Topic: My Garden August 2004

[Garden Manager]

Here is an album of my garden in august

http://community.webshots.com/album/138860732QdKlVr

Enjoy!  ;D

PS: feel free to ask questions.  :)

[Jesse]

Lots of lovely colour Richard, my garden is starting to lack colour somewhat. I particularly like your wigwams, I want to build some next year for sweetpeas, is that a painted flowerpot on the top?

[Garden Manager]

Hello Jesseveve.

Glad you like the pics. Yes those are painted flowerpots on the top of the tripods. They hold the ends of the poles toghether and look good too.

The big one (most recent) also has painted rope spiraled around it to help the plants climb up!

[Palustris]

And very nice it looks too!

[Pixie]

Fab photos Richard

You must work very hard  ;D

Sam

[busy_lizzie]

Really nice garden Richard.  Really interesting shapes in your garden.  Like the way the lawn curves round, and  the way you have your flower beds - it all flows very well. Your planting looks good too.

My garden is a mess at the moment - it is at the in between stage of passing from one season to another.  The rain has really battered the plants and bushes, but the lawn is fantastic, I can't seem to be able to keep it trimmed - after each shower it seems to grow another six inches.  :D busy_lizzie  

[Garden Manager]

Yes Pixie I do work hard. I like a nice garden.

BL - Current design is quite recent. I have got to the stage now that I am trying to introduce a more designed feel to the garden, while still maintaining an informal, cottagey look. I like informality (planting) within a formal structure.

Sounds like your gardencould do with a bit of a 'pick me up' for this time of year. I try to get a sucession of plants an colour through summer and into autumn.

I envy you your lawn though, mine isnt good quality, grown on poor soil and on a slope. not the best lawn growing conditions  ;D.

[DolphinGarden]

Oh my God Richardf,

I have just seen your garden on the other website and again briefly through this link.  WOW.  It looks absolutely fantastic.  I love my garden and thought it was great, but I am envious of yours, no doubt. Imagine all the work though...

Can you tell me the exact name of that dark green hedge please?  And how do you cope with cutting it while having a border of flowers in front of it?  I'd start a border-and I've loads of length- but that problem puts me off.

Terrific
regards,

[Garden Manager]

Hello DG

Thank you so much for your compliments on the garden. It is so pleasing to know that I am doing a good job on it.

Yes it is quite hard work. Funnily enough i have just spent the morning clearing up pine needles, cones etc which came off the trees during the recent storms. The paths were covered with them and making the whole thing look messy. Now it looks so much better just for that.

I try to keep work down to the essentials. Pruning, deadheading and weeding are only done when needed, and I dont tend to water the garden plants much in the summer if at all. i like to let things look after themselves in that respect.

The hedge is made up of two types of plant. The lower hedge behind the flower border is Lonicera nitida (a relation of honeysuckle). I dont reallt like it, it doesnt make a good tall hedge and tends to 'flop' a bit after high winds. However it would be a huge job to remove, and being a boundary hedge would need to be replaced by something. besides the birds like it for roosting and nesting.

The upper part of the hedge behind the veg plot is privet. It is better in some ways than the Lonicera, but this one is slowly dying having been neglected for many years.

I get around the problem of having a border next to a hedge, by leaving a strip of ground between the hedge and the border. This allows me to both get to the back of the border and cut the hedge comfortably, without trampling on the plants! I have spring bulbs planted in this access 'strip' (its not realy a path), for interest at that time of year. The border plants then grow up in front and hide the dying foliage.

[john_miller]

I was looking at picture 84. With me Nicotiana sylvestris gets to be 2m but your Verbena bonariensis appears even taller- is this normal in the U.K. or are you feeding them something special?

[ACE]

Can I just butt in here, concernining the verbena boraniensis. It does grow to over 2m. although it is only classed as half hardy it seems to winter very well and give the plant a head start in the spring. If yours is not getting so high you might have verbena rigida.

[Garden Manager]

I think the height of plants depends on other factors other than the height they are bred to grow to. Climate, soil, nutrients (ie feeding) and aspect all play a part. With both the verbenas and nicotianas I did nothing special with the soil, planted, watered and basicaly left them to it. Some of the verbenas (most planted last summer by the way) have grown realy tall (and in some cases quite 'floppy') others have not grown half as much.

1.5  to 2m is normal for them in the UK, John.

I live in the mild south (west?) of england (Dorset) so things like verbena bonariensis and penstemons overwinter well outdoors (in an average winter at least), and are basicaly treated the same, with the old growth left on over winter for protection, then cut back in spring.