New member from oldbury,west mids

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fox e
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Aug 19, 2018 2:47 pm
Location: west midlands

New member from oldbury,west mids

Post by fox e »

hi all
my name's chris and I'm giving the tropical look a go this year.as I'm on heavy clay I've had to go the raised bed route using 12inch log roll and 11 tons of top soil
it's been a massive learning curve but I've enjoyed it so far I've put in an evergreen backbone to the garden ie cordylines trachys fatsia bamboo laurels etc then hardy perennials hostas day lillies ferns gunnera euphorbia most of these I already had and then divided them to get dozens of plants
I've then added semi hardy/tender plants ie bananas colocasia gingers etc which are all new to me
successes =propagating by division and cuttings,
buying plants small 9cm and growing on and
bargain hunting to keep costs down
failures=seeds my success rate is abysmal not sure why followed posts on various sites but with very limited success maybe next year
I've joined the site to hopefully meet local members to me ,get ideas and advice and maybe swap a few plants
regards chris
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tatter
Posts: 314
Joined: Tue Jun 19, 2018 7:37 pm
Location: smethwick west mids

New member from oldbury,west mids

Post by tatter »

Welcome Chris to the forum sounds like you've made good start. Plenty of advise to be found here just ask.
As for being local im probably the closest . icon_cheers
Jim
I'm older than yesterday but younger than tomorrow
GREVILLEAJ
Posts: 901
Joined: Sun Jul 08, 2018 10:38 pm
Location: London

New member from oldbury,west mids

Post by GREVILLEAJ »

Welcome to HTUK, Chris icon_cheers

Persevere with seeds, Chris. Sometimes, it's down to knack or trial and error. Sometimes it's just dud seeds.

Look out for some of the lowest UK winter night time temperatures in your area possibly interfering with overwintering successes. If you have success through division and cuttings etc. it might be advisable to keep spare back ups somewhere warmer and use them to supplement your seasonal displays. Plus they are available for swapping.
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tatter
Posts: 314
Joined: Tue Jun 19, 2018 7:37 pm
Location: smethwick west mids

New member from oldbury,west mids

Post by tatter »

Wise advise from Greevilleaj but last winter was probably the worst we may well encounter for a good while(hopefully)
Seeds depends on what seeds /medium sown in and temp etc etc there is no one general rule.But electric propagator certainly helps(but not all seeds need heat) and some need prior soaking etc etc but you probably know all this already.
Feel free to pm me if you wish to meet or discuss anything
Jim
I'm older than yesterday but younger than tomorrow
fox e
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Aug 19, 2018 2:47 pm
Location: west midlands

New member from oldbury,west mids

Post by fox e »

thanks for the welcome and the advice
I'll definately give the seeds another go but for now I'll
see how I get through the winter with the plants I've got
and start again next spring
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