Lost a lot of plants over this last winter, with many plants also scorched by frost. This despite living in Cumbria so majority of garden fully hardy in “ordinary” years.
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I have a narrow (4 ft), shady strip along the north side of the house, in which Rosa ‘Gertrude Jekyll’ seems to thrive. Plus, ‘Golden Celebration’ has made an appearance - a surprise. The Green Man appears even more delighted than I am.
Took the opportunity to cut back some Acers and tidy up the back yard today. I don’t doubt Acers benefit from a Chelsea Chop but I held out for as long as I could - they were out of control.
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I’ve almost entirely cleared this section. There was mostly grass. How many cm of soil should I put on it so that grass seeds / roots doesn’t grow anymore?
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Probably best use a weed block membrane……cut holes for any plants?..…then put a layer of bark chippings, gravel etc
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I’m afraid that’s not my style Gazza 
I’m afraid that if I put e.g 10 cm of soil on it, that the old grass still appears. I’m going to remove the grass from the other sections too. It’s a lot of work.
If there are grass roots remaining in the soil I find that however small, they invariably manage to grow up through a mulch eventually. If you are able to keep an eye on it and remove any such shoots as they appear they will give up eventually. I would say 5cm as a minimum thickness, preferably a bit more.
Plastic sheeting is a more effective mulch, but it’s certainly not an environmentally friendly solution so I wouldn’t use it.
Paper or cardboard can help as a first layer, underneath soil or compost that hides it. This forms a barrier that’s a bit harder for weeds to grow through and will break down into a small amount of beneficial organic matter over time.
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It’s lovely
I would be very proud if the was my lawn
Very proud indeed
Ian
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What’s the idea with “no mow May”, is it basically to let natural flowers germinate before being mowed, daises, buttercups etc? I could try this in November. We actually have “no Movember”, but that’s growing a moustache for bowel cancer awareness.
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It’s mainly to allow flowers to open, providing essential food for bees and other insects. If you want them to mature and produce seed, some plants will need to be left much longer, although some flowers such as dandelion in the UK will set seed in May.
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That’s a very good suggestion. Ultimately plants grow through cardboard indeed, but it’s a good extra barrier. I’ll get some soil delivered this week and apply the trick.
I’m with @ChrisSU put down cardboard then top with soil or compost. It’s one of the tenets of no-dig gardening.
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He says! 
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Looking good….nice to see puss is checking the level for you😉
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Squirrels. Is there any known deterrent? My old Jack Russell would have them sorted. He developed a pathological hatred, but those claws are very,very sharp.
A few doors down has a mini forest for a back garden. Nice for wildlife especially magpies and the aforementioned. The rest is a bit of grass for the dog to poop and slate under membrane.
Her next door feeds the birds,rats,mice and aforementioned all through the year. Her garden is a rock hard lawn and a holly tree.
He breeds em,she feeds em and the little bastards dig in my flower pots burying peanuts and destroying quite a few pounds worth of plants over the winter.
Not anti anything. I just want them out of my flower pots.
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Air rifle!
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