Ah haaaaaaaa!!

Next door finally got a gardening firm to come in and attack their ivy. Now this was only 2 days ago and I'm not sure if they are finished but by the looks of things I hope they will be back. You should see the state of her garden!

I have just been out into my garden and attacked the ivy that is trying to take over. Sadly I can't reach on top of the shed so that will wait for Mr Mouse to attack. I have stripped the back wall of the dreaded stuff and so now will go on the hunt for the any little shoots that dare to show their faces.

Can anyone give me some tips on getting rid of the damm stuff??

I did have some planted in my garden (yep, bad move by me!) but am now being taken over by that and next doors giant ivy too. I have chopped all my ivy at the roots and am waiting for it to die but next doors keeps on marching into my garden. I did get bold last week and sprayed the ivy with some week killer but it seems the stuff runs off the ivys shiney leaves and does nothing

So, short of using a flame thrower has anyone got any tips for removing the dreaded ivy??

Oh what a great group to find!

I am what I call a "I'll do it in a minute" gardener. This means I am full of good intentions but never get around to doing whatever needs doing. Result....one bedgragled looking garden!

A few months ago I decided to rip my garden to bits and gave everything that was a staying a severe haircut. The bushes that were going go dug up and put on the council compost heap. I had a bay tree that I go with no more than 7 leaves on a few years back that was now 6ft tall. Sadly we forgot to dig the roots up and here it comes again. See, something else I never go around to doing!

Well, today saw me get my self ready to plant up some beetroot and runner beans. Have I done it? Course not!! I have been out there, hung the washing out, brushed the dog, read a magazine, inspected the roses and come in. Well, I have the seeds so that's a start

Hello All,

First off, I would like to say that I have not the greenest fingers in the world so, what some may see below as shocking, I see as a major achievement.

The patch in front of my house to the right of the front door has always had roses in it. The garden is overgrown to say the least (and that is after the major clearance operation last year) and I have decided to put up some white climbing roses (the lounge window is above). I have chosen two different types:

White Night and Iceberg I can't find any reference anywhere for 'White Night' rose which I bought in Homebase this morning, but it apparently produces clusters of semi-double white scented flowers. We shall see.

The problem I have that our soil is very dry and rubbly and roses like a well drained soil, so I will have to keep an eye on the watering I suppose. Any further suggestions for taking care of roses?

I know it's a little late to plant roses, but they're still available, and I'm thinking of getting another type, perhaps a different colour. I like the idea of roses climbing up the wall. Here are some pics:

BEFORE (scuppered by a couple of thunder storms)

AFTER (I got all the weeds I could  - I know I will have to keep an eye on them, the dandelion roots are quite deep and anoying)

It's not perfect, I know, but I need to settle them in. You can see what awful soil I have to put up with. Methinks working some more compost would be good. And once the (inevitable) third thunder storm hits, then I can reassess the weed situation.

Here is the Iceberg:

And here's what I'm hoping it will look like in full bloom:

Right, now all I have to do is tackle the area to the left of the front door, which currently looks like this:

Gil. x