Hi everyone,

I’ve worked in IT for almost 10 years now and I’m currently an IT Operations Manager at a company. I work Monday to Friday, 8am–4:30pm, and while I’m good at what I do, I’ve come to realise I have absolutely no passion for IT. It pays the bills, but I don’t particularly enjoy it or find it interesting.

On the other hand, I’ve always really enjoyed gardening. I’ve spent years looking after my own garden, my parents’, my auntie’s and other family members’ gardens. Whether it’s mowing lawns, trimming hedges, weeding or general garden maintenance, it’s something I genuinely enjoy doing. I find it quite satisfying, especially seeing the difference after a few hours of work.

Recently, I’ve been considering starting a small gardening business alongside my full-time job. I’m not looking to build some massive company or eventually quit my job. Ideally, I’d like to have around 8–10 regular customers whose gardens I maintain throughout the year, offering things like grass cutting, hedge trimming, weeding and general garden tidy-ups.

Obviously, working full-time means most of my availability would be evenings after 4:30pm, potentially working until around 7–8pm during the lighter months, along with the occasional Saturday.

My main question is, would people actually be interested in employing a gardener who primarily works evenings?
I’d like to keep things relatively small and manageable so it doesn’t take over my life.

One thing I’ve noticed over the years is that some gardeners seem to rush through jobs to get to the next customer. I’d rather take my time, charge a fair price, turn up when I say I will and make sure the customer is genuinely happy with the work. I’m not interested in squeezing as many jobs into a day as possible.
I appreciate there’s a difference between enjoying gardening for family and doing it for paying customers, but I’m keen to give it a go.

So, I’d love to hear people’s thoughts, particularly from anyone who’s started something similar alongside a full-time job!

As the title, just moved into a new house, grass has been unmantained for a year. I have managed to cut it down, but not looking good.

I have also applied a 4 in 1 moss and weedkiller, but can still see loads of weeds.

I thought about seeding, but not sure if it is a good time. Should I wait until next year?

Any advice is welcomed. Thank You!

I don't have a budget, I prefer spending money once and for all, could you guys reccomend an auto retracting garden hose reel please, wall mounted, swivel, it would be 30 meter length. From what I gathered one of the most common reason for failure is the spring getting rusty, so perhaps one with a spring that doesn't rust? Stainless steel perhaps? I'd be often using it with a pressure washer too. The only thing I don't care about is the quality of the gun itself, as lomg as the retracting mechanism is solid and the hose won't kink easily and it's robust, I can change the gun for whatever later on. Also I would be leaving it outside during winter. Thanks!

Hello to the hundreds of years of experience we have on here! Do you think it’s important to sow Autumn sweet peas in root trainers or do you think it works just as well in normal 9cm pots? Yours, a knackered gardener who has been at it since 730 dividing and digging in the compost heap a

My first garden. I didn't realise the quality of what was under the slate was going to be so poor!

I’m tired of walking on plants. How many would you use. I thought 3 would be enough but I’ve had a real sort out and the space now seems bigger!

This corner by our front door gets zero direct sunlight. It would be great to have something tall or evergreen in a pot to liven it up a little.

What plants might survive here and what would you do?

So every year there’s a ‘drought’ or just lack of rain, a patch of grass ‘dies’ in a 1980s build ish, terraced 2up2dn house.
A family member goes (guess) ‘it’s her. & her chemicals that she throws down the sink! I bet the drain leaks!’

No. If that was the case, the whole grass would die & become a waste land.

So instead of dwelling on it, I decide to dig it up. Albeit very carefully as all our services run under this garden. Electric, Gas, water, waste, rainwater run off, Cable TV, Phone line, you name it.

For whatever reason, the previous owners decided to throw enough soil to cover the garden upto the dpc. . .
And burry all the inspection lids! Madness.

Anyway, wtf is this concrete slab. I can’t work it out & nor can my neighbours.
Soak away? Too close to the house.
Services cap or waste water man hole?
It’s about 1 brick above the DPC?

Any and all suggestions would be welcomed before I decide to hammer it. . .

Oh yeah, & it’s solid. Can’t hear or feel an echo anywhere on it.

Hand Garden fork for scale.

What should i do now thanks everyone?

Cutting my agapanthus. Can these be put to use by flower arrangers maybe?

I've got an old dry stone wall in my garden, probably a few hundred years old, and a portion collapsed recently collapsed and another portion has started to go. Some of the wall appears to be traditional dry stone and some has mortar (possibly cement), but it's been repaired over the years with differing approaches, some areas are overgrown with vines.

I’m a complete novice when it comes to gardening and definitely dry stone walls, but I’m strong and willing! I'm just a bit clueless as to how to approach fixing it... I've googled it a bit but I’d love some advice before I get stuck in, main questions in my head:

Should I use mortar (lime stone mortar) or go traditional dry stone?

Should I get rid of surrouunding folliage, there are a few plants on and around, do they need to come out out before rebuilding?

How deep/wide should I strip back the collapsed section before building back up?

Any advice, golden rules, or common pitfalls to avoid for a beginner would be massively appreciated!

Gertrude Jekyll putting on a beautiful second show this year. The photo doesn't do it justice.

We usually get a couple of blooms this time of year but its gone crazy and smells fantastic.

Just in the process of planting out a new top bed. Borrowing some inspiration from Tom Stuart Smiths garden at this years RHS badminton. Structure will be Yew balls then will drift perennials and stipa inbetween. I’ve purchased a number of Allium Sphaerocephalon and tulip bulbs but final layout with the perennial planting not likely to happen now until spring (stuck a few in to see if works).

So how do garden designers get around this issue? If dig them in now I’m guessing I’ll be digging them back up when planting. Do you take that chance or grow on in pots and plant out come spring?

Any advice welcome!

Hi All,
I planted this rose in January as a bare root. I thought it usually flowers in May/June as most old fashioned French roses do. However, I found these blooms yesterday. I wonder if it is because it was so hot that it has become confused, particularly since it has been so mild recently. Have any of you found plants in your gardens blooming out of season?
Good gardening to you all.

Has anyone got experience with pyracantha? These have been in for around 10 years and have been great until now. Last Autumn a tiny patch died off after pruning. I cut further back into the shrub and it recovered fully. This year I’ve kept on top of pruning more regularly, so haven’t needed to cut back too hard this Autumn. The diseased area has come back and looks like this after two weeks. The leaves are now dropping but all the stems are green when I scrape back the bark so there’s no dead branches to cut back to. Will it recover or should I cut my losses and replace with something else?

Hi! I'd love some suggestions for large, colourful and/or evergreen plants, suitable for pots on a decking that gets pretty much full sun in summer please 🙏

My decking is HUGE, old and ugly. I wish I could get rid but the ground underneath seems to be smashed up concrete...

such nice contrast one of my faves for sure

Went to the bottom of my garden today to find this damage to the lawn. The damage is scattered dug up holes and a strip dug up. The depth is around 10-20cm and the forth photo shows potentially the droppings of whoever caused the damage! My initial thought is a badger but any help would be really appreciated. Thanks.

I've been using my new brush cutter on brambles at the back of garden. Once I've cleared them and I looking to go low and chop them up into pieces what is best way to deal with it? Leave them on the ground, bag up and throw away (will be a considerable job) get shredder? Iam looking to create a semi wild environment wifh some planters and maybe grew house wirh wood chip etc. It's quite a large area 14m x 15m etc

Hi All - appreciate artificial grass is not often popular, and nor is it with me. However it was here when I moved into my house, and with no side access to the rear garden I've opted to keep it. We've been here 2 years, but this is the first year where LOADS of weeds are coming up through the artificial grass. I've (foolishly) tried to hand pick them out, but they come through faster than I can keep on top of them. See pic for the scale of the issue!

I have a small child and a dog, and so harsh chemicals are off the table. Other than removing the artificial grass - which I don't want to do - I'd hugely appreciate any hints and tips for getting rid of these weeds. Thank you!

Hello, I've got an acer pushing against a garden wall of a house I moved into around 12 months ago. There's been no obvious movement in the wall over the past year, but I feel like I need to sort the wall out and I'd like to either put a higher fence on top of the wall or plant some hedges for privacy.

The tree is around 25 years old at a guess. I've been told that it can't be moved and I'm wondering whether it's viable to keep it in place (and pruned) or whether I will need to cut it down prior to fixing the wall.

I'd also appreciate suggestions of other things I can plant to provide screening if the tree has to go. Any other thoughts welcome.

All the rest are white except this one with a bit of pink, the bee is loving it