I am old now and have been a gardener all my life and I think your advice is spot on, practical, honest and exactly right..

@marthaduncan7694

5 ай бұрын

agree :)

@LovelyIslandVacation-ch6wo

5 ай бұрын

Of all the things I hear about “young people these days ruined _______.. gardening isn’t on the list. Gardening has definitely evolved to be better than the old ways for sure!

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

5 ай бұрын

Thank you so much!

@Jpatmeadowbrook

5 ай бұрын

Great review for everyone ❤

Thank you Alexandra, although I am not a ‘beginner ‘ gardener, I learned so much from this video! Now I just need spring weather ! 🥰🌸🇨🇦

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

5 ай бұрын

Me too! Thank you.

So much top information in one video! Thank you, Alexandra!🌺🌻🍀🐌🌸🦋🪴🐛🌼🐞🥀🕷🌳🌿🌿

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

5 ай бұрын

Glad it was helpful!

Masterpiece of garden video. Worth saving and rewatching for it's valuable ams detailed information.A truly useful tool for us gardeners all over the world.

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

5 ай бұрын

Thank you!

Keep up the great videos, I really enjoy watching them there is so much information in just one.

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

5 ай бұрын

Thank you!

What a wonderful comprehensive video. This is great for new and seasoned gardeners alike. Thank you Alexandra and all the contributors.

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

5 ай бұрын

Glad it was helpful!

Such a superb primer but helpful not only for novices!

I like your makeup for this video, knowledgeable and lovely! Thank you for all the gardening tips.

💫A hour of inspiration !!! Thank you ! Thank you ! Thank you !!!🌱💚

I love these compilation videos. They make me go back and rewatch the full-feature ones.

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

5 ай бұрын

Thank you! Compilation videos aren't popular with everyone, but I think it can be really useful to pull together everything on one topic so that people don't have to hunt around

When we lived out in a rural area, we had a very large veg garden and every morning the snails would crawl over from our neighbors ivy filled property, right to our garden to begin munching. So me and my children would get out there about 7 am with buckets and we’d pick up all the snails and place them in the buckets. We had about 25 chickens and several ducks that we would feed the snails to. Eventually, the snail population was greatly reduced and we saved money on chicken feed. Another thing we would do is actually let the ducks and chickens into the garden in the early morning for about an hour when the snails were out. They were so busy eating all those snails,they didn’t bother the vegetables. After an hour we’d shoosh them out. That worked well too. A challenge I now have in my garden is in the spring and summer, we are overrun with ground squirrels and they love most flowering plants. Like cosmos,zinnia, hollyhocks, coneflowers, etc. So I have figured out plants that they don’t care for to put in my garden, but I do love growing the old fashioned cutting flowers. I now grow them in taller pots and it’s worked perfectly, bc the squirrels cant reach them and have not attempted to hop up into them. I also fill my garden in the spring and summer with lots of milkweed, which is the Monarch Butterfly’s only plant they lay their eggs on. So in the summer thru fall, we literally have dozens of Monarch Butterflies flying all through our garden. It’s a beautiful sight to behold. Happy gardening and I love your channel and all the wonderful tips and interviews you have with other gardeners. I live in Southern California and would love to visit all the lovely gardens you have shown us in your part of the world. So beautiful and amazing. 🌿🌸😊

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

5 ай бұрын

Thank you, and good tips!

Alexandra: Your complexion is SO LOVELY! I always assumed my facial skin would be that lovely, just because! Lol. YOU have done splendidly.

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

5 ай бұрын

That's very kind of you to say so!

You made my day. I purchased my first hellebore yesterday. Can't wait to plant it.

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

4 ай бұрын

Hope you enjoy it!

Such great information in one video! 👏🥰 Thank you!

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

5 ай бұрын

Glad it was helpful!

I have two runner ducks on an acre and I never see slugs or snails and I have a ton of Hostas etc! Lots of butterfly and moth larvae though! Need a pet to gobble those up 😅

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

5 ай бұрын

I agree. My puppy started on snails, but has stopped, which is just as well as they're not very good for dogs.

I have viewed this episode before but I loved a review of all subjects again. Love your presentation style. Good pace of knowledge presentation at just the correct speed. So many garden videos waste time with chatty nonsense. Thanks again for your excellent videos.

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

5 ай бұрын

Thank you so much, that's lovely to hear.

Brian your neighbor thought you might want to add snail to your dinner menu. Very funny

Great video today lots of get advice.

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

5 ай бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it

Great ideas!

This was super useful, thanks 👍

Fabulous video, great start to my gardening year. As usual entertaining & informative.

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

5 ай бұрын

Thank you!

I really enjoy your videos. They have helped get me through the dark, cold and wet winter. Thank you!

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

5 ай бұрын

Thank you!

Great video for new (and experienced) gardeners.

I’ve been gardening since I was a little girl❤️ learned to love it from my grandma’s lovely flower & fruit trees garden. I have endearing memories of grandma letting us make dirt pies and decorate them with flowers 🌸 Lovely video ❤

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

3 ай бұрын

Thank you!

Another great video!

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

5 ай бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it!

I am new to gardening and I have got a middle size garden, I learned so much from your video. Thanks so much 🙏 💓

Great advice. Love the practical aspects - some was new information, some was a refresher. The older I have become, the less time I want to spend working in my garden and more time enjoying my garden. I have mostly shrubs and perennials with a few spots and pots of annuals for bursts of color. With planning, even a garden with few flowers can be interesting with shades of green, texture, and size. As always, thank you.

Thanks Alexandra another helpful video full of advice, some reiterated, some new and some gentle reminders. Throughout reminding of patience, trial and error and not worrying about mistakes, learn from them and move on. Take note of good gardeners local to you and gain from their experience. Thanks again

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

5 ай бұрын

Thank you!

So many great tips. Absolutely love your channel. Best wishes from Wilmington Delaware 💕🌞

I'm sending this video to my Grand daughter, it's everything she needs to know about gardening. Great work! 🙂

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

5 ай бұрын

Thank you so much!

Amazing video Alexandra.very informative specially how to plants seeds Thank you so much ❤

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

5 ай бұрын

Glad it was helpful!

Wow, this is an excellent compilation video. And perfect when gardening content is somewhat scarce (since the Northern hemisphere is in winter). I always love your videos, thank you for putting in the effort and sharing your knowledge and advice.

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

5 ай бұрын

Thank you so much, it is really lovely to get a comment like this.

Hello dear Alexandra, do you read new comments on older videos? I often wonder if it's worth commenting on them. For whatever it's worth, thank you very much for this video and the whole series. Some of these things I just do naturally like letting "weeds" mix in with the plants I plant but that is only because I love plants and find so many of the wild flowers absolutely beautiful. When I was a young girl, I used to go out into the fields and draw them, attempt to draw them, so I guess I learned to look at them that way. I also began my garden, two years ago now, by sitting out in it and watching where the sunlight falls, trying to figure out what the "weeds" growing there were (but I haven't been able to figure that out. I can only name about half of them.) Other things you recommend, I wouldn't have thought of and so I emailed this video to myself to watch over and over again. I didn't know for instance that seeds can be kept past the "use by" date on the package or that they should be kept in a dark place that isn't too warm or too cold. One of my uncertainties is how densely to plant, I think I tend to plant too densely, not sure. I suppose I'll eventually figure that out for myself. Again, thank you for all these helpful videos.

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

3 ай бұрын

That's lovely to hear, thank you. 'Comments' come into my 'KZread dashboard' regardless of the age of the video, so I do see them, although I don't always have time to reply. But reading comments is one of my favourite things to do.

Thank you most helpful information! Your shawl is so lovely looks wonderful on you 🥰

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

5 ай бұрын

Thank you so much!

I'm grateful you showed us how to attach knee cushions, I was imagining trying to slide them over shoes. I don't actually garden on my knees and recently wondered why, it goes back to us here in Adelaide South Australia being able to garden all year around and so I hated getting wet knees in the middle of winter so I've always gardened on my feet, I'm a very flexible squatter. Also, I have a trug, (I had no idea what they were called) doing nothing inside for a number of years and again, quite recently I took it outside to use for a compost transporting job in my small 26' x 26' back garden. I had planned to wash it a bring it back inside but with those squashable together handles, I found it so very valuable and helpful that it has stayed outside replacing the use of a very large plastic pot saucer.

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

5 ай бұрын

I felt it was important to show the knee pads going on because the first time I put them on, I attached the Velcro on the inner part of the knee, so my legs stuck together when I tried to walk away! Could have been a nasty fall.

Good morning Alexander, you always have the most interesting topics for discussion as well as visiting other gardens and reeling in more garden advice, but this video, my goodness, this information is as valuable as mulching is for your soil. Even, many times, I stop and re-think what is planted, and if they are not doing good, what about an replacement that will work. Every topic from the beginning to the end is so valuable for young or beginner gardeners. I really hope those in need of all this will be able to listen to all this wonderful information. There are many advantages of not using various spray like I have noticed the dahlias have Praying Mantis on them, and they will take care of many of the flower eaters. Thank you for this lovely talk, many blessings - Kind regards.

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

5 ай бұрын

Thank you and I hope you are well!

Excellent advice Madame. I built a wishing well that I can view from my living room. A pond that can be viewed from my kitchen. I use a weed covering that comes in rolls and then mulch over that. I also plant herbs next to my rosebushes to keep away beetles..... garlic or rosemary looks lovely and is effective. I made a courtyard from olde bricks from our brickyard....they are filled with such character. I use uplighting for the evenings with a solar light that I put into the ground underneath the tree....this looks fabulous and dreamy. Your advice on keeping track of the sun is very good....also take into consideration when your trees have filled out ......I have lost several plants due to this..... one was a rosebush.. To get accurate readings of your soil call extension office and the nearest University in your area.😊

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

5 ай бұрын

Thank you!

Thanks, so much information, am kinda confused by biannual, am yet to master of growing them, my sweet Williams was beautiful when they finally bloom and I would like to have them year after year

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

5 ай бұрын

Yes, I was confused by biennials at first. You plant them from seed in year 1 and they flower, then die, in Year 2. There are some Sweet William that come back year after year - worth checking with the nurseries near you.

Hi Alexandra, I always enjoy your videos and the tip and information. I have a tip to pass on. I have been keeping an eye on my buxus plants as in recen year I have suffered damage from caterpillars. I note that the sprays say the caterpillars are active from March. I am Hampshire, (UK) as I was gardening today, I spotted an number of box caterpillars already out and about 😮. I guess it is because of the milder weather. Hence I am posting this as a warning ⚠️

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

5 ай бұрын

Oh, very helpful! Thank you.

I remember Dan talking about wheelbarrows being tippy and I was confused until I realized both of mine have 2 wheels on the front.

Very good tips! I wonder if the picture labeled “purple loosestrife” is actually toad flax (Linaria) which I find beautiful and relatively easy to manage, even when it self-seeds.

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

5 ай бұрын

It could well be. Sometimes my labelling goes awry.

Alexandra, the photography in your videos is so beautiful. I can’t count how many times I’ve taken a screenshot to use as my phone background. Maybe one day you’ll sell prints…? Just a thought.

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

5 ай бұрын

Thank you so much, it's so kind of you to say so.

Hi Alexandra, I am loving this video today but have a question. THe wood pile is fantastic. I do hold on to large branches if they get cut but have not built a pile. Is his pile made solely of wood or has he only surrounded the pile in wood and put greenery inside? Thanks. Lori

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

5 ай бұрын

It's wood throughout, just twigs, branches and logs piled up. I tried it on a smaller scale but my puppy keeps taking the twigs away!

@carlaephotography7096

5 ай бұрын

@@TheMiddlesizedGardenI have a pile I put all my trimmings in to… it’s funny you mention your pup…as my boys do the same as think twigs are for me to throw for them or for them to chew on. I find them here and there and put back on the pile…lol.

I hope this isn't an inappropriate question but I absolutely love the colour of your door by the red brick wall. May I ask what brand & shade it is please? Thank you

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

5 ай бұрын

If it's my back door, it's Blue Black (or possibly Black Blue) by Farrow & Ball. It's an 'archive' colour which means you can order it but it's probably not on the paint cards.

@carolinethomson1297

5 ай бұрын

That's incredibly kind. Thank you very much for this

Hi Alexandra. I have an awful lot of late winter and early spring bulbs that are unfortunately sometimes in amongst weeds that pop up! I worry about these thick mulches. Will they also prevent things pushing through like my snowdrops, cyclamen, aconites and crocuses…?

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

5 ай бұрын

Don't worry, the perennials and bulbs push up through the mulches (provided it's an organic mulch like manure, garden compost or bark, might be different if it was gravel or shingle). I tend to put the mulch on in the autumn or late winter, so it's started to break down by the time the green leaves are pushing through.

@LouciferFlump

5 ай бұрын

@@TheMiddlesizedGardenthanks 🥰

Lovely video, but, I'm surprised your advice for dealing with bindweed is to 'pull it out' - chances are it just tears, roots remain, and it regrows... horrible stuff (as I'm sure you will already know!). Might be worth a clarification as that runs the risk of being 'bad advice'?

@unexpectedfollowthrough5028

5 ай бұрын

(Great video though - please don't take that as discouragement or criticism, as I really enjoyed it!)

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

5 ай бұрын

Thank you - and I know what you mean, but some gardeners say that repeated pulling does weaken it, though, as you say the roots remain. Although even forking it out usually leaves a bit of root left. And it's even hard to shift if you cover it in black plastic - I think it can take several years to die off. As you say, horrible stuff.

Can I do this with lavender? I have some lavender that has gotten leggy and was trimming it back. The pieces have older hardwood with new growth. Can I bury the hardwood as in this video?

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

2 ай бұрын

I don't think so. I'd suggest cutting it back hard and seeing if it will re-grow. People always say that lavender doesn't grow back from old wood, but often there are tiny buds quite low down and I have grown lavender back when chopped back hard on several occasions. But you may just have to replace the lavender.

If they could listen to my garden you would hear a cacophony of slugs and mosquitos. My solution for slugs is night time hunting with a light. Drop them in alcohol and water. Copper, diatomaceous powder and so on are okay but not as successful. Great video as I usually do feel like a beginner( suffer from memory problem). I have saved it to review when I need to do so. BTW Lovely hairstyle.

@GetMeOuttaHereNow

5 ай бұрын

I found that using my watered down, leftover coffee poured into the soil of my garden helps reduce the number of slugs. Especially in my potted plants. Added benefits of doing so is that the plants the slugs love are the plants I find benefit highly from the coffee.

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

5 ай бұрын

Thank you!

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

5 ай бұрын

Some people disagree about the effectiveness of coffee grounds, but on the other hand, they shouldn't go down the sink as they're not great for plumbing, so all our leftover coffee and used coffee grounds go out into the garden and I hope they're doing good. At least they're not doing harm down the drainage system!

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌿🌳🌻💚

Anyone have suggestions for ways to disinfect seed starting trays without using bleach? I would like to go chemical free and natural with all my cleaning products as well. Any suggestions?

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

3 ай бұрын

I'm not entirely sure, but I think it would be worth washing them in whatever natural cleaning products you have. See what happens. Some people don't wash seed trays at all.

@HeatherdaleHomestead

3 ай бұрын

@@TheMiddlesizedGarden Good plan! A green cleaner is probably sufficient. I'm also looking into getting soil blocks for next year, going to get a pair of molds. That way there's no plastic needed, and no transplant shock! :)

🦋🦋🪴🦋🦋🪴🦋🦋

🙋‍♀️ we are also among those who have recently bought a house and it’s the first time that we get to design a garden from scratch. It’s a small space so I really want to plan it as best I can and go for big layered flower beds and little paths rather than open lawn that will only look small and dinky anyway. Discovered this channel - sorry: youtubechannelandblog - at the perfect time and I’m thoroughly enjoying the calm informative style.

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

5 ай бұрын

Thank you so much, that's great to hear.

😮😮😮 NEVER Ever use glycosphate!!!

I wouldn't recommend the landscape fabric.

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

5 ай бұрын

Me neither. Although I do sometimes show the whole range of options so people can decide what's best

I have to give this a down arrow because I've seen my relatives yard and their neighbors and how quickly weeds takeover the space. Weeds are 100% a neighborly issue.

Such a great video! I so enjoy learning from you and your guest gardeners.

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

5 ай бұрын

Thanks so much!