Start Garden Now?

[bsr]

Hi, two questions please:

1. I can now start a border - the land has been lying fallow. I'm looking for low mantainance shrubs and perennials. Can I plant anything now (we've had the first frost) or need I wait until next May?

2. Any tips for knocking pegs in straight? Despite sideways taps to get the angle right, they always seem to go in sideways. I often split the tops too. I'm using a 4lb club hammer if that makes any difference?

Thanks

 

[Loofah]

Nothing to stop you now, although stick to preparing the ground by digging over and adding in manure or similar, removing big stones etc. Any planting should be restricted to hardy shrubs and trees; any perennials won't have enough time to establish before the bad weather sets in and will get killed off so save those for spring.

As for posts I've come to the conclusion that it comes with practice! Use a spirit level vertically and to avoid splitting the top, place another block of wood on top of the post and smack that with the hammer to drive the post in.