New beginnings: The garden is a mess, but I’m sowing seeds for a better 2024

As this is my final gardening column of the year, I had plans of signing off with a neat garden ready for a winter of hibernation.

But that, dear reader, would require a measure of foresight, that has so far eluded me in my 32 years on this planet.

It’s not that I haven’t been busy since my last piece at the end of the summer; I was involved in a local play which was a lot of fun, but the poor garden bore the brunt of my neglect.

It’s a mess, the weeds have taken over the flower beds, choking the flowers which were hanging on, thanks to the milder weather we had through October.

[  Growing vegetables is a dying art in Ireland. This man has a solution  ]

I am, however, up for the challenge of pulling up the weeds and clearing the flower beds of debris before laying a layer of seaweed fertiliser on the soil – a tip I got from a wonderful woman on a train from Dublin in September. You can use shop-bought fertiliser, which I already had, or do as the woman suggested and get some from your local beach. Be warned though; it can be smelly so make sure you can seal the bags or cover the buckets in your car.

In the meantime, I have been doing a bit of work in preparation for next year.

I have repotted my basil plant, because I read that when you buy herb plants, they are close to getting too big for the pots they are sold in.

It hasn’t grown as well as I hoped, but has given me plenty of leaves for adding to dinners over the past few months.

The first parsley plant died, much to the surprise of absolutely no one, so I bought another. Like the basil plant, I moved it to a bigger pot in the hopes that it fares better this time around.

I have sown the rosemary and thyme seeds in an old egg box with some compost, and they will sit