How long have you been addicted?
How long have you been addicted?
Interested to know how long& what gave you the bug!. For me i cant go back a more than 5 year's, even then i was only playing at it with a few very small plant's & a massive garden resembling a playing field!, shortly afterwards i purchased two cordy's & a fortunei with a few feet of trunk. Being a total novice i lost all of these mainly through inexperience, i then started taking a serious interest in exotics, buying books/reading on internet etc..............the rest is history!, i now barely have a piece of lawn more than 10sq metres !, now replaced with a tropical jungle. I must say, its the best & most enjoyable hobby i've ever took up , & even though i own a very busy roofing business every moment of spare time goes into my garden. The knowlege/advice ive had off other member's has proved invaluable so far & no money could ever buy that. Regards karl.
-
RogerBacardy
Re: How long have you been addicted?
About 14 years. Was quite into socialising at home and didn't have a big house, so wanted to make the most of the garden. Found that architectural plants gave the garden a really cool vibe, making the garden conducive for BBQ's / parties. Although I designed and landscaped the garden to make it really functional, a kids play area mainly, but a place to invite friends over.
Put in a 5m diameter lawn which made the garden seem bigger and wider, a central water feature with a light, a patio, seating, a DIY double swing, lighting, a sandpit, new fencing & a shed in the corner,& finished it off wih 2 tonnes of gravel as a mulch. Really made the most of the small space. Took me ages to do it all, but was really satisfying to see it transformed and how much we used it after. also it really helped to sell the house.
First plants were cordylines which I bought when we were renting and I planted them into the garden of our first house. They were brilliant and added height, structure and privacy to the garden.
Also, culturally I'm as English as Alan Partridge, but ethnically I'm half English & half Malaysian, so perhaps there's an aspect of me that is yearning to be surrounded by the exotics plants that I might have encountered had I grown up in Malaysia.
The pics above are of our old garden, this is our new one, which again required heavy landscaping!
in progress
as it looks now
Put in a 5m diameter lawn which made the garden seem bigger and wider, a central water feature with a light, a patio, seating, a DIY double swing, lighting, a sandpit, new fencing & a shed in the corner,& finished it off wih 2 tonnes of gravel as a mulch. Really made the most of the small space. Took me ages to do it all, but was really satisfying to see it transformed and how much we used it after. also it really helped to sell the house.
First plants were cordylines which I bought when we were renting and I planted them into the garden of our first house. They were brilliant and added height, structure and privacy to the garden.
Also, culturally I'm as English as Alan Partridge, but ethnically I'm half English & half Malaysian, so perhaps there's an aspect of me that is yearning to be surrounded by the exotics plants that I might have encountered had I grown up in Malaysia.
The pics above are of our old garden, this is our new one, which again required heavy landscaping!
in progress
as it looks now
-
dino
Re: How long have you been addicted?
I would have been gutted leaving those Cordys. Still obviously happy memories 
-
Andy P
Re: How long have you been addicted?
I`ve only had the bug for about 3 years. I got into exotics after i finished building a conservatory on the back of my house and sat there staring out over a garden that was devoid of plants and with a weed infested lawn.
Here`s how it looked at the end of last Summer.............
Work in progress.
Here`s how it looked at the end of last Summer.............
Work in progress.
- Attachments
-
-
-
Re: How long have you been addicted?
Probably around 5 years although I got my first tree fern and started to dabble in gardening about 7 years ago ish. Will never lose it now, I just get worse each year. 
Last edited by Tom2006 on Sun Feb 17, 2013 11:05 am, edited 1 time in total.
Most wanted list - Any Young Trachycarpus and/or fern.
-
fern Rob
Re: How long have you been addicted?
Had the gardening bug all my life, grandparents gardened and grew flowers for show.
-
gabriel
Re: How long have you been addicted?
It was my wife that got me addicted (I bet she is so sorry for it now). She wanted a palm tree in our front garden, so I started to research what would survive British winters. I came across HTUK.... enough said really
-
dorothy
Re: How long have you been addicted?
Lots of lovely pictures there.Only been into exotics for two years now.Started when I came across this site. Slowly been doing things because had a lot to learn. Hopefully garden will be alot better this year because I have brought quite a lot of new plants to put in when the weather gets better 
-
call
Re: How long have you been addicted?
When I was little my nan was into alpine gardening and she wanted an alpine house, when she got one she said that she wanted ONE cactus anyway when I got it for her as a pressie I was facinated by it so one cactus turned to two, two to three, three to four, four to five ect. 
soon it wasn't just cacti but succulents and the year after that I got my ensete, my first colocasia and some more exotics I got a poly-tunnel for the plants and well the year after I went all exotic
anyway when I got it for her as a pressie I was facinated by it so one cactus turned to two, two to three, three to four, four to five ect. soon it wasn't just cacti but succulents and the year after that I got my ensete, my first colocasia and some more exotics I got a poly-tunnel for the plants and well the year after I went all exotic
-
Kristen
Re: How long have you been addicted?
11-Sep-2011 A mate told me visiting Great Dixter just the once wouldn't do me any harmkarl66 wrote:How long have you been addicted?
29-Sep-2011 Joined HTUK looking for help.
16-Oct-2011 Was encouraged to visit Will Giles garden to see if that would frighten me into cleaning myself up.
16-Oct-2011 Unfortunately Amulree and Urban Jungle were near Will Giles and were offering a discount to get my habit properly started.
So its been 1 year, 4 months and 2 days ....
-
Delboy
Re: How long have you been addicted?
This will be my 3rd year.
When I was little I was always outside helping my grandad who is gardening mad.
As I got older it got less and less and then once I discovered women and beer it completely went out the window
Fast forward 20 yrs and.....
Our old houses garden was just grass with a small border.
I planted a cordy and Phoenix canariensis_CIDP but lost them in 2009. I built a nice patio area and loved sitting outside, but looking at just grass was boring. Being a rental property I was reluctant to do too much.
When we moved here the garden was awful, but I knew I could get it looking nice.
I planted a cordy early 2010, before I'd touched the rest of the garden but again this was killed in 'that' winter.
2011 was the year the bug bit, a quick google and I came across HTUK. Now I'm hooked lol.
Only problem now is I want a bigger garden, 50' is just not enough for my plans but I don't know if I can do with moving yet again.
When I was little I was always outside helping my grandad who is gardening mad.
As I got older it got less and less and then once I discovered women and beer it completely went out the window
Fast forward 20 yrs and.....
Our old houses garden was just grass with a small border.
I planted a cordy and Phoenix canariensis_CIDP but lost them in 2009. I built a nice patio area and loved sitting outside, but looking at just grass was boring. Being a rental property I was reluctant to do too much.
When we moved here the garden was awful, but I knew I could get it looking nice.
I planted a cordy early 2010, before I'd touched the rest of the garden but again this was killed in 'that' winter.
2011 was the year the bug bit, a quick google and I came across HTUK. Now I'm hooked lol.
Only problem now is I want a bigger garden, 50' is just not enough for my plans but I don't know if I can do with moving yet again.
-
Trudytropics
Re: How long have you been addicted?
I have gardened for over 20 years, but I got bitten by that damn tropical bug about 3 years ago, I've been suffering ever since. Its a rare condition in the North East, costly at times and completely incurable
-
flounder
Re: How long have you been addicted?
I hate to admit it but I really have had addictions with drink, drugs and gambling.
It really hit home during a foreign holiday with my family, I was sitting round the pool drinking pina coladas to excess, when the intoxicating fragrance of exotics flowers sent me to another plain. Wild and vivid dreams filled my head, visions of gently waving fronds and soft summer breezes, teasing my senses in to believing a paradise could be created in the chalk filled soil of southern Sussex. A real spiritual presence overwhelmed me as I tried to re create an Eden, until all I could think about was that buzz of euphoria I got from inhaling that thick, heavenly, early morning smell of dew on the flora.
Anyway, after that winter wiped out most of my more tender plants I thought hey, it was worth a punt
It really hit home during a foreign holiday with my family, I was sitting round the pool drinking pina coladas to excess, when the intoxicating fragrance of exotics flowers sent me to another plain. Wild and vivid dreams filled my head, visions of gently waving fronds and soft summer breezes, teasing my senses in to believing a paradise could be created in the chalk filled soil of southern Sussex. A real spiritual presence overwhelmed me as I tried to re create an Eden, until all I could think about was that buzz of euphoria I got from inhaling that thick, heavenly, early morning smell of dew on the flora.
Anyway, after that winter wiped out most of my more tender plants I thought hey, it was worth a punt
-
Deedee
Re: How long have you been addicted?
What a lovely story Flounder 
I feel like i was sitting with you drinking those Pina coladas 
Gardening, especially Tropical gardening is a great healer and Theraputic, better than therapy..
I have only been Tropical/ish gardening for about 4 years, Its the impact of those big palms and TFs etc that got me addicted, much, much better than Leylandii or conifers i usually see around here
I feel like i was sitting with you drinking those Pina coladas Gardening, especially Tropical gardening is a great healer and Theraputic, better than therapy..I have only been Tropical/ish gardening for about 4 years, Its the impact of those big palms and TFs etc that got me addicted, much, much better than Leylandii or conifers i usually see around here