My guest book

Comments: 69
  • #69

    JohnJamesSmith2023@outlook.com (Wednesday, 29 May 2024 21:57)

    Very helpful website, would recommend

  • #68

    Lalo (Sunday, 28 January 2024 19:32)

    Your article on constructing anti-flood berms was very helpful. Thank you indeed

  • #67

    Mike (Wednesday, 15 November 2023 17:04)

    Thanks for your comments Sally B

  • #66

    Sally B (Wednesday, 15 November 2023 00:45)

    I love this advice and your comment "unless your neighbour is a violent nutter" - so funny and informative.

  • #65

    Angela Susana (Friday, 20 October 2023 22:52)

    Compre una casa y tiene hiedra enorme que tapa todo el cerco,como se puede anular..la he cortado pero sale con mas fuerza.

  • #64

    keith (Sunday, 30 October 2022 21:19)

    this article needs amending it says feed ferrets bread what nonsense is that they are obligate carnivores and should never be fed bread, veg or anything thats not meat apart from the odd raw egg

  • #63

    Brian Ives (Thursday, 30 June 2022 12:55)

    we have a slight problem car park/garages at back, flood as originally went to road, then put to soak away which collapsed due to pipe age, area is 530m x 25 m = run off so in realty about 50 x 100m how deep would one need to be?

  • #62

    mike (Sunday, 10 October 2021 23:27)

    Hello Joan, instead of peddling false info. why don't you read (if you can read) the official report into Glyphosate.

  • #61

    Joan R Hasselbach (Sunday, 10 October 2021 18:59)

    Glyphosate causes cancer. Shame on you

  • #60

    Rosie (Monday, 26 July 2021 15:27)

    Thank you for a wonderfully informative website, I found it really useful for building a natural pond.

  • #59

    Don McBride (Friday, 09 July 2021 03:05)

    Where can I get a 6 inch diameter drainage relief valve?

  • #58

    Geoffrey Evans (Tuesday, 06 July 2021 14:14)

    If I apply Glyphosate to Snowberry will the roots of nearby plants be affected please?

  • #57

    mike (Tuesday, 06 July 2021 10:52)

    Hi John, the link and photo/link to amazon are working. Are you using an add filter, that could maybe, be removing the link

  • #56

    John (Saturday, 03 July 2021 22:51)

    On this page:
    https://www.flowerpotman.com/building-services/wrought-iron-maintenance/
    it says "The kit featured here, available from amazon has all the drill attachments you will need."

    Unfortunately, there *is* no kit "featured here", and there is *no* other information on the page about what kind of kit you're talking about, what it's called, what's in it, or how to get it. Also, there are no photos so that we can see what kind of kit you're talking about. Please either include information on the kit or remove the reference to what we can't see or link to.

  • #55

    steve (Friday, 11 June 2021 18:55)

    Hi Mike,
    Great article's I want to level my back garden located in Cardiff it's 16feet wide and 27feet long I would like 3 tiers 13 ft 10 ft and 3ft at the top just for a raised bed for flowers to grow up against the railway security fence.
    I am hoping to deck the two levels and use railway sleepers as retaining walls.
    I have cleared the ground, could you please tell me where to start, i have photos if your on WhatsApp I would also be happy to pay a consultation fee.
    Kind Regards,
    Steve

  • #54

    Dale (Sunday, 30 May 2021 23:39)

    Giant Hogweed - dangers and eradication. A photo of a young plant and mature plant in leaf would help identification. It's too late to wait for the flowerhead to form which is the only picture given. Also being highly toxic it needs to be identified in the first year of it's biennial growth so that it can be removed safely wearing appropriate protective clothing. Given that it becomes extremely hazardous when cut down because of the toxic sap and then has to be disposed of at a licenced waste site, although none of us like it a systemic herbicide is probably the best solution for removal. And only handle it with impervious gloves when completely dead.

  • #53

    Caroline (Thursday, 20 May 2021 13:39)

    Can this be grown on ground which has hard core on it ( prepared for AstroTurf)

  • #52

    L Smith (Friday, 05 March 2021 12:43)

    Lots of good information but spell check it!

  • #51

    Axel (Sunday, 07 February 2021 15:49)

    Glycophosphate? You got to be kidding, that stuff is very carcinogenic.

  • #50

    Francis (Thursday, 21 January 2021 14:15)

    Just to add to the help page on controlling or eliminating Bindweed. I thought your subscribers might find this addition helpful.

    Having done battle with Bindweed in my garden when I lived in Cardiff (where it rained regularly) over many years, and noting your aversion to glycophospate, I found that the way to overcome the plants was to unpick the creeper off the garden plants, minimising damage to the Bindweed, and to gather its stems and leaves -everything above ground - into polythene bags, so the bags would end up upside down and the plant would remain viable (for a few days). I would then apply/spray the gylcophospate into the polythene bag and then gently tie it off at its open end, and leave the weedkiller to do its work over several days. This allowed the toxins to be carried well into the root system over several days, minimised the amount of weedkiller needed, meant that it could be used right next to delicate garden plants - and was a solution that worked even when was raining regularly.

    I thought Bindweed was bad. I moved house to Reading, and discovered Horsetail, and that dealing with Bindweed was like being on the Kindergarten slopes of weed control. I still have roofing felt sheets down after 3 years and stuff popping up wherever it likes (even through the felt sheeting in places).

  • #49

    Yvonne (Saturday, 02 January 2021 00:30)

    Hi please could you tell me if there are any men with ferrets in the Redcar Cleveland area, I bc am desperate to clear my eaves of rats. We have spent hundreds of pounds on various rat catches, none of them have successfully done it. Thanks

  • #48

    Michelle (Tuesday, 15 December 2020 20:31)

    You say "not sure why you would want to keep frogs and toads out of your garden". I'm not sure how you can think that. Toads are the most repulsive things ever invented. They stop me from being able to live freely as from October til April of every year I cannot go outside after dark because of them. I cannot even bear to look at them and you couldn't pay me a million dollars to go near one. I have been trapped outside my house because there has been one near my front door and I have had to leave my car windows down in the rain because there has been one near my car. That's why someone wouldn't want them in their yard.

  • #47

    Jerome (Tuesday, 18 August 2020 01:25)

    When you mention use of gravel, are you speaking of screened gravel or clear gravel?

  • #46

    Suzy Payne (Tuesday, 14 July 2020 11:54)

    Looking for a quote to instal a boules court in north London

  • #45

    Hugo Murray (Tuesday, 09 June 2020 12:35)

    Your contribution is read by people the world over from all countries, the vast majority of which are using the metric system of measurements. It might be a nice courtesy to include the alternative metric measurements in metres & centimetres

  • #44

    Jason (Tuesday, 24 September 2019 01:16)

    why is it mentioned that salt is environmentally unfriendly as weed control but weed killer is not? weed killer is carcinogenic and far more harmful. https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/14/health/us-glyphosate-cancer-study-scli-intl/index.html. It is in our groundwater and food supply now and increasing. Im no hippie but i do want clean food and water.

  • #43

    Kenny (Thursday, 19 September 2019 20:11)

    What a pair of humorless waspies, bet they didn't leave email addresses.

  • #42

    Rupert Pearman (Monday, 16 September 2019 12:00)

    Hello' I have created a clay pond using imported puddling clay (Imported from Devon) Everything was done as you suggest however it leaks and the top layer of clay has turned to mush. Should the pond have been blinded to prevent continuous contact between the clay and water? I suspect hat this liquification of the clay is what is causing it to leak but am unsure why it has happened. Would you have any advice please>?

    Thankyou

    Rupert Pearman

  • #41

    Al Natural (Wednesday, 24 July 2019 15:10)

    The fact that you advise your readers to apply Glyphosates in their garden exposes your lack of knowledge and /or responsibility.
    Shame on you sir!

  • #40

    Mike (Friday, 28 June 2019 00:27)

    Hi Jac, thanks for your comments, no not on facebook. Sorry but never find ants a problem. They will be gone before you know it.

  • #39

    jaq Boc (Thursday, 27 June 2019 23:09)

    hi again Mike
    Any tips of removing ants? just about all my garden pots and lawn are covered with them :(

  • #38

    jaq Boc (Thursday, 27 June 2019 22:53)

    Hi Mike, great web page thanks.
    do you have a facebook page ?

    jaq in Burnham on crouch, Essex.

  • #37

    Linda smith (Thursday, 13 June 2019 20:58)

    My front garden is a bog every time it rains water come out underneath front step

  • #36

    cas (Monday, 10 June 2019 11:18)

    keep on killing nature using posion, why don't ya !!

  • #35

    deb (Saturday, 08 June 2019 08:01)

    what is the rubber pond liner repair kit you recommend?

  • #34

    Little Weed (Sunday, 07 April 2019 03:19)

    We are planning to convert our home to as climate-resistant, eco-friendly a state as possible, and your guide to planting for climate change was just what I needed to plan the garden.

    One piece of advice you give, however, has since been overtaken by events - as of 2018, rain across most of the UK has been sufficiently acidic to damage gardens, so watering from a rain barrel is now worse for most plants than tapwater.

    But on the other hand, rainwater doesn't have to be pumped from a resevoir, so it's the more environmentally friendly option overall.

  • #33

    Paula (Thursday, 04 April 2019)

    Trying to get rid of ivy. If roots are left in ground will they sprout?
    NO roundup please. Causes cancer which is worse than ivy.

  • #32

    Nancy V Fortunato R.N. (Saturday, 30 March 2019)

    i AM LOOKING FOR SCALLION BULBS TO PLANT IN MY GARDEN DO YOU SELL THEM?

  • #31

    S Bazlinton (Wednesday, 30 January 2019 19:08)

    No one seems to know or mention in information about badgers that they rip apart wild bee nests.
    Over a 18mth period we had 15 wild bee nests destroyed and two wasp nests on a 1.5 acre site in the countryside. Just imagine how many that must be throughout the country, no wonder wild bee numbers are declining!!!
    As a beekeeper this is of serious concern as they are known to push over bee hives!

  • #30

    Mr Christopher Anderson. (Sunday, 27 January 2019 21:05)

    Dear sir.

    I am currently working my way through a Japanese garden design course it’s an online company called horticultural correspondence college. I was wondering if you have any tips on how to design a sensory garden?

  • #29

    pat (Wednesday, 23 January 2019 18:23)

    im planning to put a straw bale in a box to rot and hopefully heat the green house to some degree, my green house is 18 ft long, will one bale of straw have enough effect to notice.

  • #28

    EDIE (Sunday, 20 January 2019 09:45)

    HI,
    JUST READ AN NEWSPAPER ARTICLE STATING THAT IN THE PLIGHT TO SAVE OUR POLLINATORS
    BRAMBLES ARE IMPORTANT. AS I'M NOT A GARDENER, CAN YOU PLEASE TELL ME IF IT IS POSSIBLE TO GROW BRAMBLES IN LARGE POTS, TO HELP MANAGE THEM?
    THANK YOU

  • #27

    Carol (Thursday, 17 January 2019 22:16)

    Really useful information. We are living on an old finca up a mountain in Spain. All highly terraced with a lot of repairs needed. Do you have further suggestions for repairing a collapsed terrace? Also, our water comes via acequias, old moorish channels, some of the terraces around these have collapsed due to water flow or change of course. Any thoughts on how to manage where water is involved?
    Many thanks

  • #26

    Veruca (Thursday, 20 December 2018 19:58)

    Hi,

    I like your picture of the ground covers. I'm using it as a goal for my summer patio planting. Thanks.

  • #25

    jean gibbs (Monday, 12 November 2018 10:30)

    I'vebeen told that badgers wont dig through gravel - is this true? they've certainly done all the other things in your helpful article!

  • #24

    Bill Carss (Friday, 26 October 2018)

    My garden pond is 3 to 2 feet deep and I want to turn into a bog garden. The bottom is covered in mud and plant debris, lily roots etc, Do I have to clean it all out and can I fill it in the bottom with old building materials and to what depth?
    Bill

  • #23

    Nigel O (Sunday, 21 October 2018 11:05)

    I have ivy intertwined in leylandii. I can cut the ivy stems a foot or so above the ground, but it isn't practicable to get the roots out of the ground. You suggest using glyphosate on the remaining stems, but doesn't glyphosate only work on green leaves, not a bare stem?

    If you will reply here I will revisit this page for an answer; thanks.

  • #22

    S C Bazlinton (Tuesday, 28 August 2018 09:53)

    Thanks for the helpful info on badgers. A real problem. However you don’t seem to have mentioned their predilection for bees nests and bee hives. Over a 18 month period we had 15 wild bee (and a couple of wasp nests) ripped open by badgers, this on a 1.5 acre site, this replicated across the country is an immense destruction of pollinators! In Essex we have had hives pushed over by badgers. I am a bee keeper.

  • #21

    Bobbi White (Saturday, 23 June 2018 14:15)

    I really appreciate your page about gardening for people with disabilities! I'm 71 and have bad osteoarthritis.

    One thing I'm having real problems with in the lovely weather is watering. I have a full water butt, but I can't use the water because I can't carry a full (or even half full) watering can, and our household taps are not suitable for attaching a hose. This could be remedied in time but I need to water NOW!
    Can't attach a hose to the water butt either as the tap isn't suitable. I have acquired a new tap for that purpose but unless |I drain the water it can't be fitted.
    How about putting your adaptive skills to work on a way to move water round the garden - I can't find any information about this on the internet, although yours is certainly the most helpful site I've found!

  • #20

    Jill (Friday, 15 June 2018 00:11)

    Hi Mike
    I am involved in creating a sensory, therapeutic and social garden at my son's long term care home in Hordle, Hampshire. They have a lovely garden overlooking a field with woods at the far end. My son, who has cerebral palsy and is quadriplegic spastic, has lived there with 5 other residents with complex and multiple disabilities for the last 20 years. The garden had only had a lawn cut and quick hedge cut during that time.

    With the incentive of an inter care home gardening competition in 2015, I decided to take a proper look at the garden. It was overgrown with fir trees, nettles and weeds with no place to grow anything new. I found some ‘pop up garden bins’ from a discount store and filled them with compost so the first year we were able to grow some tomatoes, chillies and lettuce. But I am only a very amateur gardener.

    In 2016 I started a volunteer’s monthly garden working party to help cut down trees, weed and make some space for more vegetables and bulbs for the next spring. We are now in our 4th season but have had difficulty getting enough new volunteers. I came across your flowerpotman website when filling in time on my phone during a rather boring meeting! Wow! what a revelation that you are offering all this advice to make a sensory garden. I’ve now copied it out for my son’s care home as I want to inspire them with the possibilities of using the garden in a more creative way.

    Mike, are you available for helping look at what is priority and what is possible in an existing garden?
    Does anybody else have experience of creating a sensory garden for adults with multiple disabilities?

Some comments from the old guestbook

 

Ifound this site most informative, however our small garden is on clay and is always flooding as our neighbor is on higher ground so we have extra water seeping into our garden, in heavy rain the borders flood, cantget into the surface water drain because of an extensive patio, prebuilt. 

Thanks for your ideas. Well done

 

This is my first time having a greenhouse but your tips have been very useful. thank you 

 

great site/ so informative / am now going to try straw bale veg plot !! thank you 

What a lovely, unusual and interesting website. Thank you! 

Good information. As the population ages more and more information will be sought out. Having been asked to speak on this subject to a local garden club I have been surprised at the scarcity of information on this subject.

 

just been reading up on hay bale gardening...cant wait to start!!

I was searching for information on draining my waterlogged garden and found this site extremely helpful. All the info you would ever need to solve your drainage problems

 

Thanks, really looking forward to my projects just don't have the money yet LOL 

 

We would just like to say how pleased we were with the work you did, in providing a wheelchair accessible back garden. The advice given was just right, and the work done in a friendly and efficient manner. Many thanks. 

 

enjoyed looking at your website-found it informative and interesting.i have recently bought four p.o.ls and was relieved to find a sensible website to refer to should any problems arise

 

 

i work with people with dementia and this has given me lots of ideas to help those with an interest in gardening...thank you! I particularly liked the straw bale planting idea x 

 

I love this website. I am an occupational therapist trying to start a garden for those who are differently abled. Thank you for all of your ideas. I wish I could hire you out, but "crossing the pond" would be a bit of a trek. Thanks again. 

 

would love to plant in a bale of hay ,i have read about it for years , now i am a widow and 84 yeard old my husband would have loved to do this but he died. i am hopping on a broken foot and back drawn from osteo and all kinds of arthritus , i think i could work with a couple bales of hay, i love to grow but need to know just how to do it, could you tell me what to do, thanks mary lou johnson 

 

I have read the (Small Garden advice)Really informative without drowning me in information. I now have a clearer idea of where and how to start planning my new garden from scratch - new build house! Thankyou

 

 I love the amount of information on your website, it's very helpful, interesting & user friendly. Found it when trying to design a sensory garden as part of my college work. Some more images would be lovely! Thank you. 

 

Just up the road. Found your site be accident looking for ideas to landscape / terrace a hill. May call you for a quote as you seem to know what is what. Great site. 

 

Found your garden drainage page really useful