The Ideas Genie Community Forum
Our Gardens => My Garden => Topic started by: NightHawk on January 29, 2011, 05:59:21 PM
-
This is the start of a new topic for our Hampshire garden.
The first photo is an Estate Agents shot of the garden in summer 2010.
The next few photos are of some of the current shrubs.
We'll add more photos once we see what else pops up as the seasons progress, plus the additional planting of some of our own favourites.
(http://www.pixiemouse.com/igforum/hampshire-bungalow.jpg)
Here's a few photos as the garden appears at the moment, before we do any work on it.
Photo 1 - our first (and only) snowfall to date. Front garden taken through window on 18 December 2010.
(http://www.pixiemouse.com/igforum/frontgdnsnow01_001.jpg)
Photo 2 - Front garden. The bird-bath in the foreground is ours.
(http://www.pixiemouse.com/igforum/frontgdn01_000.jpg)
The hexagonal flagstones lead to the front gate on the right and our front door to the left.
Photo 3 - Front garden. Shrubery alongside our front wall.
(http://www.pixiemouse.com/igforum/frontgdn01_001.jpg)
The yellow/green bush in the foreground is a Choisya ternata SUNDANCE. (See Photo 3a for close-up.)
Photo 3a - Close-up of Choisya ternata SUNDANCE in above Photo 3.
(http://www.pixiemouse.com/igforum/frontgdn01_001a.jpg)
Photo 4 - same as Photo 3 but from different angle.
(http://www.pixiemouse.com/igforum/frontgdn01_002.jpg)
Photo 5 - Front garden. The last of the shrubs alongside the front wall.
(http://www.pixiemouse.com/igforum/frontgdn01_003.jpg)
The brass wind-spiral is ours, but is temporarily hanging on a pole that had been left behind.
Photo 6 - Front garden - Ivy, Camellia and Hydrangea growing against our garage wall.
(http://www.pixiemouse.com/igforum/frontgdn01_004.jpg)
Photo 6a - Close-up of Camellia bush in above Photo 6.
(http://www.pixiemouse.com/igforum/frontgdn01_004a.jpg)
Photo 7 - Front garden - 2 unknown plants in border.
(http://www.pixiemouse.com/igforum/frontgdn01_005.jpg)
Closer view of plants on left side of Photo 6. Believe the left plant could be a Cyclamen but not sure about the one on the right just yet. We'll need to await flowering to confirm variety.
Photo 8 - Front garden with Salix caprea 'Kilmarnock' weeping willow tree in lawn.
(http://www.pixiemouse.com/igforum/frontgdn01_006.jpg)
Photo 8a - Close-up of Salix caprea 'Kilmarnock' weeping willow tree in Photo 8.
(http://www.pixiemouse.com/igforum/frontgdn01_007.jpg)
Photo 9 - Front garden.
(http://www.pixiemouse.com/igforum/frontgdn01_008.jpg)
Photo 10 - view of side garden down right side of house.
(http://www.pixiemouse.com/igforum/sidegdnrgt01_001.jpg)
Photo 11 - Close-up of Choisya ternata in Photo 10 in garden to right of house.
Bush in Photo 10 is just beyond the yellow one.
(http://www.pixiemouse.com/igforum/sidegdnrgt01_001a.jpg)
Photo 12 - view from bottom of garden along right hand side border towards front of house.
(http://www.pixiemouse.com/igforum/sidegdnrgt01_003.jpg)
Photo 13 - view of bottom end of right hand garden.
(http://www.pixiemouse.com/igforum/sidegdnrgt01_002.jpg)
Not certain if the unknown brown looking plant is dead or if it's in winter dormancy. Have to wait on that one.
Photo 14 - different angle from Photo 13 of bottom right corner of garden.
(http://www.pixiemouse.com/igforum/backgdn01_001.jpg)
Photo 15 - Bottom garden. A striking red-stemmed Cotinus Dogwood in foreground will definitely be staying.
(http://www.pixiemouse.com/igforum/backgdn01_002.jpg)
Photo 16 - Garden on left side of house. This view is from the bottom garden towards the patio area at the front end.
(http://www.pixiemouse.com/igforum/sidegdnlftpatio01_001.jpg)
Photo 17 - view from patio towards bottom of garden.
(http://www.pixiemouse.com/igforum/sidegdnlftpatio01_002.jpg)
The barbecue-style stove on the right is NOT ours. That will definitely be going.
As you can see from these photos there is a lot of work to be done in all the garden areas. It's obvious the previous owners weren't real gardeners.
With lots of tidying, digging up and new planting it will be a work in progress for a while. It will be fun doing it, and we'll get it looking immaculate with our own stamp of authority and personalisation.
There are still loads of plants and shrubs in the garden that we haven't as yet tried to identify, some that will be staying others that will not. I've just highlighted some of the bigger and best looking shrubs that we will be keeping.
We've already impressed the neighbours with just the little bit of tidying we've managed to do up to now. They've seen nothing yet :D
Also, we've got our bird feeders set up in various places around the gardens and we've had some lovely comments about the several species we've attracted in just this short space of time. The previous owner/s never really bothered. :(
There's a family of 9 Long-tailed Tits who just love our coconut and fat-ball feeders. Numerous House Sparrows, Chaffinch, Robin, Dunnock, Starling, Wood Pigeon and Collared Doves being the other most regular species.
Some of our other neighbours boasts the visits to or near their gardens from Green Woodpecker, Spotted Woodpecker, Barn Owl and Goldfinches. Plus foxes, squirrels, Herring Gulls and Lapwings making up some other varieties in the nearby field.
We've got a resident Tawny Owl in the woods at the rear of our house, which we can hear calling each evening but have not as yet seen.
We're excited at the prospect of what we have yet to do in our garden.
Laurie.
-
How are things growing Laurie?
RE: Closer view of plants on left side of Photo 6. Believe the left plant could be a Cyclamen but not sure about the one on the right just yet. We'll need to await flowering to confirm variety.
One on the right could be Muscari. If so, you should have nice blue flowers in spring.
Eric knows best about those plants (and Allium) and is the man to make an ID when the flowers appear.
Exciting, isnt it, as you wait in anticipation?
-
The cyclamen shown is almost certainly C. hederifolium.
-
Thanks for the Cyclamen ID Eric 8)
How are things growing Laurie?
Some plants are starting to bloom now. There's some Snowdrops appearing in the front garden border.
The Camellia shrub in the front garden, against the garage wall, is covered in buds (Photo 1 below) and some have started to flower (Photos 2, 3 and 4 below).
We've tried to identify which variety this particular one is without any success. The flower-head is 3½ inches in diameter, three sets of petals 'Barbie Pink' at the edges going into a deeper pink towards the middle and bright yellow stamens.
Photo 1 - Camellia shrub showing many unopened buds. The opened flower at bottom left is the one shown in Photo 2.
(http://www.pixiemouse.com/igforum/camellia_shrub001.jpg)
Photo 2 - Camellia flower opening on front right side of shrub.
(http://www.pixiemouse.com/igforum/camellia_flower001.jpg)
Photo 3 - second amellia flower opening towards rear right side of shrub.
(http://www.pixiemouse.com/igforum/camellia_flower002.jpg)
Photo 4 - same Camellia flower as in Photo 3 but taken a day later (today), having filled out more but same diameter.
(http://www.pixiemouse.com/igforum/camellia_flower003.jpg)
We have another Camellia shrub down the right hand side of our house which is also full of buds, but no flowers have opened as yet. We're not sure if it's the same variety yet until we see some blooms.
Any positive ID would be greatly appreciated.
Laurie.
-
Hows about Camellia x williamsii Donation , is the flower quite so pink as in your picure? Donation is quite a common one, and a good flowerer so may well be. But I am not an expert.
http://www.hortic.com/ics/product/4778/1 (http://www.hortic.com/ics/product/4778/1)
Malcolm
-
Hows about Camellia x williamsii Donation , is the flower quite so pink as in your picure?
The colours I described are true as displayed on my monitor anyway Malcolm. But, as you know, not all monitors display colours correctly depending on how they've been calibrated, so that's a difficult one for colour ID purposes.
Best to just go on my colour description, so if you're getting a vivid 'Barbie Doll Pink' look then you're seeing it correctly :D
Camellia x williamsii Donation looks like a distinct possibility though :-\
Laurie.
-
Donation is a good suggestion. I have one in my garden, a very impressive specimen, and as Malcolm says, very floriferous and also very reliable.
It blooms early in spring and since you are now in a warmer clime that here in Ireland, I'd say it is a good ID.
-
The cyclamen shown is almost certainly C. hederifolium.
You're absolutely correct with that ID Eric.
Doing some gardening today I came across the label for that plant in the border behind it, which confirmed it 8)
Laurie.
-
One down, how many to go :)
Should be fun to watch the mysteries unfold over the growing seasons Laurie. Hope you can share the experience photographically.
-
We're working on it George.
Just in the process of removing some well-established ivy from the side of our adjoining garage.
We don't like ivy at all, and it was starting to grow onto the roof. It was finding its way into cracks and getting inside the garage, fouling up the opening mechanism.
I've cut it down to the main root system which is as thick as my wrist, and goes down for miles. We had a similar experience at our old house with an invasive ivy and the best we could do there was to dig down a couple of feet and saw off as much of the root as I could reach. Will do the same here and then look to planting a nice shrub, clematis, honeysuckle or suchlike to fill the gap and cover the garage wall.
We've had quite a lot of rainy days recently so its put back our gardening. Just getting out there when we can.
We've been having more work done inside the house, new bathroom, new wardrobe unit in the bedroom, etc., plus we've just acquired a new puppy. Therefore there's not been much computer time.
As we see what plants start to come into bloom we'll get some photos to share along the way. We're puppy-proofing the rear garden at the moment for our nine-and-a-half week old Yorkshire Terrier bitch. As much as we would have liked to get another Labrador, the smaller bungalow would not have been practical. A smaller breed dog is a much better option, still giving us additional company, but much easier to manage (and cheaper to keep :D ).
We've called her Pixie and she has her second injection on 4 March. Then we'll be able to take her out for walks. Much quicker nowadays; it was 17 weeks before we could take our Labrador out for the first time.
Anyway, we're keeping the front garden as our show-piece, so we're not allowing any little 'fairy-rings' to appear from our little doggy. The front garden has been looked after by a neighbour in the past so it's in very good condition.
We intend to keep on top of that and make sure we do the necessary lawn care.
Laurie.
-
Thanks for the update, Laurie. Looks like you are making a few changes down there!
My son has borrowed a big trailer for me to take old stuff to the recycling site, plus branches and old tree roots.
The garden is still very wet, so its a great time for that job. Its actually been dry and some sun each day here, and quite mild!
Daffs, Crocus, snowdrops, Iris and lots of other things are telling me that spring has sprung :D
-
How's it going, Kathy & Laurie? Any more nice surprises?
-
There's been lots of changes going on here since my last entry, with lots of other personal stuff too, so I haven't had chance to keep on top of everything.
Some of the plants/shrubs featured have either been moved or taken out. The ones taken out have either turned out to be weeds, or had lots of dead branches on them due to neglect by previous owners, so they just had to go. Plant real estate is too precious to give it over to unproductive 'hangers-on' that have seen better days. If they don't perform well, they're gone!
Anyway, at the moment we're having our rear patio area re-done and the garden looks like a war zone. Tarpaulin on the front garden with a cement mixer, bricks and paving stones, bags of sand and cement and a various assortment of shovels and stone cutting machine strewn about. The existing patio had broken paving stones, very uneven with weeds growing through all the cracks.
We've got a water feature to go in soon too, and a picket fence and gate to divide the patio from the bottom half of the garden.
Needless to say, I'm NOT doing this work myself. We've got some professionals in to do all the hard grind, and they're doing an excellent job of it too.
They started last Thursday and are due to finish tomorrow.
The upheaval is horrrendous. Our poor little puppy doesn't know what's going on, but we keep telling ourselves it will be worth it in the end. The project will give us an 'outdoor room' where we can sit out and enjoy the peace and tranquility of our new home.
Once the building work is completed we'll have a lot of tidying up to do, and need to give lots of T.L.C. to the plants that were subjected to brick dust and dry cement that got blown all over them. The lawn will also need a bit of recovery work from all the stuff that's been laid on top of it all this time.
I'll probably get around to doing some photos for comparison purposes in due course, which we can share with you.
Laurie.
-
We've had the builders here since beginning of Jan, Laurie, and I know exactly what you mean about disruption.
It will be well worth it in the end. I hope you will enjoy that new outdoor room :)
-
I am sure it will be great when it is finished, Laurie. Tidying up the mess afterwards is always a chore but you will be very happy in the end. The last time we had builders in was 1980 and we haven't had to face it since! You will be looking forward to the work being back to normal gardening.
-
that is one topic caught up on, nice looking plants and it will be nice to see before and after shots of your patio, we too shall be having the builders in plans for double glazing, a carport i shall erect that myself, and a big digger to dig out some front garden and stone it and more work in the fields with it, keep us updated on the progress.
Grandad ;D
-
There's been a lot of enhancements done to our garden since we last posted, but there's been so much going on that I haven't been able to keep up a full report here.
We'll wait until next year now when we can begin a full range of seasons, charting the development of the gardens with the plants we favour.
Our new patio has been finished to our satisfaction and is working great, and we've still got lots of garden space available.
Yesterday I got the grass cut - AGAIN!!! :o In our old northerly habitat, come October we'd pretty much tidied the gardens for the last time before winter set in.
I just don't know how much longer this unusually warm climate will continue this year, so I haven't cleaned up the lawn mower yet just in case it's needed again.
Flowers still in bloom are Penstemons and Black-eyed Susan. Dahlias, Cosmos and roses have pretty much gone over now.
Apart from a minus 1 C overnight temperature last Tuesday, it's been averaging around plus 5 C overnight throughout November.
Watching the final episode of Autumnwatch for this year, Chris Packham mentioned that this is one of the mildest autumns on record, but hasn't beaten the mildest recorded in 2006 yet.
Anyway, it's certainly been a long gardening year so far, and will there be a respite looming on the horizon any time soon? Who really knows :-\
Ho-hum ::)
Laurie.
-
Let hope this mild weather continues until at least after Christmas Laurie.
We are off to Manchester soon to visit Tara, go a Man City match, Christmas markets and some shopping. Something for everyone! Last year we made that annual journey just before Christmas. We went to a Pogues concert. Going in, it was cold but OK. We came out to 4ins of snow. There was a great Christmas atmosphere on the bus into the city centre - everyone singing merrily.
A few days later, we were stranded at Liverpool airport. We thought we were there for the night, but they managed to get the runways defrosted (just about - as you may recall we were recording minus 12 and even minus 15 around that time!!) and we took off (we later learned that the next flight to Belfast was cancelled). A big relief when we touched down and came to a safe standstill at Belfast International Airport. Our car was covered with 6ins of snow. We had a VERY scary trip home!
-
Glad to hear things are progressing, Laurie. It sounds as though. like us, there are still a few blooms unaware that we are almost into December.
Yesterday I got the grass cut - AGAIN!!!
Our grass was cut on Thursday and all the signs are that it won't be the last. Now you are learning what a difference a few degrees latitude makes (and probably being away from the influence of the North Sea too must have an effect).
Good luck.
Eric
-
We've noticed a big difference since getting away from the North Sea winds Eric - and we don't regret it one bit :D
You just have to adjust your gardening techniques (and schedules) accordingly, so we're definitely not complaining about the warmer weather ;)
Our grass was cut on Thursday and all the signs are that it won't be the last.
I'd better not give the lawnmower a thorough cleaning yet then.
Laurie
-
Overnight temperature here dropped to -5° C - coldest so far this year.
Talking to someone in Christchurch this morning said they had snow there at this time last year. But their idea of snow is a little dusting compared to what we left behind in the northeast during the same period - a foot-and-a-half with 4-inch thick pack-ice below it. Glad to see the back of that.
We much prefer the southern climate, even with this unusually milder spell.
Laurie
-
Thanks for reminding me - I must get a new Hi-Low thermometer! It was really useful in the greenhouse.
We didn't have that frost here last night Laurie, thanks (I don't believe I'm saying thanks :-\) to our ever present cloud covering - it has persisted for AGES :(
It was a deceiving day today Laurie. I pulled on the woolies and went a-gardening. B&Q were selling off lots of bulbs at half price last week, so I bought a few packs ::)
Once I got out there and got going it was actually quite enjoyable. Had to do a bit of weeding before planting the bulbs, and the soil was quite workable. Planted about 80 bulbs - Tulips, Anemone blanda, Fritillaria meleagris. I'd already planted dozens more in October, so I'm hoping for a good show next year.
Looking forward to following this topic next year Kathy and Laurie - I'm looking forward to seeing what you retained, and what you plant. Its always interesting to see the plants favoured by other gardeners, and even more interesting to me - how they use them.
-
Yes George, those Hi-Low thermometers are very useful, which is what we have. As long as you remember to reset them at the end of each day ::)
I'm sure you'll enjoy watching the development of our garden next year George, as hopefully will our other members.
It's nice to be able to really call the garden your own by putting in the plants that you have either nurtured from cuttings or buy and plant the varieties we favour.
The garden's had almost a year now since we moved in (December 8th) :o , so we've had a good chance to see what has come up, what we do and don't like, and get some of our own cuttings and bulbs planted and to get established.
We've been able to see how the sun hits various parts of the garden each day throughout all the seasons, so now know what plants will benefit the best in different areas.
The front of our house is south facing, and we get unrestricted sunshine from the east early morning to the front, right through to it setting in the evening to the west, so the rear garden catches it as well. No tall houses around us casting nasty shadows, just other bungalows which aren't a problem.
Our new patio area is on the west side of the house so it gets the benefit of later morning sun onwards as it moves around.
Should be an exciting time of gardening to look forward to ;)
Laurie.
-
Just had to show you our Camellia which is flowering its socks off at the moment - and there's still plenty more buds to open yet :o
(http://www.pixiemouse.com/igforum/camellia-jan2012_1.jpg)
If you compare this photo with the one I took of the same bush in February 2011 (on Page 1 of this thread), back then there were only a couple of flowers opening but there were lots of buds.
This time it's been flowering since just before Christmas.
Had an overnight temperature of -4 deg C last night, so we'll see if that has any effect on it.
Laurie.
-
All I can say is WOW!!!! ;D Marvellous, Laurie.
-
My sentiments exactly Eric :D
In fact yesterday, I saw two bees visiting this bush - a bumble bee and a honey bee. And as you know, they should still be in hibernation.
If we continue to get frosty nights, as we did last night, they're not going to survive for very long. We had a hard ground frost and the water in the bird bath in our front garden froze solid.
It's warming up during the day, with sunshine and no wind - almost like Spring weather.
That darn grass will be growing again soon if this mild weather continues ::) I hope not though, it's one of my least favourite of gardening tasks. Ho-hum.
Laurie.
-
We had frost in the night too. It has been sunny, absolutely cloudless all day, and about 4 degrees C. On the north side of the hedgerows the ground frost has remained unmelted. You didn't say whether the frost has affected the Camellia, Laurie.
-
The flowers and buds don't appear to have any visible signs of frost damage Eric.
We'll keep an eye on it though and see what transpires.
If it can survive the extremes of temperature we're getting now, then all I can say is that it's one very hardy and resilient plant.
I'm not an expert on Camellias so I don't know if this is the norm for them. Maybe one of our more knowledgeable members on Camellias could shed some light on it.
Either way, I would certainly recommend this shrub, which gives you beautiful flowers and evergreen leaves when the flowers eventually drop off.
Laurie.
-
That is an amazing photo, Laurie - a Camellia in full bloom at this time of year (and since Christmas 8))
They are very hardy, I do know that. From my own experience of the varieties in my garden, if some blooms get damaged or just wither away (not sure which!), theres a constant succession to keep the bush adorned with numerous blooms in pristine condition. That can go on for a period of a few months. It will be interesting to see how long yours will continue to flower for this year, after such an early start.
-
Hi Laurie,
What a super plant to have in the garden to cheer up the dull days we have had recently. If we are in for a few hard frosts over the next week or so, it may be prudent to cover the plant with horticultural fleece to keep it protected.
BTW great photograph.
Martin
-
Thanks for the great feedback George and Martin.
It's difficult to tell from the photograph but the Camellia is about 10 feet tall by about 5 feet wide. A big area to cover with fleece there Martin ;)
Actually it's a well-established plant, having been in the garden for many years prior to us moving in, with some very thick branches.
It has therefore already gone through several winters and is still performing well, as you can see from my latest photo.
I don't think we need to 'pamper' it though. The colder winter last year just stopped the flowers from blooming until later on, as the numerous buds were unaffected, and the bush still became covered with lovely flowers.
It's just so nice to have a bush in full colour when all our other, more tender, plants are sleeping through the winter :D
It's great to have your input Martin, being our newest member to the Forum, so keep up the good work.
Laurie.
-
Just a quick update on our 'full-bloom' Camellia in our front garden.
It's still doing well, despite a few frosty nights (another one due here this Monday actually ::) ). A few petals have started to drop, but I would say the overall performance is consistent with last year.
We have exactly the same Camellia on the east side of our house. This one doesn't catch as much full sun as the one in the front garden. There are lots of buds on it, but the ones that are flowering at the moment are at the top of the bush where the morning sun reaches it.
We've seen similar Camellias in other gardens in our area and they are also in full bloom. So, they definitely respond well to sunlight :D
A great plant if you're wanting a very colourful display, evergreen leaves once the flowering stops, and doesn't seem to mind temperature extremes. Does well in alkaline soil, which is what we have here.
Gets our recommendation anyway ;)
Laurie.
-
Very nice. All our Camellias died over the last two winters.
-
What a sad loss Eric. Mine have all survived, I'm pleased to say. I selected the C. × williamsii varieties as they were said to be hardier. What varieties died on you?
Ive another little story to add to Lauries observations.
My specimen Camellia × williamsii 'Donation' has now grown to 8ft tall and more wide. Ive observed that the south facing side of the bush starts to bloom a week and more before the blooms at the other side! They obviously like sunshine. However, they should be planted to avoid facing East, as the rising sun can damage the blooms ofter a night of frost.
Mind you, if you are lucky there will be plenty of bloom on the other sides to compensate!
-
A beautiful day here today. Warm, sunny and dry ;D
Took the opportunity to get out and do some tidying of the garden.
Had a lot of dried oak tree leaves to clear up first, picking out from between all the border plants - a very time consuming task.
Got a few crocuses and snowdrops in bloom adding some nice colour to the borders. Even got crocuses coming up through the lawn so didn't cut the grass today. Can wait until they die back first.
We don't have any new planting schemes planned just yet, just concentrating on getting the existing 'old' stuff cut back.
Let's hope the wettest year on record was last year, and our gardens and plants have time to recover from the rain and wind battering and water-logging ::)
-
Glad you enjoyed sunshine today, the cloud never lifted for us; but at least it was dry so I have been busy outdoors for a few hours. I have now retrieved three barrows full of compost, mostly from last year's dahlias and sweet pepper pots. It will get pepped up a bit with something and be useful for filling some containers in a few weeks time.
I don't understand why you picked up dry oak leaves? I would have left them as a mulch to rot down, or if they were too dense over some plants, pushed them off and jiggled them into the soil. We get a dense covering of hawthorn leaves over what we call our shade border and I just leave them in situ.
-
Our blackbirds love tossing our fallen leaves in the flower beds, looking for grubs underneath. I rake up from over the grass when the trees are bare. All else is allowed to revert to nature. They give a good weed cover over winter.
Delighted to see you and Kathy will have more time for the garden this year Laurie. Did you identify most of the plants in your new garden? Last year must have been fun to see them all to glory in their respective season.
-
I don't understand why you picked up dry oak leaves? I would have left them as a mulch to rot down ...
Well Trish, living in the New Forest and being surrounded by lots of different types of trees, many being deciduous such as the oaks, we get quite a lot of leaves blowing into our garden. More than your average leaf drop that less rural areas would get as you can imagine. We have to keep on top of it or we'd see nothing but leaves in our garden ::)
Anyway, as well as making the lawn and flower beds look untidy, they choke up the flower beds especially for the smaller plants. I use a power leaf sucker/blower which also shreds, so the leaves are actually used as mulch but in a more manageable form. It also looks tidier as we can control the amount of shredded leaves around our plants ;)
Did you identify most of the plants in your new garden? Last year must have been fun to see them all to glory in their respective season.
Pretty much ID'd them all George. The biggest star/s that was here when we moved in are two Camellia shrubs. They are described earlier on in this thread, with photos, and they are really beautiful plants.
-
I didn't realise you actually lived IN the New Forest :) You are very lucky. We have holidayed there briefly. We have some sort of outdoor vacuum thing which my OH Rog uses to tidy up the outside area close around the house. He uses the mower to collect leaves from the lawn and we rot them down in pens to make leafmold, which is the best thing ever!
-
Very lucky indeed Trish.
Being keen walkers, birdwatchers and having a passion for nature, it's idyllic :)
So tidying up after nature throws some leaves at us is not a problem; this is the environment we chose and wouldn't change it.
Our garden isn't huge. It's enclosed, so the leaves build up fairly quickly - hence the need to keep on top of it.
We can hear the birds' dawn chorus by just opening our bedroom window, and regularly see deer and foxes in fields opposite our house.
The New Forest ponies are also a delight. To see them roaming free as nature intended is wonderful. You'll have seen that for yourself when you visited here.
Sadly though, some ponies have been killed and injured by the small minority of reckless drivers who don't abide by the numerous warning signs of ponies on the roads during the day AND night, and speed along regardless >:( :( You get drivers like that everywhere though, so it's a national problem.
I do what I can to keep drivers speeds down behind me by displaying a rear window sticker that says I go slow for ponies, just so they don't get too impatient and wonder why I'm driving slower than expected.
The majority of the roads through the New Forest have a speed limit of 40 mph, but I think that is too fast really. Talks are ongoing to try to reduce the speed limit but only time will tell if that actually happens.
(http://www.pixiemouse.com/igforum/ponies-go-slow-sticker.jpg)
So, that's where our home is situated, in beautiful natural surroundings which makes our gardening experience so much more of a delight ;D
-
Just managed to do some more tidying and get the grass cut before the rain started again ::)
Has been raining on and off for the past 3 days now, and apparently next week is to be similar weather, with the addition of SNOW :'(
When will it ever end :-\
-
I'd be quite happy if we get a nice period from April onwards! Easter is traditionally cold here in Ireland. I'd love to have your average of (mostly) a few degrees warmer than us at most times of the year. That few degrees results in plants blooming sooner and perhaps later in the season. Ive noticed how daffodils are about a week and more earlier at the bottom of our hill on the sheltered town side. We don't have that little microclimate as we are located on the flat at the very top of a hill.
-
The snow is back as predicted.
We're on an 'amber alert' again for snowfall.
Had a slight dusting overnight, but expecting more ::)
-
Bitterly cold here too, Laurie. Minus 2 degrees but a very strong north easterly which makes it feel much colder. Being on the top of a hill doesn't help. The daffodils in the valley are coming out but ours are keeping very tightly closed at the moment. Our crocuses are non existent, we had a visit from muntjac deers who found them very tasty >:(, what is just as bad, we have bulbs planted in a tub near the front door and they decided to nibble the tops off some of the leaves. Grrrrrr !!!! :( :( :(
-
Beautiful day here today - blue skies, the sun is shining, no wind and a temperature of 12 degrees C ;D ;D
Took advantage of Kathy being out with her coffee morning buddies and decided to do some gardening :o
Normally, when the weather is this good we prefer to be out walking somewhere. Unfortunately, the garden receives the worst of this deal and then it's harder for us when we do get into the garden. The grass and weeds just keep on growing ::)
Anyway, managed to get the grass cut. Tidied the lawn edges and collected loads of Camellia leaves that are constantly being shed.
Still lots to do but I'm pacing myself ;)
-
I'm pleased to read you are over your recent cold, Laurie.
Lets hope this weather lasts, Laurie. Like you, yesterday and today was sunny and warm (maybe its all relative!) :D
I cut my grass yesterday for the first time this year. It simply is not growing like any other year, but there was a noticeable jump this past week. I'm full of enthusiasm again now the lawn is cut and the edges are trimmed.
To my surprise, the Tulips I planted in Autumn 2011 have survived and are putting on a fine show to compliment the daffs.
Spring has sprung ;D
-
I've done a fairly basic garden plan showing our bungalow in its own plot of land.
(http://www.pixiemouse.com/igforum/garden-design-1.jpg)
The front of our house faces to the right of the photo (southeast as the compass shows), which is bounded by a low brick wall. A short wrought iron gate gives entry from the access road.
The three remaining sides have wooden panel fencing.
A three feet wide border surrounds the property, in which is planted a variety of shrubs and plants.
A series of six-sided decorative concrete flagstones forms a pathway from the front gate to our front door. Keeping the grass neatly trimmed around these can be quite tricky. I used to do it manually using a half-moon cutter and then a pair of hand shears, which took ages to complete. But I have now mastered the use of a cordless strimmer which shaves the job time down to about 15 minutes.
On the south/southwest side, behind the garage, is our flagstoned patio area, with a low picket fence dividing it from the garden which continues around the rest of the house. A tall wrought iron gate in the corner of the patio at the rear of the garage, gives access to the front garden.
When we open the wrought iron gate and the picket fence gate, this gives our little yorkie the complete run of our garden all around the house, without any concern of her getting out onto the access road and into the surrounding area. We don't want her playing with the ponies, deer, foxes, rabbits and other wildlife in the fields and woods next to our house. They are enclosed by fencing and hedging, so none of the bigger animals can get out to venture into our garden, so we know she's safe here. During the day, the smaller animals stick to the fields and woods anyway, and we're all safely tucked away inside the house during the hours of darkness ;)
You'll notice from the plan drawing that there isn't a greenhouse. Kathy doesn't feel the need to have one (at the moment anyway). Strangely though, considering the southern climate is more conducive to gardening, we don't spend an awful lot of time doing very much in it. Our other outdoor activities of walking in the Forest, photographing flora and fauna, and generally enjoying this beautiful environment takes priority.
When the weather is not too good, especially when it's windy and forest walking is a no-no due to the possibility of falling trees and branches, we venture into the garden. Also, when we've neglected the gardening due to 'being elsewhere' and the weeds and grass start to take over and beckon to us to be given some TLC, we'll cave in and don our gardening attire, grab our secateurs and battle through the wilderness we sometimes call our garden ::)
Also, in the front garden we have a stone birdbath. I didn't have a graphic in my garden design program to illustrate one :'( Well, I did say at the beginning that the plan was a basic design, so it's just to give an overall impression of what our garden looks like and the challenges we face.
I didn't put dimensions on the plan either, but suffice to say that the garden is not huge in size. Maybe around 80 feet long by 60 feet wide (I've never felt the need to measure it actually), but just large enough for us to manage adequately in our more 'mature' years of life :D
Our patio area gives us a great place to sit outside and enjoy the peace and tranquillity. Just as darkness decends upon us, the bats will briefly fly over our garden and the local Tawny owl calls to us from the woods behind our house. When it gets dark here, it gets REALLY dark and very quickly too. There's no street lights where we live, which makes for excellent night vision for star-gazing.
Well, all this talk about gardening is making me feel guilty that I'm not out there doing something with it. But to be fair, the weather forecast is not too good for the weekend. We've had a few brief drops of rain today and the wind is starting to build up a bit. Not a real problem, more of an excuse really ::)
Anyway, the grass isn't looking too bad at the moment. Still quite short, but in need of a good bit of watering as it's looking a little brown in places. We've not had the waterlogging downpours that we had last year (thankfully), but it's gone the other way this year - not enough rainfall.
No new planting has taking place here this year for us. We're reasonably happy with the varieties of plants we have now.
Before we know it, autumn will be upon us and then it will soon be time to think about getting the garden set for over-wintering. A fair way to go yet though, and plenty of gardening time to fill.
[The software used to create this garden plan is Serif DrawPlus X5]
-
Thanks for the update and showing us your plan, Laurie.
I did wonder why you were so quiet on the gardening postings :)
I had a look over the topic to refresh on the photos you posted previously.
You have quite a selection of shrubs there. They do need attention, of course.
In my garden, fast growing shrubs can quickly outgrow their planned confines. They can also bully any slow growing neighbours and perennials.
I spend a lot of time removing fast growers - a good idea at the time of planting!
Needless to say, I much prefer slow growing varieties and think more than twice before buying any new shrubs.
Its nice to be able to enjoy your other pursuits without being a slave to your garden (like some people ;D ;D)
Thank you for the name of the software you use. Are you pleased with it?
-
Thank you for the name of the software you use. Are you pleased with it?
Very pleased with it George.
It works very much like Adobe Illustrator, helping to design vector graphics, logos, manipulate photos, plus lots more. It's also a fraction of the cost of Illustrator.
In fact, Illustrator can cost you around £300-£400 (or more) depending on where you buy it from. And the upgrades are very expensive too. Adobe have now introduced the new versions of all their software through a system called Creative Cloud, whereby you pay a monthly subscription of around £46 per month to use all their software. Still expensive, especially if you only really want access to one particular program. You can't buy their newest programs from Adobe any more, just through this subscription service. I suspect it is their way of combatting software piracy.
Serif DrawPlus costs £81 to buy outright. They have just brought out version X6. The upgrade to X6 from X5 is £51, but you can now purchase X5 for £20.
I haven't upgraded yet, but I now use this program extensively as opposed to an older version of Illustrator. I'll never be able to upgrade Illustrator, but DrawPlus is so much cheaper and more affordable to upgrade that I can have the latest versions as new enhancements are added.
I would certainly recommend DrawPlus if you want to design excellent vector graphics on a budget, without compromising the quality. The program will also handle Illustrator (.ai) files, so you can open and work with those in DrawPlus and then resave them in the DrawPlus format for further work.
DrawPlus fulfills all my requirements anyway.
-
Many thanks for that, Laurie.
What I would like to do is make Ideas Genie Pro more graphical.
With a plan of the garden, the user could click on the image (hotspot) to identify the part of the garden to work on - add plants, add photos etc.
The lasso feature would allow the user to draw the Hotspots on the image.
I presume you can output in bmp format? Can it do jpg and/or gif file output? They are usually smaller file sizes than bmp's.
-
The image formats you can select are: PNG / BMP / EMF / FPX / GIF / JPG / PCX / SMF / SVG / TGA / TIFF / WDP / WMF
I've created a new topic (http://www.flowergenie.co.uk/ideas/forum/index.php/topic,2072.0.html) in Computers / Graphics section with a bit more info, just to keep this thread clear.
-
Excellent ;)
Could be very useful in Ideas Genie :)
-
Took my Nikon D60 out into our front garden this afternoon and grabbed a few of our 'best' plants at the moment.
The following specimens are not in the best of conditions, none of which have received much TLC from us for a while, so be aware of this when viewing them :-[
Shrub Rose:
(http://www.pixiemouse.com/igforum/shrub-rose_001.jpg)
(http://www.pixiemouse.com/igforum/shrub-rose_002.jpg)
(http://www.pixiemouse.com/igforum/shrub-rose_003.jpg)
Scabiosa with bee collecting pollen:
(http://www.pixiemouse.com/igforum/scabiosa-bee_001.jpg)
(http://www.pixiemouse.com/igforum/scabiosa-bee_002.jpg)
(http://www.pixiemouse.com/igforum/scabiosa-bee_003.jpg)
Verbena Bonariensis:
(http://www.pixiemouse.com/igforum/verbena_001.jpg)
Penstemon:
(http://www.pixiemouse.com/igforum/penstemon_001.jpg)
(http://www.pixiemouse.com/igforum/penstemon_002.jpg)
(http://www.pixiemouse.com/igforum/penstemon_003.jpg)
Hydrangea:
(http://www.pixiemouse.com/igforum/hydrangea_001.jpg)
(http://www.pixiemouse.com/igforum/hydrangea_002.jpg)
Honeysuckle - growing through Hydrangea and other adjacent shrubs:
(http://www.pixiemouse.com/igforum/honeysuckle_001.jpg)
As I say, not the most perfect specimens, but just giving you a hint of the colour in our garden at the moment ;)
-
At least they are alive, many of our plants are dying. We have had no measurable rain this month and incredible temperatures, 85c. at the moment.
-
Good work, and many thanks for posting Laurie.
Like Eric, I'm finding some plants are struggling and Ive thrown a bucket of water to ones I want to look good as we have a birthday party here on Saturday.
I don't know how you folk in the South of England can grow anything in the conditions you have been experiencing!
-
I don't know how you folk in the South of England can grow anything in the conditions you have been experiencing!
I don't know either George.
Whether it's connected to the bad storms we had creating a high water-table and allowing the ground to retain more water that's now being drawn up to water the plants from below, or the plants are developing and adapting to these conditions :-\
Anyway, like you George we're watering our most prized plants, especially those in pots and just hoping for the best.
-
You may well be right about that Laurie. Plants in pots need a lot of attention and I'm sure we all have a program for that. Its the ones in the ground that can catch you out.
I has horrified to see the sorry state of my Astilbes yesterday. Their leaves were badly shrivelled. Applied a bucket of water to each of them but no noticeable improvement today. I doubt if they will make a recovery for this year.
Some of my Rodgersias (a big favourite of mine) have collapsed. I'd better patrol the garden better to look out for anything in distress!
-
Lovely photos, Laurie. Reds are difficult and they have come out well. It looks as though your Hydrangea has had a bit of copper sulphate to be that nice blue - ours are pink, as ypu would notice.
Eric H