Your talk: moving stories

Does your new garden need a lot of work?

Well, February has seen a spate of new members joining who have all recently been through the unenviable experience of moving house. Some, like Christina, have the task of starting a new garden from scratch, while looking to make new friends in a new area. It's great to hear about your personal situations and gardening experiences. Some of you have been at it for years; others are complete novices.

Christina Gill from King's Lynn in Norfolk says she is a 'single mum who loves gardening – and so do the kids. I moved to this house in November 2006 and have two gardens to start from scratch! I've been gardening since I was a small child, when we had a family allotment. It would be nice to chat with like-minded people and also swop seeds and advice. I don't know anyone in this area, so am in need of friends to talk to.'

Another new member Janet Horkan wishes Christina well with her gardens and chips in: 'The exercise will be great for you and the kids. I've been a gardener for 38 years and worked for our local parks and gardens as an apprentice, then took to floristry and am now retired. I have time to enjoy my medium-sized garden at last…

Nick Barnes is another long-time gardener: 'Hello everyone. Just joined and am excited because, whilst I've been gardening for years, I've only been cutting lawns, trimming hedges and tidying up. BUT now I've really started structural changes to the garden and I'm looking at shrub planting. I will then progress on to smaller plants. It's great that there's so much help available in magazines and on site like this one. I hope to keep in touch with the chat forum and learn even more.'

And Ana Fere has news from Greece: 'Hello everyone, I just joined this group and I'm thrilled. My name is Ana, and I live in southern Greece, in Crete. I love flowers and gardening, and the new house I've moved in with my boyfriend turned out to be a real challenge! It's an old, traditional, two-floored Cretan house, really warm and cosy, but the front yard so far is a disaster. There is left debris by the owner, awful garden design and many more problems that I'm really willing to deal with.'

Ana is a novice gardener. She adds:' All the advice I can take is welcomed. Sharing all successful efforts but also failures with you is at least fun and educational, so I am happy to scroll around this forum. Happy writing to everyone!'

Highlander, meanwhile, is another new member. 'I'm from Caithness, Scotland. I am at the moment getting a greenhouse built, so will be looking for some great tips,' he writes. I am assuming Highlander's gender is male, but apologies if this isn't the case.

Highlander, you could try Gardening.co.uk's article on greenhouse expert Anne Swithinbank. You might pick up a few tips, and details of her book The Greenhouse Gardener are included.

Tracy is another on the move: 'Hi all; joined last week. I'm looking for ideas as I've just moved house. I like gardening…but I'm not very good at it. I have two large gardens; the front is sloping more like a ski slope really and the back is tiered with three lawns. I want to put in some flowers but it doesn't get much sun. Hubby wants to deck the main lawn, but I'm not sure.'

Read more moving stories on Forum.