Janet and Steve's Garden

June 2010

2010-06-29T14:42:00.000-07:00

Garden 2010_06_12

Click on the photograph to see the photo album for June 12th 2010. This has been a trial to see if it is a more convenient way for me to load photos to the blog. It is, so I will continue along these lines!

Today

2009-10-25T11:14:00.000-07:00

We've been a little busy helping a friend with his garden. More accurately, we've been remodelling a large area of it. However today I took some photos of ours ...

Pond Story - the rest of the story (well, mostly)

2009-07-24T07:17:00.000-07:00

Following on from the previous posts ...

Growing walls

2009-07-15T01:28:00.000-07:00

And now the walls forming the inside of the pond are growing ...

There was this hole ...

2009-07-13T12:04:00.000-07:00

The pond has gone, and in its place is a hole. About 30% greater surface area, and the changed profile will give at least 50% greater volume of water (we're going a little deeper and removing the planting shelf at the back of the pond).

The fish are safely tucked up in their temporary home. Yes, it's a 210litre water butt. Filling this lowered the water level in the pond by about 20cm, so the new pond is going to take an age to fill. On the other hand, we now have a much-needed second water butt!

And the plants are in their temporary home - a £3.16 B&Q paddling pool.

Panoramic shots

2009-07-05T12:01:00.000-07:00

From near the shed (see the next photo)

From the middle of the lawn (by where the BBQ is in the previous photo)

Yes, I know this isn't a panoramic shot ...

June - some more photos

2009-06-29T13:43:00.000-07:00

The next four photos are of the area on the South East of the garden (so, faces North West and is relatively shady).

This is the "bog garden" - we dug a hole about 90cm deep and lined it with polythene and filled it with soil and compost. It seems to retain the moisture well enough, but still needs watering to keep the levels topped up.

Behind the pond.

This is the Acer that was in the Mediteranian (spelling) border - moved this weekend as it was getting sun-scorched and we had a space where the Photinia had been before dying off (fire blight, we think). We hope it survives as it really does look good just there and it's enabled us to move the Hosta pot and free up space on the patio.

And move the container with the fern under the Gleditsia at the back of the patio.

Alstromeria and Eryngium work well together. Not a combination I've seen elsewhere. We must be careful - we could easily fill the garden with Alstromerias.

The Eucomis look good, too. I hope they retain their upright habit better this year - giving a better setting for the flower display.

Nearly the end of May

2009-05-27T13:46:00.000-07:00

20th April 2009

2009-04-20T15:08:00.001-07:00

2009-04-14T13:17:00.000-07:00

The photo does not do this Azelia justice. We bought it as a very poor specimen and it's rewarded us with a fabulous display each year. I hope I can work out a way of working around it when we enlarge the pond later this year.

One of our mobile ornaments self-placed in the exotic border.

Oh, how I wish I could recall more plant names. OK, it's a clematis, blue, about to burst into flower ... i'll stop there.

Euphorbia - name unknown. Quite delightful but vigorous (a euphemism for invasive).

Paeonia mlokosewitschii Ranunculaceae. Otherwise known as Molly the Witch - Golden Paeony. We've yet to see this flower, it having been in the garden for about three years now. I wonder it's offended by the fact that we can't pronounce its name correctly, choosing to be a little familiar with by calling it "Molly". the bergenia isn't nearly so precious.

Trillium, so good in Hidcotee Gardens, but yet to show for us. We will persevere as it's such an unusual plant.

Hostas just breaking through; we've used up all copper slug barrier so have resorted to chemical warfare.

Hellebores and Corydalis Flexuosa make for a pleasant combination, from several angles.

Better late than never

2009-04-12T10:46:00.000-07:00

These are photographs taken on the 3rd April. Very remiss of me to leave it so long to post ...

We've been after a really dark Hellebore for some while, since seeing one at East Ruston. It's the most glorious deep purple (i'm sure someone will have a better colour description).

Prunus Incisa Kojo No Mai is possibly my favourite flowering shrub as it lifts the gloom after winter. Fabulous.

One of the three Camillias we have, along with many early flowering shrubs in the garden, seems to be a good year.

Magnolia Stellata in all it's glory. The best year so far.

Mustn't forget the cats!

Readying for the new gardening year

2009-02-22T07:28:00.000-08:00

I'll add some words later ...

2009-02-08T12:18:00.000-08:00

Too cold to use. Shame.

Snowdrops beneath the Yucca in the front garden.

Cornus glows in the sunshine. Yes, we had sunshine

Garrya Eliptica. Looking good.

Snowdrops in the back garden

Hellebore in the back garden. Something of a surprise to me as i didn't think they'd flower just yet.

New Year

2009-01-01T05:02:00.000-08:00

During a quiet post-work, end of year drink in the pub, Colin asked what was happening in the garden as the blog hadn't been updated for some while. I've checked the photo albums on the PC and not only has the blog not been updated since 6th September, I haven't taken any photographs in that time.

That's not to say that we haven't been busy in the garden. Indeed, we have removed a couple of Phormiums that had out-grown the space allotted to them, moved the Photinia from by the swing-seat to replace the yellow Eunonymous beside the patio. The Photinia appeared to have suffered from some sort of blight, possibly fire-blight, and needed to be cut back hard to remove all traces of blighted wood and foliage. As you'll see from one of the photographs, it appears to be thriving in its new position and, if it continues to progress, will make a nice feature.

In place of the Photinia is an Amalanchia which is one of Janet's "must have" plants. It was in the front garden, but was swamped by the surrounding shrubs, so moving it will allow us to see and appreciate it more.

The garden's obviously not at its best at this time of year, but there is colour, you just have to look for it.

The new growth on the Photinia

To be continued ...

September - still going strong

2008-09-06T11:13:00.000-07:00

Five photos of the "Exotic border" ...

Fascicularia Bicolor (American???)

Musa Sikkemensis

Eucomis comosa "Sparkling Burgundy"

Hedychium forrestii (It's a ginger)

Cautleya spicata (It's another ginger!)

Miscanthus "Ferne Osten" is absolutely delightful this year. The flowers are a lovely deep colour.

Looking from the path near the conservatory toward the summer house, much of the garden is starting to be past its best, but there's still enough to draw the eye.

The Morning Glory is stunning, climbing through the red climbing rose (possibly Dublin Bay).

Rosa glauca (possibly rubrifolia)

(White) Anemone Honorine jobert

The Chocolate Cosmos next to the Sedum has formed an unexpected combination - it certainly wasn't planned to have the pink combination, but it does work very nicely

The Yucca in the front garden has seven flower spikes on it. That's the most it's had since we've lived here. It should be a fabulous display. Do they have a scent? I don't recall.

In the front garden in August

2008-09-01T14:10:00.000-07:00

Loading photos is slow, so just the four of the front garden.

The blue Hibiscus is rather splendid

And across the garden

Towards the front of the house. the Cannas are in pots - we potted them up to overwinter them but ran out of space to plant them all, the result being that these have grown in their containers which just got placed where you see them.

The garden from the other end.

Sunday ... the end of our work-break

2008-08-10T08:57:00.000-07:00

I've walked around the garden in an anti-clockwise direction starting at the end of the new path, where the light-coloured slab is in the photo below. To the left of the picture is where the tree fern is, you can just see a couple of fronds, and a Nandina in the fore-ground. Still on the left, at the far end of the wall is a Eonymous that we've moved to replace an invasive bamboo as wind-shelter for the more delicate plants in the borders along the path.

Looking in the opposite direction to the photo above, you can admire Janet's brickwork. The post in the path has a Wisteria growing up it which we hope will cover the framework that the white rose used to adorn. We've removed the rose because it was too rampant and unmanageable, deserving a much grander location than we are able to give it.

In the photo above you'll see a yellow Ceonothus (sp). From the other end of the path it works well with the blue Salvia in front of it.

We've moved the Acer along to allow more planting space and replaced the white rose with a scented rose "Partridge". And this is a chance to admire my brickwork!

Still looking back, Crocosmia, a red rose with Morning Glory winding its way up, the grass ferne Austin with the Salvia / Ceonothus

The lovely, scented Trachelosprumum jasminoides next to the conservatory doors.

Looking out from the conservatory doorway

Return to looking anti-clockwise and the newly named Mediterranean border.

The white clematis we had to prune heavily earlier this year when removing a somewhat disappointing Jasmine. It's growing well and will, hopefully, give a good display next spring

Lobelia Tupa. The photo does not do it justice.

The Berberidopsis on the North West facing fence. It's slow-growing (I think this is its 3rd year) and these are the first buds on it. It's looking good, though.

More Lobelia. You can see the Berberidopsis behind it.

I wish I could remember what this is ... I call it the Pineapple plant. Its third year and the leaves are showing the red colour for the first time. Pretty, isn't it?

The banana Musa Sikkimensis is a delight. It has grown strongly, the leaves have retained their paddle shape and the colour has been excellent.

The Hibiscus is giving a good show.

The decking. Will be repainted soon.

The prairie border .. .worth comparing against previous blog entries to see how it's changing and developing?

The yellow Crocosmia in the prairie border

Wall done

2008-08-07T08:18:00.000-07:00

The walls are pretty well completed now. We have to wire-brush the bricks to tidy up the joints and, on the advice of a neighbour, put linseed oil on the bricks to disguise where the mortar is on the bricks.

This is looking South East from the conservatory entrance towards the shed.

Looking South West towards the shed, now on the left.

We bought extra slate to top up the old and to replace any we lost during the work we did. The new slate has slate-dust on it which will take several heavy showers to remove. You can see the the final colour where I've sprayed the slate with water. The slate will take a while to settle into place and look established.

Oh, and just for the record, we riddled all of the old slate and then washed it (by riddling it again in a large bucket of water), removing several buckets of detrius in the process. Who needs the gym when you've got walls to build and a path to re-lay?

A good day. Tiring, but good ...

2008-08-04T13:44:00.000-07:00

The last couple of retaining walls completed. The single, edge-on wall on the left was built by Janet (and, I have to say, it was a trickier piece of wall than I had to do). The one on the right is my attempt at wall-building.

From the shed looking back parallel to the rear of the kitchen and conservatory

Looking towards the patio from the utility room. Janet had to create a couple of curves by eye.

Looking back towards the untility room from the patio

Rain stopped play

2008-08-02T11:05:00.000-07:00

Janet built the wall on the right, mine's the one on the left.

But we still got a lot of wall built.

Footings in

2008-08-01T13:11:00.000-07:00

A day of me mixing concrete, with Janet laying the footings. The footings are all in place, now to see if we can lay bricks.

Late July 2008

2008-07-30T14:23:00.000-07:00

Trench digging in the sun today. It's hot. Damned hot ...
Janet's trench is the neat one ...

Lifted most of the slate path

Have most of the materials to do the footings for the retaining walls (but only 44 of the 176 bricks ordered were delivered today! Jewsons ... We've got everything you need, we're just not going to deliver it! Ha!

Oh, the the prairy border is looking good. I'll post more pics later!

Early July 2008

2008-07-30T14:15:00.000-07:00

The prairie border ... starting to look good...

The back-border... has some nice things but doesn't knock you out. It's under review!

Looking South East from the Prairie border.

The Clematis on the corner of the utility room wall, by the shed.

I'm a bit smug about these. A home-made box, and now slug/snail damage due, I think, to the copper band.

Late June 2008

2008-07-30T13:22:00.000-07:00

I took these photos in June and have only just got around to posting them.

This is the Rose we bought when we stayed at Port Appin in Scotland a couple of years ago. It's a bit too vigorous, has thorns that will sever limbs, flowers above the leaf canopy (this photo is taken from a bedroom window)so the flowers aren't easily apreciated and needs a fair bit of work to keep tidy. Planted next to the conservatory, the scent is beautiful, and fills the garden for tow to three weeks. Is it worth its place planted there? The jury's out and a Wisteria has already been bought ...

From the garden shed across (the Mediterranean border? Janet's suggestion!) to the exotic border.

Back towards the house from the patio. The plants with yellow spikes were an inspirational buy ... Bought from Pine Lodge gardens, St Austell, Cornwall they've given a trmemndous display. They're tender so we kept one piece in the summer house, while the remainder were heavily mulched (all purpose compost and a covering of bubble-wrap to keep the ground from getting water-logged). Both have flowered well, the ones kept indoors flowering a little later and extending the flowering period.

Across the lawn to the prairy border. Watch this space for the photos taken at the end of July!

The border on the left hasn't quite done it for us this year. We replanted much of it last year and it's not worked as well as we'd hoped. A few minor adjustments to give it some Oomph should do the job.

The Hosta at the back of the patio. Not a single sign of slug or snail damage, and totally chemical free. We put copper bands around the container which seem to have worked for pretty well every plant we've used the copper bands on.

The view parallel to the conservatory. It's a good view spoilt by the path falling into disrepair as the soil from the surrounding borders hasn't been retained in te borders. To be fixed next month (watch out for the blog entries showing what we're doing).

June 2008

2008-06-28T12:34:00.000-07:00

So much, so quickly

2008-05-24T11:51:00.000-07:00

There are so many things growing so quickly and flowering that it's hard to keep up. Loading the photographs from my new camera takes forever at 7megapixels so I've taken a few shots at lower resolution. Forgive me if the quality's not too hot - I haven't got the hang of this camera yet.

Blogger isn't letting me upload photographs (again!!), so here's a link to my Picassa album (click the word "link")

Look what greeted us

2008-05-19T12:30:00.000-07:00

Looking towards the swing-seat

To the right of the seat is an Euonymus Alatus

beneath which is a Tropiollum Speciosum that we're hoping will grow through the Euonymus and up into the Yew. It worked once before but the slugs and the lawn mower damaged them beyond recovery. Hence planting in a tube with a band of, hopefully, slug repelling copper.

The best show, in six years, of the Helianthemum. Not sure it goes with the purples of the Heuchera and Alliums, but, hey...

We've made some minor changes to this border - I do hope they work out. Keep watching this space

The Alliums are looking good, with the Stipa Gigantea just coming into bloom in front. The Stipa wasn't too good last year (just a couple of weedy flower spikes) but it's throwing up spikes left, right and centre this year.

CUT THAT LAWN!

All nice fresh growth: it was practically bare when we went on holiday.

The Ceanothus still flowering after all these weeks.

New fronds sprouting on the Tree Fern, while the area beneath reveals itself when the old fronds have been removed. Far more lush than when we went on holiday.

May holiday - in the garden. Now, there's a surprise

2008-05-05T13:21:00.000-07:00

We had a little potter in the garden today - actually, Janet pottered yesterday, too, while I went off to watch some motocross at Lyng. Photo's of that are in my bike blog.

Start in the front garden for a change.

The shrubs are starting to mature: The Choysia is really giving a good display, Hopfully the Geranium in front of the Acer will bush up a little to fill that big space. Janet planted some (Purple) Penstemon just nearer the driveso that should be quite colourful.

Can't say much about the Clematis other than it's giving a good display again.

The border at the front: These Tulips have been lovely, we need to plant some more.

Ah, now you can see how it all fits together. Incidentally, the Italian Cyprus was upright when I planted it. Honestly!

This is the view that the neighbours get of our garden. Aren't we good, allowing our neighbours to have such a delightful aspect? Actually, most of the plants are what were here when we moved in or plants that were ejected from other parts of the garden.

Into the back garden

I make no apologies for showing this bamboo again. This light shows off the pink rather well, I think.

Sorry about the blurry photograph. The camera has decided to lie and tell me that the battery is flat when it isn't, and my phone camera locks up the phone when I try to use it. This was taken using my company phone which is a bit basic. All the same, it's a lovely plant (and i'll ask Janet the name of it so I can add that detail later).

The Mahonia berries are forming and turning alovely shade of blue - just in time to go with the Wisteria just behind it.

I'm so pleased with this Acer. It wasn't doing so well, so we moved it under the conservatory window and it's making a very good recovery.

The yellow leaved Ceonothus, giving a lovely display of flowers. Normally they're pretty insignificant, but this year they're showing us what they really can do. More again, next year, please ...

Tucked away under the tree fern, this is usually only seen from the seat inside the conservatory. Pity, as it's a lovely plant.

Again, under the tree fern, a sweet little Heuchera giving its all, yet not often seen. Because of that, it actually comes as a surprise when I do see it.

We're still beneath te tree fern. One of the green Hellebore flowers. The flowers are barely discernable when viewing this border so tend to get overlooked. But it is a stunning flower.

At long, long last. Pitosporum Tom Thumb. We've wanted one for a long time but never saw one that caught our eye. Then finding the right location for it. It's too good to waste, so it takes pride of place next to the path in the exotic border. There is will be seen, and will add colour all the way through the winter.

Under the big conifer next to the pond that's in front of the summer house. The Cornus have been cut back hard, but the Bluebells and Camassias are there to give a show before the Cornus regenerate. I have no idea how the Bluebells got there, but the Camassias are new purchases, one potfull from Coton Manor, the other from Notcutts.

The Purple Heuchera in front of the pond.

More of the exotic border. We've taken a bit of a gamble with the Cannas, having brought them on in the conservatory they may be a little too tender.

Molly the Witche. She's about 20cm's tall and this is the best she's been in three year's of being in the garden. In fairness, she was a little neglected for a while, but she's proving a tough old bird.

The front in April

2008-04-20T14:22:00.000-07:00

April out-back

2008-04-20T12:59:00.000-07:00

The Acer in the "Rockery" is startling - a moment of inspiration to put it there (we bought it on the basis that "We'll find somewhere to put it").

A new Camellia. Another "We'll find somewhere to put it" plants. Well, we couldn't find a place in the ground, so we bought a pot and put it by the shed. So far ...

A visit to a NGS Garden up near Banningham (between Aylsham and North Walsham) last week resulted in us buying a couple of plants: for once we knew where they were going. I'll add a note of their names when I find out what they are.

We don't go out to grow alpines. We have one container that gets left and neglected - then rewards us with this lovely Gentian.

I've had enough typing .. I'll just upload a few photos

Really quite pleased with this Clematis .. So I took three photographs.

A few snaps of the front garden

2008-03-23T09:57:00.000-07:00

The approach from the road.

Having uploaded this photograph, I realised it's not the best one of this Skimmia. That'll be this one ... next!

See what I mean?

Magnolia Stellata. Again, it gave a good display but the various rain / sleet / frost /snow / hail combinations damaged the display a little. Still a lovely plant.

Another view of the Magnolia.

A small Rhododendron just by the side of the drive.

I wonder what she's thinking?

March

2008-03-16T13:02:00.000-07:00

We cut tha Fatsia back quite hard, and have popped a couple of pots in the space for now.

This Ribes was in the garden when we bought the house. I wasn't terribly keen and "pruned" it back. Hard. Now it's thriving and, I have to say, I rather like it as it gives a nice splash of colour in March.

Snowdrops ... still going strong on the 16th March

Phyllostachys aureosulcata-'Aureocaulis' I will keep posting photos of this. The stem colour (or should that be colours?) is amazing.

I was a little late taking the photo, so the flowers are moving on to be berries. The Mahonias do seem to be thriving this year. Please let them hurry and grow to hide the fence! PS. The fence doesn't reallt lean like that, now was I drunk when I took the photo. I'm just a bad photographer!

The Hellebores weren't quite so good this year, but what we had are really quite attractive.

New for this year, Daffodils in the border we've named the Prairy Border. OK, not very prairy, but we like it.

Pink? Oh no it isn't. Who said the camera doesn't lie?
The weather spoiled most of the blooms of this Camellia pretty well as soon as they came out, despite being in a sheltered spot. Pity.

I've wracked my brains. I still can't remember what these are. Suffice to say they're thriving in the semi-shade between the Black Bamboo, Phyllostachys nigra, and the Photinia.

Shame you can't smell these. Daphne Odora AureoMarginata. Not an impressive looking plant, although the flowers are pretty enough. The scent, though, will blow your socks off.

10th February

2008-02-10T13:05:00.001-08:00

This is a Pieris .. it's a lovely colour and effect but we seem to lose leaves each year. As you can see, the ones at the top don't look too healthy, but those just below look fine.

No idea what this is .. it was just a blade of red grass that last year we decided needing nurturing, now it's thriving along side the path in the front garden.

See the geranium .. that's supposed to be tender. Not in our garden it isn't. Indeed, it's a prolific self-seeder.

That's not supposed to be there ... but it is, and a lovely surprise it was too.

We're quite pleased with the Snowdrops. We didn't plant that many, and they're starting to clump up nicely.

This bamboo is really lovely, the stems giving a lovely warm glow all year 'round.

A cat procession

And, finally

A wrapped banana and bubble wrap covering the ground where the gingers are.
We covered the gingers in a good (4" - 5") layer of all purpose compost then put the bubble wrap over the top. The bubble wrap kept the compost dry, so it should have been a well insulated. We'll see soon, I expect.

2007-12-12T13:58:00.001-08:00

The front garden with frost on it this morning. A quick snap with the phone as we went to work.

The Penesetum (Janet told me what the grass is called) looked fabulous with the frost on it. The photo does not do it justice.

The car port all dressed up with icicle lights for Christmas. Unfortunately the photo just shows the lights as lots of bright blobs.

But we put some in the conservatory and they look great. The reflections off the roof sparkling.

Oh, and Merry Christmas

Not sure which is the better photo - without or with flash. You decide!

Today - Nov 18th 2007

2007-11-18T15:09:00.000-08:00

Belated

2007-10-17T11:59:00.000-07:00

Would you believe it? We've been doing stuff in the garden...

There was a Phormium in this spot that, although majestic, was out of scale and using up a lot of planting space. We dug it up and replaced it with a smaller variety. It's refreshed the border when looking from the patio and given space for more colour. Current thinking is that a Cistus will go in the remaining vacant area.

The Euonymus Alatus is colouring up nicely for winter. Hopefully it will get a full flush of colour and i'll remember to photograph it.

From the utility room window. It was getting to dusk so the colours have a bit of a sunset glow to them. The removal of the Phormium gives a better view of the exotic border from here too.

The exotic border has been stripped of the Dahlias and one or two other plants, such as Crocosmias, that we'd got bored with. They've been replaced by gingers (Hedychiums) which we hope will give a more tropical / exotic feel to the border.

Close up, you can see one of the gingers flowering.

2007-08-19T09:27:00.000-07:00

We'll start from with looking from the patio down the new path towards the house. The "exotic" border to the right is really lush ... a benefit of the wet season we've had perhaps, with the banana grove looking particularly splendid.

To the left of the path, over the top of the pond towards the bog garden. The Clematis on the fence have given a rather grand show. Really quite pleased witn the Ligularia, too. It just sits there flowering and drawing little comment, but I really rather like it.

Next to the front of the patio - a delightful mix of colours and textures.

The view(s) from the swing. 'tis lovely. too.

The "prairie border". This from the conservatory entrance.

Looking towards the swing from the decking

Define "a riot of colour" ... Ooh, look. Defined ...

=============================

Some detail

=============================

One of the Eucomis flower spikes just starting to open up.

Agapanthus ... we have three types. This is the taller darker blue one, and the only one still in flower. I'll have to take photographs of the others next year.

Is this a Kampsis? Whatever. It's just outside the kitchen window and it almost, and I do mean almost, encourages you to go do the washing up!

Our little flowerpot man, sitting on te edge of the pond where he belongs. Not in the pond where he was discoveredafer a pond cleaning session. Ooops.

Imperata Rubra ... just catching the sun through the leaves.

Blue Salvias at the back of the exotic border.

Ferne Austin ...

Canna go wrong with this (oohhh, sorry about the pun)

Lobelia.

They just happened to be like this ... all I had to do was point and shoot.

The back garden today

2007-07-02T12:50:00.000-07:00

I thought i'd show a few individual plants r groupings rather than the "vistas"...

Again, in no particular order...

Pieris Katsura ... It's amazing!

Callistemum

Salvia and Eryngium (spelling) together, looking wonderful. The photo doesn't do the Eryngium justice. It's a steel - cobalt blue.

Trachelospermum Jasminoides

The front garden today

2007-07-02T12:27:00.000-07:00

I nipped out between showers and snapped these photo's ...

In no particular order:

The Hydrangea is looking particularly colourful ... Needs some sequestrone (spelling!) to get the blues to show more.

The Phlox are starting to show ...

And the Clamatis

It's filling out nicely

2007-06-23T10:22:00.000-07:00

These area few pictures of the garden taken today. No particular order, and only a few words of explaination. Maybe ...

This is the white rose we brought back from Scotland last year. It is planted by the door to the conservatory and is trained over the structure by the back door. The scent is positively delightful.

Rolo ... It's a hard life being a cat ...

The boys playing..

In the pond ...

Looking from the corner to the patio.

The foxtail lillies in the "exotic" border.

The clematis on the corner.

This is a new grass bought fromWest Acre nursery this weekend.

Oh, and here's the "Dead" Yucca mentioned in the previous post. Potted up and, hopefully going to thrive.

2007-06-22T14:01:00.000-07:00

The new path to the front door.

The wood chippings, used to create a path

Around the Yucca

And acting as a mulch in the borders

Oh, and here's the Amalanchier that Janet's been after for ages. we removed a "dead" Yucca out of this space ... then found it wasn't dead. Oops. We've potted up the Yucca and hope it survives.

A quick update... The path looked odd with the chippings on only one side of the path, so now we've put them on both sides... and this is how it looks in the rain!!!

Fish .... Good news!

2007-05-24T15:12:00.000-07:00

We still have three fish. I must have scared the heron off before it could finish the job. I have put a "fence" around the pond to give a little added protection.

Grrrrrrrrrrrr

2007-05-13T10:17:00.000-07:00

You'll notice that there's no photographs of the fish ... A heron came down and ate them in the week. Grrrrrrr

May 12th ... random photo's

2007-05-13T09:29:00.000-07:00

Once again, I popped out of the house and shot lots of photographs. Fifty seven, to be precise. Of course, many turned out to be less than interesting or duplicates of previous photo's, so didn't make it to the blog. These are the ones voted for by the Steve/ Janet jury ...

From the upstairs landing window ... a slightly different perspective. It confused me and I took the picture!

the border next to the driveway ... The Geranium is starting to flower - we think a little ahead of time.

Peonies are reputed to dislike being moved. Well this one is obviously a gypsy variety.

The honeysuckle aong the side passage that is a July flowering specimen ... It seems that it forgot to check the calendar!

The rather nice Azalea at the back of the patio that is about to burst into bloom - the bamboo behind it was bought for the colour of its stems as the next photo shows.

I'll post more of this Clematis as the flowers open, but it looks promising. Given that it's been pulled around a lot - while I repaired the fence and janet panted the fence, I think it's doing rather well.

I have no idea what this is ... but it's been flowering for ages. A great-value plant!

The tree-fern is sprouting new fronds. Last year's fronds are still there and still looking reasonably fresh so we'll probably leave them in place as the new fronds develop.

The "prairie" border lacked colour. Being in direct line-of-sight from the swing-seat we decided to plant this Geum. It's looking good and we hope if develops into a real splash of colour in subsequent years.

Another recent purchase. This heuchera is next to the new path and will, we hope, form a mist of red as it develops.

I do like the way Mahonia's give this splash of red as they grow.

Some more photo's

2007-05-07T12:20:00.000-07:00

I went out and ran off forty photo's of the garden ...
Don't worry, i'm not about to post them all ... Blogger's struggling to load the photo's anyway, but here are few, without too much explaination, for your delectation.

The side passage ...

Oh dear ... that Acer's looking poorly.

The view from Janet's side of the swing (yes .. we have allotted sides)

A close-up of the Alliums that you can see in the previous photo

My, what a lot of Cannas we've got.

The Choysia at the front, next to the drive

Some Alliums .. we bought them for their leaf form but they didn't do much, so we moved them. Now they're working very nicely.

The Weigela's looking good ... There are three in the front garden and they're all starting to give a lovely display. Hmmmm I wonder if we ought to have one of these in the back garden.

Another one

And another ...

We don't "do" pink ...

Pasque flower seed-heads with the sun behind them ... They look stunning.

A view from above

2007-05-07T11:46:00.000-07:00

Just for a change I thought i'd take some slightly different shots ... These are of the back garden from an upstairs window.

Starting from the left, and working right. Hopefully this will help you orient yourself when looking at the photo's I've posted elsewhere.

At the far left corner is the "summerhouse" (AKA the shed with windows). Janet's tidied this up and it now looks much better... well, apart from the glaring white buckets.

To the right (South-ish), and roughly central to the back fence is the swing-seat, with the patio further to the right in the far right corner

Then moving towards the house, the shady part next to the fence where the "bog" garden is next to the shed.

2007-04-29T12:48:00.000-07:00

Not many words - yet. It's Sunday night, and we're just going to chill in front of the TV with a glass of wine. Here're a few photographs to be going on with ...

The swing has grass in front of it instead of (on a wet day) muddy patch.

It's the time of year to be bringing the tender plants out of the summer house to harden them off, ready for planting out.

The new Acer ... it's beautiful. We've planted it in the area where we put the rocks last year (the "Rockery"). We had no idea where we were going to put it when we bought it .. we just thought that it was stunning and that we would find or make a place for it ... and we did.

The tree Peony at the back of the Patio. The colour is a lot deeper in real life .. still, even here it's still a very impressive flower.

The Wisteria ... from an advantageous angle, I admit.

Sunday ... an easy restful day

2007-04-15T12:54:00.000-07:00

Not much time for commentary, mostly a few photo's from today.

Oh, also, we went to East Ruston Old Vicarage for the afternoon. A great place. I forgot to take my camera but check out their website http://www.e-ruston-oldvicaragegardens.co.uk/

Janet making the most of the swing ... studying form ... Well checking details of the plants we bought from East Ruston and where they're best going.

The tulips in the back garden are really looking good. I think we could do with more

And the ones at the front...

The Yucca had collapsed and was looking a little sorry fro itself so we've taken a bit of a gamble and cut it down.

Thus.

We're working on the theory that we've seen (indoor) Yucca sprout new growth after being cut down, maybe this one will too. The people at Nottcuts suggested it could work. Hey-ho ... nothing ventured, nothing gained.

And a final photo ... this is the main border in the front garden. It's starting to fill out and is looking good. The Acer is particularly colourful.

Easter Monday

2007-04-10T12:48:00.000-07:00

By Monday most of the work in the garden had been done. We went shopping for a few plants, and then I abandoned Janet in the garden to go and clean the car and the motorbike.

I haven't shown all of the plants that we bought and that Janet planted. The individual plants aren't that impressive, and to catalogue them would be boring so i've just taken a few general shots and, where the plants appear I will comment on them.

This is a similar photo to that shown in Sunday's blog entry. The sun's out and the freshly painted fence (all Janet's work) brightens the garden. One plant change - a Japanese Maple to the right of the path. It looks lovely close up and was an inspired choice (mine!!!!).

The view from in front of the kitchen across, diagonally to the summer house. The Japanese Maple makes another appearance, you'll see.

From the deck towards the swing - a later photo shows the relative positions of the two.

From the deck across the garden - on the left of the photo is the Yew that was to the right of the previous photo.

This shows the relative positions of the deck and the swing. The patio is to the right of the swing, behind the Yew tree.

This is the path to the back-gate. Normally filled with rubbish to go to the waste recycling centre, we've cleared it and janet's put a couple of climbing plants to reach up to the trellis. One evergreen Honeysuckle, and a climbing Hydrangea. This should provide some colour and, we hope, reduce the output from the boiler reaching the neighbour's.

These started out as a single floret ... now lots! This space is triangular - about nine inches by twelve inches.

Sometimes we get a slightly different view from our garden. It would be good if they would take a photo of the garden from up there.

And last but not least. Aiko ... being very sweet.

Easter ... Continued

2007-04-08T11:56:00.000-07:00

The grass path from the house to the patio was a great idea when it was first created, it made a lovely shape and looked effective with the Cordyline and the Phormium alongside.

However, with time the plants grew, we added plants and rocks. Plants near the edge tumbled over the grass making it hard to maintain, and the traffic wore through it.

So we decided to pave it.

Work in progress -

The finished article -

From both ends -

The stone is the same as the patio and should weather and mellow to blend (have a look at the first photo, above, and you'll see the original stone was a little bright at first).

The swing is installed. Just a little turf to lay.

It has been correctly launched with a bottle of (Bisol) Prosecco Valdobbiadene. And quite delicious it was, too...

In order to accomodate the new path, the curve of the lawn on the right (as you look from the house) needed some adjustment. Unfortunately this made the lawn look a little lopsided, so we adjusted the curve of the lawn on the left. Which has given us more planing space (how lucky is that!!!).

Of course, this decision was arrived at after drinking the wine, and after dinner. You may notice the time - the camera's time was set before the clocks went forward and hasn't been re-set.

And, finally, nothing to do with the garden, but a darn fine pose from Rolo!

Easter - the start

2007-04-07T13:02:00.000-07:00

Here's the base for the swing ... covered up for the night in case of frost ...

This is it completed ...

The soil in front is where we'll be laying turf to provide an easy walk up to the swing

Tomorrow there will be a swing on here.

The Trillium (well, one of two). We've waited about three year's for this to flower ...

And it's still not out ... but we'll be keeping a close eye on it

The curving grass path is going ... actually, it's gone ... Janet dug it up and we're laying a curving path in stone to match the patio. It's a bit of a startling contrast to the current stone which has weathered in the four year's or so since we laid it. We hope it fades to match.

These are the rock slabs to make the path.

On top of this, Janet's been busy being attacked by the Pyrocantha ... in the name of painting the fence:

It's suppose to be "Medium Oak" ... It painted on as Orange - kinda scary - but seems to be fading to a respectable colour.

In the front there're some nice things ...

The Magnolia's flowers are really cool ... This'll be fantastic when it grows to its full mature height.

I can't remember what this is ... I should - we saw one at Taverham in the week (it's the drink ... it's addling my brain - and long may it continue)

2007-04-07T12:29:00.000-07:00

This is a belated post ...

Lat week we popped out on Janet's birthday and wandered around looking for things for the garden. We were looking for a oblisque ... and couldn't find anything until we spotted an "assemble it yourself" structure .. So, here're the before and after photo's

We've planted a couple clematis to climb up this ... i'll show photos as they grow.

Christmas has arrived late ...

2007-03-25T11:00:00.000-07:00

Well, finally, it's time to unwrap and assemble our Christmas present. It came flat-packed in two monster cardboard boxes. They've been stored leaning against the garage wall all through the winter.

Unpacking the boxes revealed a giant 3D child's wooden jigsaw puzzle. A quick look at the instructions and hey, away I went ...

the first "A" frame assembly complete

Both "A" frame assemblies complete. The sharp eyed among you may notice that there is a very minor, but significant, difference between the assemblies. This minor difference resulted in me having to take the top section apart and re-assemble it. About an hour after this photo was taken (you'll notice that there's a shortage of photo's between the next one and the final assembly ...).

The seat all assembled, and looking very smart.

Of course, it would never have gone as smoothly had squeak not supervised ...

So, the final product in place, and a glass of G&T to celebrate it's completion.

I think a couple of things to note here. First - it's my photography that's at an angle, not the seat. Second - the slabs went down very roughly, being placed directly on the soil, as a place to store the final assembly and are not the finished job. Laying them like this also gave us chance to ensure the final position is right for the garden - we think there will be a minor adjustment but we're really quite happy with the swing.

The view from the swing. These two photo's should be joined and when (if!) I get the hang of the photo editing software that came with the camera then i'll give it a go.

2007-03-24T11:40:00.000-07:00

Pictures will resume.

Guess who received a fabulous camera for his brithday. It's able to take quite high- resolution photographs (up to 7.2 megapixels). Updating tem to the blog would take forever so i'll only be posting the 1 megapixel photographs.

Of course, the downside is that the photographer can no longer blame his equipment for the poor quality images ...

The Clematis Armandii ... from our bedroom window (Full 3x Optical zoom and 2x Digital zoom to get this close...). It's giving a wonderful display this year!

This is the Camellia at the front of the house - using the camera's close-up (macro) feature.

The Magnolia Stellata. Another great present. the light was fading so the camera flash operated. the early flowers have been touched by last week's frost but it still looks lovely

Daffodils in the front garden.

The coral-bark Acer (you'll have to ask Janet for its proper name). The flash and the Phormium behind combine to make it glow ... It'll be specatcular once it's grown a little.

These, whatever they are, have survived all sorts of mis-treatment. And they're really rather sweet.

A Pieris ... Janet said she'll have to look up the name of this one ... It's another fabulous plant (despite pink flowers) that has given this show of flowers for quite some while now, with no sign of abating.

March 24th and it looks really quite lush from this angle... The garden, on the whole, is looking good for this time of year.

A bamboo with an untypable name ...

2007-02-17T13:37:00.000-08:00

Noodle - Jenny and Rob's having a hard time ???

Or not terrorising the cats ... for a change

Phoenix ... Jenny and Rob's Chihuahua (spelling, matron) ..
I never thought a Chihuahua would be so cute...

Is this seasonal?

2007-02-11T05:47:00.000-08:00

I had a quick look around the garden... And took a few photo's.

I'll write more about the garden later but here are a few snaps of what's happening ...
The Viburnum Ferrara is flowering ... it's not spectacular but the flowers (this is a close-up, by the way) are lovely and very welcome at this time of year.

Just to the side of the Viburnum is a Garrya Eliptica which looks like it's about to give an impressive display of catkins

The Hellebores are starting to show .. the pale ones are fully out - and look wonderful. It's a shame that they're hidden from view from the conservatory ... but it's well worth the effort to go outside to have a look.

The darker Hellebores are just opening up . A quick scan of the area and it's looking like they'll give a truly splendid display .

Last year we bought a load of Snowdrops for under the Gleditsia. Here are the ones that came out. It's not as impressive as I hoped ... I'm sure we planted many many more ... it certainly felt like it. Having been at Cadwell Park (race circuit) last week and saw how lovely the Snowdrops are in the woods there, we'll be buying more to supplement those we have (impatient souls, aren't we?).

Last year we didn't wrap the banana - just a light covering of horticultural fleece ... Well, according to Gardeners World wrapping with hessian with a filling of straw should to the trick. Hmm. We'll try it ... but we've taken the precaution of an extra layer of fleece lightly wrapped around the stems.

And finally, a few close-up photos - but a bit blurred - I need a steadier hand, i'm afraid.

Hellebore

Sarcococca (maybe) - has a lovely scent

Daphne Adora Aurio-marginata (I think - being brave to name this without asking Janet). Another flower with a lovely scent

Tidying up

2006-12-31T09:45:00.000-08:00

Well, yesterday was a day of removing debris from the garden. We have, over the last few weeks been accumulating rubbish as we've tidied the borders and trimmed the Parthenosisus that clambers up the one corner of the house. Since the ladders, fixed to the one wall of the house, were entwined with the plant the first job is to attempt to access them before being able to climb up to start trimming back the Parthenosisus. I'm not sure this is the best time to carry out this trimming but following my Christmas sloth I though I ought to do something!

Happy New year to my reader, by the way ...

No Pictures?

2006-11-26T10:23:00.000-08:00

Plenty has been happening but unfortunately we haven't been taking photographs. Worse, the PC collapsed in a heap and we've lost a huge amount of the photographic record thatwe've been keeping. However, the "Don't throw it away it'll come in handy one day" approach seems to have worked in my favour. I found a couple of CD's that i'd made with quite a few photographs on. Unfortunately, not dated so I don't have the audit-trail I was hoping for.

What it has done, though, is to remind me just how much has changed in the garden, so I'm thinking that the occasional "before" and "after" entry might be interesting.

The last few weeks have seen us make some quite obvious changes (well, obvious to anyone who knows the garden anyway). The large Euonymous to the rear of the Yew tree has been removed to make space for a swing seat. This necessitated moving the Photinia back a little so that we will have good view across the garden.

The black bamboo has been moved from behind the pond to the border at the back of the house, linking the fastigate tree (fruits like a crab-apple) with the Photinia. By moving it we get greater privacy from the (new) neighbours in the house to the rear of ours, and fewer leaves will be shed into the pond.

We have removed the Buddlea from the side of the patio (really must do before and after photo's on this one if I can find any of the Buddlea) - it was overhanging the patio and made it much too small; also helps with reducing the number of leaves shed into he pond.

The Lycesteria that was behind the bamboo has never really thrived, so we have removed that. The root were all rotten, which may explain why it was poorly.

The Butea Capitata (spelling) that was in the "Exotic" border is now behind the pond... replacing the black bamboo and the Lycesteria, and a small bamboo, moved from by the house, has replaced the Buddlea (photos to follow - honestly!)

We've dug a ruddy-great hole under the fir by the summer house, lined it with builder's polythene and put loads of compost in the hole while refilling it. We're hoping that this has a similar effect to when we made the bog-garden and retains rainwater and the soil moist. We've replanted a couple of Cornus shrubs as it wil provide some colour during the winter (I noticed the sun on them just after i'd moved them - with the yellow Euonimous in the background, they just shone beautifully.

Then there's the "prairie border" ... as it's been renamed (it's not actually a prairie border but naming the various parts of the garden helps us when chatting about it).

2006-07-31T14:03:00.000-07:00

Remember the exotic border picture in the last post? Well, just look at it now.

I can't remember what it's called, but the flowers are spectacular. we didn't have anywhere to put it, so I tied it up against the post to stop it falling over. OK, so the colours clash with the sweet pea's but hey-ho. It'll have to do.

The Colocacia (sp) in its tub looking ready to burst into life... A strange combination with the surrounding plants but i think it'll look ok.

The "exotic" border from the patio... Note the Nicotiana's flowers soaring way above everything. e were concerned for a moment that they might be Triffids ...

The "Exotic" border

2006-05-29T14:09:00.000-07:00

We also planted up the exotic border today... These photographs show what it's like at the moment... I can't wait to see how it develops as we've taken a slightly different approach; and there's no Ricinus plant this year. Disappointingly, Urban Jungle didn't have any as they couldn't obtain the seed. We've used some Canna's to fill the spot where the Ricinus would have gone.

We've put fewer Dahlias in this this year. The border seemed to sag under their weight last year. Hopefully we'll still have a good display.

This is from the patio.. Not much to see; yet. .

The rockery

2006-05-29T13:45:00.000-07:00

A couple of posts ago, this photo showed the "about to be redeveloped border". Well, the border has been redeveloped (although not yet complete...).

This is the same border with the rocks installed. I hope this does it justice. We had all of the plants available so it was just a matter of fitting them around the rocks. We're really rather pleased with the final effect.

This photo is from the path-side (shame about the wash-line at the right of the photo.

The first rock laid. Although it did undergo some adjustment before we were happy with the effect.

Then there were four.

The final effect...

The rock's arrived

2006-05-24T13:11:00.000-07:00

In the last entry I mentioned that one of the borders was about the be redeveloped. The plan is to create a "rockery".

With these:

More accurately, those plus five others. The largest two rocks are about 70cm x 70cm x 60cm, then there are five that 70cm x 60cm x 30cm, and two others that are about half that size. A bit tricky to handle and move around so we will need to plan their layout to ensure we get it right first time. I really don't fancy having to re-lift them and rebuild the border once they're in place.

For the record

2006-05-21T10:04:00.000-07:00

I should, perhaps, point out that the photo's in this blog are chosen to show the garden's features in their best light. Notice an absence of plastic bags full of cuttings and detrious ready to go to the recycling centre, the rotary clothes line rarely makes an appearance and that part of the garden that is "for redevelopment" fail to appear. Well here are a couple of photographs to redress the balance.

This border is about to be redeveloped. Nothing major but we may need to know the name of a good chiropactor when the work's complete. I'll post the pictures as it happens; maybe.

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This is the "exotic" border, just starting to grow, and it's pretty sparse with lots of soil showing. The banana plants (Musa Sikkimensis) were cut right down by the frosts - the fleece wigwam didn't provide enough protection. The good news (I think) is that the roots have come through and we have several new suckers that are growing well; we may have a banana grove at this rate. One of the Hedychiums appears to be thriving, with several shoots appearing, while the other is not doing quite so well, but has come through the winter.

Front garden in Late May

2006-05-21T09:21:00.000-07:00

It seems that the garden is responding well to the weather. The weeds are growing at a great rate! I'm a little concerned by the appearance of more Bindweed in the front garden - I will apply the appropriate weedkiller once the weather settles.

On a more positive note, the (non-weed) plants are also growing well with the gaps in the border nearest the drive slowly disappearing. I think we may have to rearrange the planting here in the next couple of years as the larger plants start doing battle for thir own territory. Watch this space!

Currently in bloom is the Clematis Montana over the front window, the Rhododendron by the front door and a Viburnum near the lounge window. The variegated Weigela (not shown) is also flowering but not as well as in previous years; a result of being kind to it last year and not hacking, sorry, pruning it as hard. The overall effect is pleasing in a pale pink and white way. As you know, Janet doesn't "do" pink, but has made exceptions as the effect is really quite pleasing.

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The Rhododendron is rather hidden from view but is thriving in its new location, having been moved from the back garden a couple of year's ago. I'm not sure about pink and yellow (Euonymous) together, but it seems to work in this relatively shady spot.

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Incidentally, the Viburnum (picture below) can be seen in the background of the photograph above. This works really quite better in the garden than it does in my photographs

To the rear of the patio

2006-05-15T12:26:00.000-07:00

The Tree Peony

A close up of one of the new primula flowes
and the Azaleas and Myosotidium

The front garden

2006-05-14T14:31:00.000-07:00

In no particular order. I may add a few words but it's late on a Sunday now and I really do need my beauty sleep.

May is upon us

2006-05-14T11:08:00.000-07:00

May is here and the garden is changing at an amazing rate. Self-sown seedlings of Verbena are all over the garden and need thinning (and a few potting up to supplement any that may have been lost over the winter). The Musa's have really suffered and have been cut down to ground level; have we lost them? No. There are several shoots coming up around what were the main stems. Enough wittering. Here are a few photographs to show what has been happening.

Starting at the patio...

Not much to see as far as plants go, but you'll see our posh new table. Well, ok, it's a tree stump that we picked up from Gooderstone Water gardens when we had a few days away around Cambridgeshire. We'd looked for a rustic table but couldn't see anything that suited or needs. Janet spotted some lumps of wood from some felling that they'd done at Gooderstone so we asked the gardener if we could have one; and that's the story of the new table.

We've moved the yellow Acer pot to the other side of the patio and you'll see one of the the rather nice red Azaleas under the red Acer 'Bloodgood'. At the back, by the fence, is a bamboo that's growing rapidly. Unfortunately its name is rather long and I don't remember what it is.

Round to the right of the patio is the "bog" garden, which is coming along nicely. The Ligularia has been moved back away from the pond which gives the pond-plants more light and space to grow, and the yellow grass has been moved from the middle of the bog to the corner and is doing much better.

These Bergenias were inherited but didn't do very well, then we moved them to near the shed (and under the washing line) where they're thriving. This border will be having some work done on it soon - transforming into a rockery!

This is the view from the shed along the path at the back of the house... Lookin' good: although Janet did point out that the red tulip jarred a little.

And looking in the opposite direction.

And from the end of the path...
Towards the summerhouse

And carry on round

And round and then you're back at the patio.

Then a few close-up photo's

Spring has ...

2006-04-22T11:09:00.000-07:00

I thought a quick "Hello" from the cats before looking at the garden was in order...
Topsy

Aiko

Rolo

Squeak

We've been busy and the plants are responding to the weather so the garden is changing rapidly. I haven't had time to take so many photographs but I hope that you enjoy those I've posted on here.

The Acer, Sangu Kaku, is developing nicely in the front garden. We bought this for the coral bark originally, and having seen a mature example in the Winter garden at Anglesey Abbey. We think it will develop into really good winter-colour shrub. On the other hand, the leaves have a great colour to them and appear to give yet another season of impact.

In the back garden there are a few changes. I did some dead-heading on the Camillia and turned the pot around. It's given a great show so far and I've noticed that there are still quite a few buds yet to bloom.

I thought i'd show off the Azalea by the other pond. We have three of these; one just on the other side of the path and partly hidden by a Phormium (spelling?), and another next to the tree fern by the lounge window. Neither of the others are flowering nearly as well as this one.

Just beneath the tree fern are a couple of Erythroniums (spelling; again?) and Corydalis (Janet thinks that how it's spelt - I, obviously trust her implicitly in this matter)

2006-04-16T13:45:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I last posted. Almost four month's: where did the time go?

Not a lot happens in the garden during the winter. Some tidying up, the odd bit of weeding and perusing the gardening books for ideas. OK, so that last bit was more Janet than me - I'll be the one with the motorbike magazine in my hand and a wistful look on my face.

Then the garden bursts into life and it's mayhem. Seeds to sow (Janet's job), weeding, mulching (my job), plant buying, discussions about where the new plants should go, visiting East Ruston Old Vicarage for inspiration. There's barely time for a G&T on the patio.

I've taken a few photographs but they don't show too much. The joy of a new shoot signalling a plant about to burst back into life is difficult to capture on film - the medium is too coarse (in my hands) to show these things well. However, there are a few changes in the garden and plants that are giving a bit of a show. So, here are a few of them.

I took this photo a couple of week's ago. These Hellebores have given a fabulous show - it's a great shame that they hang their heads like they do.

And more...

They're in our "shady" border just in the corner by the conservatory, practically beneath the tree fern.

The banana plants have been unwrapped and are looking a little sorry; we would have left them a little longer but we noticed that the ones in Urban Jungle were exposed.

It seems that a late frost might damage them a little, although the roots are relatively hardy, but they are more likely to suffer from damp conditions when wrapped up to long.

By the way, the plant in the foreground (I don't know its name) is related to the pineapple and is supposed to be tender. It's been out, unprotected, all winter and is in rude health.

The Prunus Incisa "Kojo No Mai" hasn't given so many flowers this year - in previous years it has been a big ball of white flowers. On the other hand, the Camellia at the back of the small pond is giving a great show despite some frost-damage.

There are a couple of recently purchased plants in this shot, too. The varieagated Euphorbia and the red-leaved Bergenia have been planted in front of the small pond. This has been something of a dead-spot since we cleared the weeds that surrounded the pond; we hadn't got around to putting something there. We had to widen the planting space to make room and there's still a spot that we need to think about. Oh, while we're looking at the pond area; we have cleared out the pond as the plants had all become rather messy and moved the Aquascetum (spelling?) from the larger pond, which has also been tidied up a bit.

We've added a few plants to the back of the patio - under the Gleditsia and Acer - a couple of Mahonias, some evergreen and varieagated Azaleas, Myosotidium and a Lathyrus. We bought some rotted leaf mould from Fairhaven Water gardens and put it as a mulch and we're really rather pleased with the effect.

Finally, here are a couple of photos of the Magnolia in the front garden. as ever, the pictures don't do it justice.

From in front....

And one from above

A bit late for a White Christmas

2005-12-27T06:53:00.000-08:00

Well, it's snowing and the garden's looking lovely - the snow's hiding the fact that the lawn hasn't been mown or edged and all the scruffy bits are all nicely tucked away under a beautiful blanket of snow.

This is from the conservatory doors; it was snowing quite heavily at this point and snowflakes got caught in the camera flash.

A momentary respite from the snow - the bamboo's bending down under the weight of the snow; I shook the snow off; of course,I had to crawl under the bamboo to shake it, so got covered in snow in the process. Janet laughed at me. Cruel woman!

From the patio across to the summer house - quite a contrast to the picture I posted under "Where are we now".

It's Christmas

2005-12-20T10:46:00.000-08:00

Oh, and here's our Christmas tree:

Winter preparation

2005-12-20T10:42:00.000-08:00

Well, there's not much happening at this time of year. Or is there? Let's see; a number of tender plants have been lifted moved into the conservatory, the largest of the Aoniums and the purple banana plant have been moved into the summer house. Dahlias and Canna's lifted and dried while a number of less-hardy plants have had compost put around their base to protect their roots from frost.

The purple banana has been affected by the cold despite being in the summer house: I guess i'll have to wrap up the summer house and the banana in bubble-wrap for added protection.

The exotic border is looking a little care-worn, with the Musa being wrapped in horticultural fleece (and in need of some straw for added protection) it's all looking a little sad.

Oh, and if you're wondering why this is not a good entry... Today has been our departmental Christmas lunch and i'm a little the worse for wear at the moment (hic!).

2005-10-24T22:29:00.000-07:00

A busy weekend in the garden and not many pictures to show for it. Mostly tidying up and lifting ready for the winter. It was getting dark by the time we'd finished so there're only these few pictures for now. Maybe add a few more later.

The Aoneums (spelling?) are a bit tender so they're being moved indoors. The large one's getting a bit too big for the conservatory so we're putting it in the summerhouse and will wrap it up as it gets colder. The rest are in the house. As they propogate so readily and grow fast we're not too worried if we lose the big one, although it would be a shame, I suppose.

This Banana was bought as a small plant - maybe 45cm high - at the start of the growing season. It, too, is tender and has been lifted ready to go indoors. Again, being much too large for the house, it's going in the summerhouse where it'll be wrapped and molly-coddled in an atempt to get it through the winter. With the forecast being for a harsh winter we have our fingers crossed that it'll survive. Given that it was really quite expensive, we really don't want to lose this one!

A couple of Viburnum Davidii's. One male, one female, hopefully the right pairing to produce berries next year.

MeAtCadwell

2005-10-13T20:57:00.000-07:00

MeAtCadwell
Originally uploaded by Jasper1953.

I've hosted some pictures on www.Flickr.com and needed to test whether I can link to them. I can, so it seems.

As well as gardening, you may gather that I like riding my motorbike; a Honda VFR800fi. I've undertaken a couple of days of track-riding at Cadwell Park with Martin Hopp's rider training group (see links to the side of the page) and have thoroughly enjoyed myself. The photo's that the professional photographer produces are excellent quality but this one, from 2004, is let down by a poor scanner.

I'll post a few more pictures of me and the bike as they're appropriate.

New spaces for plants

2005-10-10T21:10:00.000-07:00

From time to time we realise that there are plants in the wrong place, or that they're not providing the effect that we want. Over the weekend we found two places where this is or, should I say, was the case. Along the fence at the rear of the back garden doesn't get as much light as we thought it would . Probably due to the fence facing South West(ish); with the Yew, Photinia and the large variegated shrub behind the Yew adding shade until quite late in the morning. On this fence grew a Forsythia with a Weigela and a Ceonothus in front of it. Neither the Forsythia nor the Ceonothus gave much a show, while the Weigela blended into the background, being partly hidden by other planting in front of it.

This photo, taken at the start of May, gives an idea what the area looked like and shows that the planting wasn't adding anything to the garden's display. So we're in the process of making room for something else to go in there: we're not sure what, though. Current thinking is a Camelia or a Rhodedendron at the back in the semi-shade, with some open light and airy planing in front, using the dark foliage as a backdrop or foil. Of course, there is the problem that whatever we put in there is going to be relatively small ... We're going to have to be patient, I guess

The dark-leaved Weigela was moved into the front garden when we made the new border next to the drive where it is more prominently placed, being in the corner of the border next to the grass path near the front door. This weekend we removed the Forsythia. The Ceonothus we moved also to the front garden, but into the border to the left of the Yucca looking at the front of the house. where we hope it will contrast with the Yellow Lonicera shrub (Sometimes I do wish I'd taken more note of plant names). You can just see them popping their heads into the bottom of this photo.

Which leads onto the space we've made in the front garden. The path to the front of the large Hydrangea and round the Yucca has been reshaped to form an inverted figure 6 when viewed from above (yes, I climbed onto the porch roof to prune the Honeysuckle and spotted it then). This has increased the planting space in the borders next to the neighbour's drive and in front of the house. As well as that, we removed the ancient and past-its-best Hebe, and a tatty Hypericum shrub that were competing for space under the lounge window in front of the house. The Choisya that was also competing for space having already been moved to the new border next to the drive. Once the Cotoneaster Horizontalis was tidied with a little light pruning, the space just needed something to go in there.

We stumbled on just the thing in the garden centre; i'll post what it is when I retrieve the label; while shopping for a Clerodendrom. A Clerodendrom now also resides in the font garden. More photo's to follow when I get a moment to take them and load them up.

The front garden - current state

2005-10-08T15:28:00.000-07:00

A few pictures of the front garden.

Sheila's Magnolia (thanks Sheila) newly planted
Janet's since added more plants to the border. I'll post a picture soon.

New borders are to either side of the grass path

She's watching, y'know - give her a wave ;-)

A mix of old and new...

Where we are now...

2005-10-08T15:11:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures to show where we are with the back garden now...

Hint: Click on pictures to enlarge. To return to this page, click on "Back", on your toolbar.

The view from the conservatory to the summer house

The arbor from the bog garden

The summer house from te patio

The exotic border (1) Oh, and the cat's name is Squeak.

The patio (and the exotic border)

The exotic border (2)

A bit of background

2005-10-08T14:11:00.000-07:00

Work In Progress.

The first photo of the garden using the digital camera: Christmas 2003

You'll see the Photinia we planted, the new grass path up to behind the Yew (there was a conifer there), and the start of the "Exotic" border.

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We bought the house about three and a half year's ago. Unfortunately we have no digital pictures of the garden at that time. However, to give an idea where we started from, here's some background information.

The house was built around 1970, and the neighbours have told us that the original owners were keen gardeners. This is borne out by the structure given by the mature plants. Unfortunately, when they moved out, it seems that they removed many of the more desirable plants (or, more likely, those that they could relocate).

The house was then owned by the people we bought the house off and they had no interest in gardening, so the garden wasn't well maintained (in their defence, though, they appear to have made a good job of modernising the house).

So, for the back garden, (approximately 30 feet deep by 50 feet wide) we inherited some mature plants near the boundaries; in the photographs you'll spot the Golden Yew, a couple of tall conifers, a fastigate (crab?) apple, cherry tree, Garrya Elliptica, and a large Viburnum (you'll also notice that I'm not a plantsman and can't spell the names properly - Janet's the clever one who can remember the names!!!); and a few smaller odds and sods tucked away in various states of neglect. Oh, and a tiny little pond, a shed that we like to call the "summer house" and a greenhouse.

The order of progress from then was (as I recall)...

Clear the back border - inspect what we had. What we had was a border of ground elder ... Oh, and a pond (yes, I know I mentioned that earlier, but it wasn't really apparent until we cleared the back border).

First job: Dig and riddle the back border to remove the ground elder. we dug to about ten, maybe twelve inches deep, removing plants and untangling the ground-elder roots as we went . Fortunately this was early in the year so most of the plants hadn't started into full growth. we added some well-rotted horse manure (dug from the heap at the stables at Cringleford: Yuck) re-arranged the plants and replanted them. A large Photinia was planted in this border to block the clear line of site between our kitchen and the neighbour's kitchen windows.

Next job: Hide the awful crazy paving in front of the summer house. Many happy hours measuring, designing and discussing options resulted in the choice of decking laid over the top for speed and ease of construction, and to provide us with a place to sit and eat. Gina offered to paint the decking and promptly got stuck in, (good on-yer lass...).

And: The greenhouse, in the far right corner, gave way to make a planting area and a Gleditsia and an Acer "Bloodgood" (?) planted there with underplanting using some of the oddments remaining from the back border.

Now it all gets blurred, so, the rest in no particular order.

A patio with a rill running into a (small; 6' x 3') pond replaced the new border where the greenhouse was.
A bog-garden created next to the pond.
The border next to the house extended and re-constructed.
The corner between the conservatory and the back of the house has been planted with shade-loving plants (including a tree-fern). We cal this our "woodland" border
New steps down from the conservatory to the garden and the path extended three feet.
A slate shale path running along two sides of the garden under a new arbor (that's a bit of a pretentious description, but it'll do).
An "Exotic" border - well, it's got a couple of banana trees a Melianthus Major, some gingers, a tender Euphorbia (I really should learn the names of these things ...), a Butia Capitata (I think) and a Hibiscus as permanent planting with various other tender plants like Cannas and Dahlias adding some substance.
The last addition is a border near the conservatory which hasn't got a name yet and has yet to develop a personality (oh, look, there I go again .. .pretentious, moi?) so will remain as "the border by the arbor".

I'll post pictures of the varous parts with a bit of description as I go.

A gentle introduction

2005-10-08T13:49:00.000-07:00

No, that's not our garden. that's a view across the valley from Snowshill Manor. However, it serves as an ice-breaker and gives an idea of our tastes in scenery and gardening.

If you enjoy gardening, we hope that you enjoy the rest of this blog!