A warm welcome to Eric Hardy

[ideasguy]

RE:

I think I am going to enjoy this forum

I certainly hope you do!

The photos are great Eric, and you have lovely gardens there.

In the first photo, with the house in background:-
What is the pink foliage tree/shrub, dead centre, left of garden and overhanging the lawn.
Is it a Tamarisk by any chance?
Thats it again in the second photo, I think, looking in opposite direction, this time on the right side of the lawn

What are the tall white flowering trees in the last photo?

[Kathy & Laurie]

Excellent photos Eric, and you have a beautiful garden.

I agree that it has that 'natural' look about it.  Areas where you can just wander around as if you're out in the wilds and you don't know what's just around the corner, as you can't see all your garden at the same time.

This is the sort of garden Kathy and I like too.  Our gardens are quite small in comparison, so we're not able to get that meandering through nature experience. 

I also see that George has set you a challenge to identify some of your plants.  He's like that - but you'll get used to it. 

Although you've joined the Forum as a Bank Genie user, we hope you get actively involved on the 'gardening' side as well.  Much as you have done already.  Your input and photos are most welcome, and our members will appreciate your good garden fortunes.

Laurie.

[Eric Hardy]

Thank you George. You are quite right that the pink tree you see is a tamarisk. The white blossom on the last photo is on two very old Bramley Apple trees. The blossom starts out beautifully pink and white but as it ages the pink fades.

Thank you Laurie for your kind remarks.

I should have mentioned that we have quite a bit of soft fruit; blackcurrents, redcurrents, raspberries and gooseberries which hog a lot of space in the freezer but are nice to have. I have never been good with strawberries. Too much like hard work.

Where is a good place to ask a question about our failing rose bed?

Isn't it funny that all this started because I couldn't reload my Quicken to my computer 

Eric H

[Kathy & Laurie]

Where is a good place to ask a question about our failing rose bed?
Eric H

Eric, if you navigate to the following Board - Plants/Help, (or just click on this link - http://www.flowergenie.co.uk/ideas/forum/index.php/board,64.0.html ), then start a new topic there with an appropriate heading, and post your problem.

Isn't it funny that all this started because I couldn't reload my Quicken to my computer 
Eric H

Well, if you hadn't Eric you'd probably never have found such a great bunch of people. 

I was interested to read your bio and discover your roots are in Barnard Castle.  That's not very far away from us (Middlesbrough) and it's such a beautiful area around there.
Nice to speak with a past 'local'.

Laurie.

[ideasguy]

I have a Tamarisk in my garden, but it is incredibly slow to grow. Mind you it was in a bed with conifers, and obviously didnt like it. I cut some of the conifers down last year and hauled the 1in "trunk" upright and tied it to the trunk of one of the conifers. (I kept about six ft of the conifer trunk to grow Clematis up it!)
The Tamarisk started to produce growth. I'm hoping for a show this year.

Thats a fine looking specimen you have. How do you rate that plant?

[Eric Hardy]

Eric, if you navigate to the following Board - Plants/Help, (or just click on this link - http://www.flowergenie.co.uk/ideas/forum/index.php/board,64.0.html ), then start a new topic there with an appropriate heading, and post your problem.

Thanks Laurie for that, I will follow that through when I have a moment. I am just trying to get to grips with this "quote" business. It seems to be working.

I was interested to read your bio and discover your roots are in Barnard Castle.  That's not very far away from us (Middlesbrough) and it's such a beautiful area around there.
Nice to speak with a past 'local'.

I wonder, do you still refer to "Barney"? We still visited regularly until my mother died at the age of 97 in 1996. I still miss Teesdale even though I left it so long ago.

Eric H

[Eric Hardy]

I have a Tamarisk in my garden, but it is incredibly slow to grow. ................Thats a fine looking specimen you have. How do you rate that plant?

Ours is about 35 years old or more. It is very pretty when on bloom but I have to keep cutting it back. It soon makes new growth. One of the problems. and it looks as though you are experiencing it too, it really needs some support. I had to give it a very sturdy stake early on and it still needs some sort of prop. Our neighbour has a very old one and, if I remember correctly, Anthea propagated it from a cutting.

Eric H

[ideasguy]

I see you've conquered the

quote

thing Eric!
You are making this techy stuff look like a breeze 

Yes, my Tam was leaning on neighbouring plants about this time last year, and needed support. To be honest, I'd given up on it and had forgotten it was there, as it never did anything. I think it has now come of age, and as you have said, a bit of pruning (I cut the whole bent top of it!) seems to have given it a lease of life. I didn't prune until after it had bloomed of course (for its first ever time of significance)
Little side shoots began to appear all up the stem, as you have said, so I'm looking forward to seeing it this summer.
Good to have two greenfingers (or should that be 20 counting the thumbs, or should that be 20 x n with a bit of touching up in Photoshop  ) to carry the burden of gardening. Good for Anthea!
Are you both keen on gardening and plants?

[Kathy & Laurie]

I wonder, do you still refer to "Barney"?
Eric H

That could be a name used just by the locals, as I can't say I have ever heard it referred to as "Barney" elsewhere at any time.

It's been a while since we last passed through there, so I don't know if it's still in use.

Laurie.

[Eric Hardy]

Are you both keen on gardening and plants?

Yes we are, George, but we find it quite difficult now do do what is necessary. We are not too much into Latin names these days either, our memories aren't as good as they were. We have 240 feet of holly hedge and an eight foot high yew hedge right along the north boundary which shelters us from the north wind but is hard to reach. I now get help to cut these twice a year and every now and again a chap called Paul does a bit of the heavy stuff, perhaps two or three times a year. Cutting the grass and strimming are not too much of a problem yet but I can't bend down for long now. A kneeler helps at the edges but you can't use that in the middle of a bed.
Anthea is in charge of all the propagating and nursing of seedlings in the greenhouse. She is a great one for getting cuttings from friends and doing swaps. We keep the seed from the annuals and she keeps tomato seeds , runner beans and squashes to sow again and it works. It goes against the grain to pay a fortune for half a dozen seeds in a pretty paper packet! She is just recovering from a replacement hip operation so at the moment she can't bend at all.
I think this year the garden will probably look a bit wilder still!

Eric H

[ideasguy]

Hi Eric
I'm pleased to read you have people who come in and help with the garden from time to time. Keeping the shrubs in place is a must if you are to keep things in balance out there.That Holly hedge sounds like a hard job to tackle!

RE:

We are not too much into Latin names these days either, our memories aren't as good as they were

We cheat a bit here. If we can remember it once, and manage to get it into Ideas Genie Pro, its there permanently and easily accessed.
We can put the plants into Garden Areas. By using a pop-up to select the garden area, up comes a list of plants in that area. Beats racking your brain 
And of course, we link the plants to photos. More fun 

I hope Anthea is recovering well. Its a real lease of life giver. My wife had both here hips replaces 2 years ago (6 months between ops). Before she was in absolute agony. Now shes getting about very well, no pain. Shes very cautious of them. As you know they advise not to bend down and pick things up of the ground. Best wishes to you both!

[roiphil]

A belated welcome to eric hardy 
Phil

[Eric Hardy]

Thank you for the welcome, Phil. I feel this is a very nice friendly forum!

Eric

[roiphil]

was looking through your flikr pics eric, fantastic many hands make light work, loved the one with the cow in the garden

[ideasguy]

Yes, it brings back memories of last October.
However on that occasion, there was only one guy,and a herd of the cows AND I didnt need to clone them using Photoshop