New Garden - What Would You Do?

[Baldgrace]

Hello! We’re moving to a house with a smallish garden and I’d really like to grow some veg and some flowers. However the move has been put back quite a bit and my plans for bulbs etc won’t work so well because we’re likely to move in in Feb/March. I’d love to hear any thoughts on what we could try to grow - we have no previous experience so we need all the help we can get..!
Thank you!

[Buenchico]

Here's the RHS's guide to what you should be doing in a garden in February:
https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/in-month/february

Many of the suggestions there won't apply in your situation but the first point on the list might be relevant. (Click on it for details).

However if you use the link (near the top of the page) to change the month to March, you'll find that you can then start planting your bulbs.

[haras2]

A lot of the plants (if there are any ) will be dormant so
it might be a good idea to hold on for a bit and see what turns up

[puzzled54]

Meanwhile put the bulbs in pots and take them with you

[Old_Geezer]

If I've got it right, it seems as if it's sowing seeds in spring, planting bulbs in autumn. So I'd start looking at things to sow next year. Have a browse at your local garden centre, or even supermarket.

[Togo]

Hard to answer without more detail. We don't know how able or not you are. How small is small. What is there now. Do you have access although not yet moving in. Myself...if I was looking at a move in late Winter into a smallish space I would be making, and getting ready for construction on site, a raised bed or two ( depends how big the place is of course). Once there they could be put together and soon planted up with whatever I fancied. One thing I would be planning though is an area under glass to bring on stuff in the future.

[AuntPollyGrey]

If you are ging to grow a few veg invest in some raised beds and only grow stuff that is expensive to buy in shops i.e. baby carrots pea shoots bok choi etc. Invest in perennials rather than annuals as they come back every year bigger and better. Start going to the garden centre nearest to you in March and buy some plants every month that are flowering -that way the year after you will have something flowering every month,

[woofgang]

could you run to a small greenhouse or even a decent sunny windowsill for seeds? Normally I'd say also go round open gardens and start to decide what you like but difficult...but you can cruise websites. Decide what you want....scent, food, leaf colour, birds and insects, somewhere to eat, play space for the kids and so on. sort out what your soil is like and is it dry or wet? Which way does your garden face?

[Chipchopper]

Some bulbs, such as bluebells, snowdrops and winter aconites can be moved "in the green" without too many problems.
Best done soon after the flowers have faded and the leaves have not yet withered.
Not if its frosty though.

[jourdain2]

Whenever I have moved I have waited to see what the garden is like and just kept it tidy for the first year. Depends on the space you have really. Feb./March is ideal for planting autumn bulbs/corms. If there is already a patch that looks like a veg. patch, your moving dates are tying in nicely with veg. planting. No hard and fast rules when you first move. Some things you will want to keep - others not.

[Baldgrace]

Thank you, these are all really helpful! I’m keen to get stuck in but also wary of taking on too much (along with job + small child...) and not keeping up with it all. I’d love a greenhouse but for now I have earmarked a sunny windowsill. I think I might make a raised bed and try for some veg and maybe get some bulbs in too and then see if we can do a bit more next year. South facing so there’s lots of light.
Thanks so much for your help! Am enjoying daydreaming about it but am also feeling a bit in need of tips/ reassurance..!

[zebo]

You can grow a lot of stuff in big pots, OH had a load of cheap black plastic plant pots in which he grew chillis and lots of herbs they grew themselves really, he also grew massive sweetcorns in a raised bed, it was very Oh What a Beautiful Morning. The pots could be started before you move.
I hope with the move, a child and a job you'll have time for the garden, whatever you do don't get into the situation that your garden takes so much time that you never have time to enjoy it!

[Baldgrace]

Just reporting back - things went a bit wrong with the house buying chain we’re in, so we’re looking at another couple of months of delay. And in the meantime, lockdown life has been challenging, and I haven’t managed to get anything started in pots or bins (we haven’t got much access to outside - or inside!- space either) although that was a really good idea. We’ve just got window box pelargoniums, herbs and houseplants. I have been doing a lot of browsing (books, online, not *gasp* in the outside world, though I have been browsing people’s front gardens!)
In summary I have scaled back my raised bed veg production ambitions and I will see what seems possible when we arrive. And plan for next year! Thanks so much for your answers and help.