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Fenman

Why or how?

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Flowering Annual

Posts: 229

15-05-08 22:26

Flowering Annual

Not everyone enjoys gardening. So I have been wondering why or how each of you became interested in the tilling of soil and the tending of plants.
In my case, my mother suggested that a summer job would keep me out of mischief or something! Seems she had one all lined up for me. All I had to do was show up at one of the local greenhouses and they would put me to work.
This was in 1950 just after my eleventh birthday so I got an early start on looking after plants and such. Mother told me not to expect much in the way of wages as I didn't know very much. Mothers know their kids!
The boss asked me how much I wanted per week, and I said I dont know very much and whatever he thought I was worth would do! So he figured a pound a week would be about right. Now for an eleven year old that was a lot of money, but I did earn it putting in a 44 hour week.
I did learn a lot over the next few years and I enjoyed the work. Even though some of it was heavey manual labour. A lot of the work was peaceful and gave a person time to think and enjoy the out doors. Mothers know what is best for their kids it seems.
When I first started work they use to send the tomatoes to market in the round wicker baskets, but they went out of style shortly afterwards. I always liked those baskets, they remind me of the paintings of covent garden and the porters with them piled on their heads.
After my first summer holidays were over I stayed on working on Saturdays and any other day I didn't have to go to school. I got a big raise then to a shilling an hour! I guess I must have learnt something that summer.
During the winter they use to bring in a traction steam engin, which generated the steam to steralize the soil in the greenhouses. Now this was hard work as the pipes had to be buried down a long ways, like about 18 inches so it was double digging and wheeling in the manure. I don't think it did me any harm and it still left me time to be a kid during the evenings and what was left of the weekends.
Anyway that job gave me my start in the enjoyment of gardening, how about you?

Pip at Home

#1

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Established Tree

Posts: 3621

15-05-08 23:36

The Boss

My parents were very keen gardeners, although they never spent any money on plants, they used to go down to the local park and collect up plants from the compost heaps and bring them home. Seeds were used to bring on veggies and my dad was a great believer in composting. They also kept chickens and ducks, so as long as we didn't want lamb or beef we were almost self-sufficient.

I, on the other hand, had absolutely no interest in gardening whatsoever. It wasn't until after I was married, and my husband being an ex-landscape gardener, that I started taking an interest in the garden. It was all very borderline though because he knew just what shrubs were right in the various places and whipped through jobs so I just sat there and enjoyed it apart from having a say in the design of the garden.

It wasn't until we moved onto the coast that I started taking an interest in planting and growing. Sox used to landscape big areas - he did most of Basingstoke landscaping - and therefore wasn't into perennials or annuals. The shrubs simply do not work when you are living virtually on the beach and everything we bought, at his insistance, simply curled its toes up.

I started growing some seeds. I remember laying my seed trays out on an old wallpaper pasting table, and I used to love pricking out each individual seeding and cherishing it. I absolutely refused to throw one single plant away.

The back garden was completely stripped by the hurricane and we even had to have new walls built.

I then I started digging and generally improving the soil. The whole of my back garden was then filled with annuals. Every evening I would go out there watering and deheading. I must admit it made a lovely show, but the work was enormous. I gradually discovered perennials and ways to clothe the walls of the garden to dissapate the wind. The garden began to look a bit more established.

I decided to develop a courtyard from a small blank area by the kitchen door.

Before:

Sox tending the plants after:

By now I was totally hooked on gardening, but my biggest challenge was when I developed the blank canvas that was my front garden, but you have all seen the stages of development of that one.

As mentioned earlier garden design had always been something I had loved, and I was fortunate enough to be able to design several gardens for other people in my area, and also did some general gardening. Nowadays my own garden is as much as I can cope with, but I still love it intensely.

MacT1

#2

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Established Tree

Posts: 13805

15-05-08 23:37

We always had a garden when I was young and we had to help dig weed and feed the vegetables and flowers. We moved when I was 10 and the house had a huge garden and although I used to moan about having to spend so much time helping in the garden secretly I did enjoy seeing things grow especially in the flower garden . I , too, never lost the interest and only wish I could do more in my garden that I do .

scissorhands

#3

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Flowering Annual

Posts: 436

16-05-08 00:45

Flowering Annual

My maternal grandmother had a large garden and my mum thinks I got my love of gardening from her. However when me and Plot were buying our first house I wanted a reasonable garden (and he didnt because he thought I would "garden like my mum" ie demands and no action) By default we ended up with a long garden which we both loved. Plot then set his sights on a lottie but I wouldn't let him have one as I thought I would never see him, and with a small Phil I didnt want this. I said he could only have a lottie if it was attached to the garden, I thought that didnt happen and then Plot, bit between the teeth, found Stanley (our house) I loved the house but love the Garden and lotties more.

mammaj

#4

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Established Tree

Posts: 2688

16-05-08 07:09

Mature Shrub

I couldn't really say but it's nice to hear other people's stories, to be honest I've had to battle to have any sort of garden as Him in the fields being a farmer dislikes ornamental stuff & the tractor often passes through the middle of the garden so I garden in bits around his needs to get to different fields!

Christine Ann

#5

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Established Tree

Posts: 18482

16-05-08 08:52

Quiz Coordinator

My father was a keen gardener and allotmentist (

is there such a word?). I think it was through necessity as I grew up postwar and money was short. I can't remember ever helping in his gardens, mainly because he was so impatient and wasn't prepared/able to teach me what to do. However, as soon as I left home and became friendly with a short-term boyfriends' mother I set to and helped her in her garden and I think that must have triggered an interest.

When we were newly married Kev was very anti-gardening and lived in a flat but as soon as we had our own house with a small garden the interest blossomed simply because it was there and needed tending.

I don't think even now that I'm as an enthusiastic gardener as some on here but I do enjoy being outside and seeing the plants grow - all ornamental. When it gets to August my interest tends to wane somewhat as the ground is hard and the weeds are winning - but at the moment I'm itching to get out there and win the battle once more.

Last Edited By: Christine Ann 16-05-08 11:45. Edited 1 time.

Mrs Muggleton

#6

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Established Tree

Posts: 4553

16-05-08 09:12

Established Tree

My mum is a keen gardener, and both sets of my grandparents were. My maternal grandfather had a huge garden filled with veg and my grandma used to plant the front with flowers and I remember helping them both. I have found out recently that my mums grandad was a gardener at a local hall, so it obviously runs deep!

I prefer growing edible stuff rather than pretty stuff really, but like my garden to look nice.

Lass

#7

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Mature Shrub

Posts: 2601

16-05-08 09:28

Mature Shrub

Fenman, thanks for starting what looks to be a super thread.

My enjoyment of gardening has grown with age! As a child both my parents worked and so my Mother became an 'instant' gardener by going down 'Petticoat Lane' or one of the other markets and buying loads of annuals. I remember a garden full of stocks, phlox, carnations, pinks, marigolds and anything else with a long flowering period. They did have some roses too and I remember my Father puffing smoke on them from his ciggie to get rid of the aphids. Two houses ago we had a largish garden and I hated it. I could never get on top of the jobs to be done and it was a chore not a pleasure. Our next house had a small garden 30 x 15' and I discovered the pleasures gardening. I could sit back on the patio and look at the fruits of my work and feel love for it. It was there that I started nightly 'snail hunts' and after having a good laugh at my expense my neighbour acknowledged the results and joined me! Here we have a small-to-medium garden which was entirely concrete and we built from scratch. I get a lot of pleasure from watching things grow and gettings results but there's a lot more to learn before I consider myself a 'gardener'.

luv Lass x

Edited to add 'before and after' pictures - but not the latest I'm afraid.

Last Edited By: Lass 17-05-08 17:12. Edited 1 time.

Laura Penstemon

#8

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Established Tree

Posts: 9175

16-05-08 12:47

Established Tree

Well like most of you my parents were keen gardeners, and my father still is. I hated gardening, as a child, and my friends called my Dad, Hector from the childrens tv programme 'Hectors House'.

It wasn't until I got my first house, when Tom was about 2, did I really get the bug. It was a tiny house and a tiny 'back yard' with nothing green in it just builders rubble and bindweed coming over the fence from next door. I decided to seed a lawn and I can still remember the first plant I bought with my Dad, a Clematis called 'Comtesse de Bouchard' and this is the first house I have lived in when I haven't had one.

Since then I have been totally and utterly hooked, so much so I now do it for a living!! I would love to have a huge garden including a walled market garden, where I could spend all my days. But with 3 children to support, I have to earn a living so what better way than doing something I love

Pens

Dot2

#9

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Established Tree

Posts: 7072

16-05-08 13:10

My father loved his garden but only grew veg and fruit with 8 children to feed it was a must, also had chickens and I remember plucking the feathers out on the back door step while the chicken was still warm as the feathers came out easier then.

Myself I am not a lover of gardening but I like to see my garden looking nice and tidy and enjoy watching the flowers grow.

This is the garden when I first bought my house.

and as it is now.

Scotty996

#10

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Herbaceous Perennial

Posts: 660

16-05-08 15:43

Flowering Annual

Dad grew the veg in the garden at the rear of the house and Mam grew flowers in the front garden. I used to go with dad and help him by picking the catapillars of his cabbages. I would be about 5 years old then, and that was the start of my gardening.

cwmhill

#11

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Mature Shrub

Posts: 2261

16-05-08 16:28

Mature Shrub

well living on a farm which was self efficient I started work at a very young age of 4 things like egg collecting in them days it was like a game as the hens where free range so we had to hunt for them in all the farm buildings and hay and corn stacks , then it was potato picking for every sack we picked we got a penny worth of fireworks for Nov:5 , and the older you got the more jobs you had to do worst job was weeding rows and rows of cabbage carrots beetroot and many more I think it was about 4 acres all to gather thats not counting the 10 acres of tatties which where sold . then at 9 I had my first payed job gardening for my head master which I did not want but because my older brother who was doing it got himself another job I had to take his place , it started on a saterday morning 7am till 1pm I got 6d in (old money now) an hour so it was 2/6d for the morning and 10 min break for a cuppa , it was 2miles from home which I walk, there I must say i learnt a lot of gardening as he had a 2 acres 1/4 was flowers around the house 3/4 veg the rest was orchard, he grew chrysanthemums for winter showing which was great as I use to go to the shows , I was there till i was 14 by then I would be doing most of the work Saturdays and Sundays and some week night in the summer and was getting £2 a week no matter how many hours I did winter was not to bad at all. only job I did not like was grass cutting and I still don't like doing it to this day, the orchard was the hardest to do first cut with an alan mower then having to rake it. but all in all had a great childhood when our jobs had been done our time was our own then and the kids from the village came down to play you name it we play it some times there where as many as 20 kids there oh and me father join in to.

CWM

Flowerofshona

#12

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Established Tree

Posts: 16337

16-05-08 17:25

Image Coordinator

I used to help my dad in the garden and was used to prick out seedlings as 'his fingers where to big'

and he sowed to many to close !!!!!!
every place we have lived has had some garden and we have had allotments for many years. Have only had greeenhouses since we lived here so that side has really taken off, John does fuchsias (well i do them he takes the honors

)
I get obsessed with plants and have to get as many as possible of the kind that im into at the time.
The 'garden' here was a car park for lorries 2 years prior to us moving in and we are still digging up tarmac in bigs chunks, with not one plant in it, now i have run out of space !!
This is what we started with 3 years ago !!!

This was last year and we have done a lot more since

Still work in progress and we have taken on 2 new allotments so i guess we must like gardening

Beaver97

#13

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Established Tree

Posts: 3695

16-05-08 17:29

Established Tree

I got into gardens and Plants via my Grandpa, when I was about 6.

When we visited he was always out tending his veg and sweetpeas and I sort of fell into helping out.

We never had a garden as such at home. Either just a yard of concrete, or a grassy patch. Dad was no gardener.

I didn't have the opportunity to have my own garden until we moved here after leaving the army. By then I was in my 30's.

That's when I joined a gardening website, to find out what to do. Eventually ending up in here and very happy too!

BusyBee

#14

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Flowering Annual

Posts: 195

16-05-08 17:42

Flowering Annual

My dad loved gardening, especially dahlias, delphiniums, lupins and runner beans. Here he is with the dahlias. Sometimes he entered them in to shows.

He gave me my own corner of the garden when I was about 8, where I grew asparagus, lilies, cosmos, pansies - and my own dahlias and lupins. I used to help with sowing seeds and finding weeds in the lawn (got an old penny each and there weren't many, it was his pride and joy).

Since doing my family tree I have found that quite a few of my ancestors were gardeners by profession, my great-great-grandfather had a nursery in Cheshire. Now me and my sisters all love our gardens and two of my nieces are professional gardeners.

I didn't get started seriously myself until we lived in Essex in the 1990s and for the first time I had a good sized garden with room for veggies as well as a greenhouse. With the inspiration of Geoff Hamilton and others I became an organic gardener.

Then in 2000 we sold up and lived on a boat for a few years - no garden!!

Now I have more garden than I will ever be able to cultivate, but I really enjoy what time I can spend doing it and especially eating the produce. I have grand ideas for all this space, but who knows? For the time being most of it is a wildflower meadow; at this time of year there are lots of orchids and marguerites and it's delightful.

Belinda the busy bee

Mrs Muggleton

#15

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Established Tree

Posts: 4563

17-05-08 12:12

Established Tree

What fantastic stories

I've enjoyed reading this thread

lottiedigger

#16

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Flowering Annual

Posts: 327

17-05-08 15:37

Flowering Annual

My father was in the navy and we moved around a lot... but I remember I was always growing something even if just carrot tops in water. When I was about 8 I was given my own little flower bed and friends and relations gave me cuttings and plants from all over the country. One of these was a black iris. We continued to move but always took a bit of the black iris with us. It must be in at least six gardens in Scotland.
After I married I always had a garden and love growing flowers but eight years ago I got my allotment and I fell in love with growing fruit, vegetables and herbs as well as flowers. It's a real passion for me. Completely different from the day job and I am sure it keeps me sane (well, sanish.) My OH gave me a greenhouse for my 40th birthday and that made a huge difference to what I could produce. It's astounding just how much is raised in that 6x4 foot greenhouse every year.. I'm sure it has elastic sides!
Lottie

Saph5

#17

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Established Tree

Posts: 8732

17-05-08 16:16

I was completely opposite to most of you so far. I hated gardening when I was a youngster.

Both my dad and grandad had allotments and beautiful gardens, but it never appealed to me. I hated ants, wasps, spiders, worms, in fact anything that moved, although I've always been fascinated by bees. I hated getting my hands dirty and hated to touch the soil.

We had chickens and geese and I was scared of both, so gardening and allotments were a frightening prospect to me.

Dads front of borders were always the old park style, lobelia, alyssum, french marigolds and the like, then it was lupins, delphiniums, roses and dahlias at the back of the borders. At the allotment it was all veg except for a border of carnations. In later gardens dad loved his rockeries and hated the dogs grave look, so he spent lots of time and money on them.

I remember he was very disappointed because I wasn't interested in helping him, until one day he gave me some seeds to sow and when the flowers came up I was hooked.

Unbelievable I was always a shrub person, aiming for colour throughout the year, I wasn't interested in perennials, to me they were messy and spoiled the look I was after. I remember my friend Nena was completely the opposite and hated shrubs, but loved her perennials. Eventually we must have rubbed off on one another because she asked me for advice on shrubs to give her garden structure and I asked her for perennial advice to improve the colour in my garden.

I think now I am obsessive and sometimes not in a good way, if I see a plant or source one on the net, I would rather buy that than buy food. I would hate to think how much I spent on the last garden, but all in all I reckon I could have bought a two up two down with the money. I've restricted myself to one or two visits a month to GC's and Nurseries and less time looking on the net, good job this garden is loads smaller and practically full.

Finally there isn't a better sensation than running your fingers through the soil when it has warmed up after winter.

Linda32

#18

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Established Tree

Posts: 9045

17-05-08 19:37

Established Tree

I remember once when I was about 8 years old planting spuds, I think, I seem to remember using a shapened end of an old spade to make an hole. Mind you that dosn't sound much like spuds does it, perhaps I didn't have a very good start

Fast forward about 13 years when myself and OH got our first house and I planted two pots outside the back door and decided the garden was finished. Fastforward to about four years ago after that very long hot summer. Towards to the end of September I decided that I would miss going outside so over that winter I dug the bit outside the back door, half of which at that time was in full shade all the time and decided to grow veg there. You could tell which bits were in full shade as stuff grew where the shade ended

Fast forward to now and that bit has a shed on top of it and a nice shaded patio. Behond that is my bit I now call perminant damp shade where I grow ferns and hosta's (Whilst watching BBC Gardener of the Year last year one of the judges commented that this was "abit pradicatable" made me smile.

) I now have other shade loving plants and look on my garden as a never finished challenge and am proud that I know what suits and have learnt an awful lot in the last few years. I can still remember trying to work out how best to use a hoe

I like having a garden in mostly part shade it makes you learn.

Does anyone ever notice how their garden looks different from one year to another, I think mine does.

Saph5

#19

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Established Tree

Posts: 8735

17-05-08 20:34

Linda

Mine certainly looks different every year, mainly because I keep trying plants that don't have a hope in hell of growing up here in the frozen North, but I look at the gap and think there's room for more plants.

I moved a fatsia last week that wasn't doing much and managed to get a shrub, a clematis and eleven perennials in its place.

Rich

#20

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Established Tree

Posts: 3652

18-05-08 00:01

Established Tree

My dad did all the gardening and was an incredible vegetable grower. I kept telling him he should enter his sprouts, runner beans etc in the Carshalton Show, but he never did.

I remember going to the tip with him one day and finding some house leeks, I bought them home and read everything I could about them, they grew into quite a large clump, I still like them today.

When I bought my first house, the garden had a slope which I changed into two terraces with a rockery between. The top terrace was naturally my vegetable plot, even though I don't eat veggys. It was natural to me that the end of the garden was for vegetables.

I can't say I really enjoy gardening, but I enjoy having a garden to be proud of, so I have to put in the work outside and spend a lot of time increasing my knowledge. It's the way I am, always reading and asking questions, no matter what the current subject of interest is.

The answer lies in the soil - Arthur Fallowfield.

My Pond and garden projects site.

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