I just found this, a kind of spider diagram of "what next?" options for Serial addicts ... handy! https://twitter.com/RarityInForm/status/547126356048642049/photo/1

Owen - I am not saying it's unorganic to add topsoil to a raised bed - in fact it's what I did when the beds were first filled (hence my phrase "repeat the exercise...") but I've found that I'd have needed much, much more to keep the beds filled in the following years.

Thanks Carole, I'll be in touch!

My brain has re-remebered the name of this rose! It's 'Super Excelsa' .... very tough, disease-resistant and worth growing! http://www.davidaustinroses.com/english/showrose.asp?showr=3479

Jane - the Bridge Project sounds brilliant! If you email a postal address to me ([email protected]) I'll get together a package of seeds and books, separate to this competition, to send over to you. I may even throw in a couple of signed copies of my own book!

It has occurred to me that in fact the T-shirt in question features a mollusc that looks far more like a snail than a slug. I think the Baileys may have been responsible for my mixup ... oops. Anyway, the T-shirt's still way cool, so please do enter - it's your last chance, nearly!

Fear not, I shall continue to sow undaunted. I realised that poor technique (putting things outside too early, not protecting from slugs) put paid to a lot of my sowings, so I've learned a few lessons and will soldier on next year. It's worth it for the joy of the things that do work - my verbascums grown from seed have been magnificent, for instance ...

Pelfad, it's Filipendula ulmaria ... take a look at this Wikipedia page for more info http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filipendula_ulmaria but I think you should be able to find it in Denmark - try near waterways!

That's bizarre, Mumblebug ... On the meadowsweet cordial, having now had a taste, I have to say it's an acquired one. Meadowsweet contains the ingredients used to make aspirin (so you should probably avoid if you have a problem with aspirin), and if you close your eyes while drinking it, there is a hint of those disgusting glasses of soluble aspirin my mum gave me when I was ill as a child. But diluted with some sparkling water it's rather nice. There's more information on meadowsweet's medicinal qualities here: http://www.herbsforhealing.org.uk/news/meadowsweet-newsletter.php

Hi Chris, this sounds interesting, can you send me an email about it please? thanks jane

Don't worry VP, to be honest I am not blogging regularly enough to "curate" a challenge such as that so I am happy for you to lead the way! I am still sowing winter salads as an experiment - they're growing very slowly but I am still getting decent microgreens in small quantities. The foraging does really help to bulk things out, too.

Oooh, cool - and a great thing to do. Although for a minute there I thought you were going to say you were a panelist! I share your reverence for R4. One of my proudest moments was being interviewed by Jenni Murray on Woman's Hour (about technology, not gardening - in the days when I was a "real" journalist)...

100% success, that's my kind of plant. Thanks for the collection advice - mean to make the most of them seeing as they seem happy in my dry-as-dust border where most other things have sulked terribly ...

Hmm. Everyone's been pretty unequivocal about the mirror, but it's staying for the moment! I have bought another mirror since, of which I'll put a photo up soon. I think it may be more favoured, but who knows?

Hi Erin, I know Sidney - I have relations on the island. Butchart is an interesting garden - or rather set of gardens - but my favourite in that neck of the woods is the Horticulture Centre of the Pacific - mucn more my style and less touristy! http://hcp.ca/

Thanks Katherine, glad you liked the book!

Hi Anna, I have several weed identification books. The best is Wild Flowers of Britain and Ireland by Rae Spencer-Jones, because it has great pictures and arranges plants by flower colour which I find very useful. People also rave about a book called Wild Flowers of Britain by Roger Phillips (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wild-Flowers-Britain-Photographic-Identification/dp/033025183X/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1308338239&sr=8-8) so I think I am going to get a copy of that too! I would have loved to have heard Richard Mabey speak, I'm sorry I couldn't make that event - I love the Garden Museum too!

Deb, the bistro set's a must-have - they seem to be available pretty cheaply from Tesco and the like. Herbs are a good idea but it's quite shady so I'll have to be careful in my selection and I do have a herb bed near the patio which isn't far from the back of the house either but much sunnier. Loving the charity shop mirror idea Sheila! NOt so keen on the rhodos though! I just planted a chimomanthus elsewhere by the patio - maybe I should get some cuttings off it now! In terms of the rose I've got for pot luck and picked up a non-labelled but allegedly pink climber at a plant sale - fingers crossed but I'll grub it out if it doesn't work! Anne, as ever you are wise about the hosepipe - also desirous of one of those spray guns from Two Wests - that's my Christmas list sorted if I don't have the money to buy for myself before then!

Alex - my architect did all the plans for the roof, which were then followed by my builder - it's a fairly substantial building and needed a substantial roof to take the extra weight of the substrate etc. If you want to do a smaller project, Dusty's guide will show you how, though.

That's why I'm a journo, Dusty - I come up with all those nifty phrases! You were right about the plug plants - some birds have pulled a few out so I've been up there replanting and sowing some extra wildflower seeds. I can hear the rain pattering on the conservatory roof as I type so I am hoping some extra water will help everything to start sprouting ... what an unseasonably ldry spring it has been!

Thanks for everyone's comments so far. On the black fence front, I love that idea for the fence you can see in the pic above (visible on the right-hand side) and indeed for the rest of the garden. I was thinking of pale green for the fence in the side passageway, which is very dark and miserable and I'd worry that black's only going to make it worse! Sue and Anne, yes one plant for the brick planters was what I had in mind, and I do need to simplify my plant lists for the other beds. I like the idea of the Calmagrostis and don't mind about having to cut it down, but I am slightly worried about the soil, which is very heavy right now and lacking in organic matter - something I can fix, but not immediately.

Damn, that would have saved me a lot of sweat! Am growing tons of sweet peas so maybe those should go in the raised beds as a stopgap. Am LOVING that rose, too ...sounds ideal

Anne, you are so right. The lists for beds 1 and 2 are basically a combination of things I already have that need putting somewhere (the skimmias, the ferns...) and things I think will work. I reckon I need to halve both lists and maybe I'll be getting somewhere... I will post a picture of said dingy passageway but couldn't bear it until the new gates are in place, it still looks so miserable. And Sue, I'm liking your ideas for the raised planters! I thought a shedload of bamboo in there to act as a screen woud work but I may have understated the amount of sun these beds get, particularly the left-hand one in the picture. Plus bamboo's so expensive I might have to have a stopgap such as beans until I can shell out on mre plants!

It's not that tidy now - currently filled with everything that was in the old garage while our building work takes place! Once the store room in the new building is ready it'll be a lot emptier and tidier again. I hate not being able to find stuff, so I've tried to maximise storage space.