way of keeping notes for myself that i may want to refer back to at a future date, killing two birds with one stone, so to speak! Hope this is of interest to you, good luck in helping Ajay and Peter in spreading the news and expanding this online gardening community.

What variety of Clematis is it? They are greedy plants and it would enjoy a feed and some good compost round its roots.

Hallo and welcome! We all have to start somewhere, we are all different, too. I'm always having to look things up and also to ask advice from people who take the time to answer my questions and try to solve problems! Keep reading and asking, it's welcomed and there's always someone who knows the answer..:-)

Hi Gemma. I've found that as a new gardener like yourself no question is too silly for these guys!! They are great with advice and support. Long live GOY!

Once you start to garden it takes a hold, you rarely get it right first time but when you do its great so do enjoy!

Hi Gemma,

I'm more of a veg grower myself, but I am trying flowers this year for the first time. I got a lot of bulbs (tulips, daffs, aliums and crocus via Daily Express offers which I have planted. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Welcome to Grows on You , I hope like me you meet lots of new friends and very helpful people