It's taken a while but I have finally mastered the technology. This is my garden through the last 12 months.
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/obelixxbe/my_photos
Hope you like it. There's still plenty to do.
Wow - what a beautiful garden! I'm so jealous!
Thanks Sue. It's been a hard slog converting it all from cow pasture so I'm pleased with its progress. Still have lots of projects to complete and some new ones to consider, finances permitting and OH willing........and I also rejig bits every year as some plants inevitably are lost each winter.
Beautiful garden Obbelix ;D I think that any gardener worth their salt will say that their garden is never finished ;)
Wow !!! What a lovely garden Obbelix. You have obviously put a lot of work into it to get it as good as that and the crowning glory... those two woodpeckers. :D :D
Oh my, I am so envious.
hi
what a beautiful garden, and your two woodpeckers are magnificent, ( i haven't seen mine again :()
Thanks for sharing :)
Pakaba
What you need now, is a few chickens!
We have been doing the same thing and the work which goes into making a garden like that is worth it when you see the end result. Fun though! Lovely to see.
Stunning! And such wonderful views! I do envy you peeps who are surrounded by countryside so the garden goes on and on!
What I do want to ask Obbelix is, who drunk all that wine to build the wall, or did you raid a bottlebank??
Obbelix. Wonderful garden. I have really enjoyed looking at each and every pic. Thankyou
Thank you all. I'm glad you liked them. Most people here think we're a bit weird - me for getting excoited about a plant and OH for indulging me. He likes the garden to be interesting but still can't tell a weed from a treasure. Good for digging and turning compost heaps though.
Emma Jane - the bottle wall was easy and we didn't have to be permanently pickled to get enough bottles. When we came to Belgium in 1991 we were pleased to find that Oz and NZ wines could be found fairly easily but, unlike French wine, the supermarkets didn't take the bottles back. There were very few bottle banks around so we hoarded them as I had had a bottle wall in mind for some time. Then we bought this heap and voila! I needed a low retaining wall that could double as seating and the bottles came into their own and by then ex-pat friends were donating their empties too.
Every single male, including my OH, thought the idea of a bottle wall was absolutely ludicrous but there it is, having survived several years of deep winter freeze and baking summer sun and there is no "glue" except to secure the recycled marble slabs which form the seat. I'm very pleased with it and can recommend them as a project.
I can just imagine how Namissa, who's a devout Muslim, would react to that idea!
i am in awe. a wonderful garden. well done you.
;D
Fantastic, and what a lot of love and hard work gone into it, I suggested doing a bottle wall once, and the look of horror on OH's face put me off! But yours looks fab! (we probably wouldn'y have to beg, borrow or steal bottles either, :-[ and would save trips to the bottle bank! ;D)
Well done you!
Thank you for all the encouragement. Like many gardeners I tend to look at it too closely and see what needs doing rather than sitting back to enjoy the overall effect. The process of putting it into a year's sequence has been very good for me. I can recommend it for anyone who's feeling a bit disheartened with winter.
R-B - You don't have to drink to get the bottles for a wall and Muslims have no interdiction on beers and spirits, just the fruits of the vine.
Wonderful garden, a 'Leaping Salmon' climbing rose growing over your obelisk would look great. ;)
What a wonderful garden, very well kept- fab! ;D I expect there is a lot of upkeep, worth it though!
Love those deep mature looking borders - great height effect. Brightened my day.
Thanks
Quote from: Obbelix on February 16, 2006, 09:57:33
R-B - You don't have to drink to get the bottles for a wall and Muslims have no interdiction on beers and spirits, just the fruits of the vine.
There may be liberal interpretations of Islamic law that allow beer and spirits, but if so I've never come across them; the general view is that all alcohol is totally forbidden.
Fantastic Ob...you done well......BRILLIOSI....that BULL..and looks so close to OH...
RB - As with many other things, the Koran is open to interpretation by whomever reads it and dispenses its wisdom. Some take avoiding the vine to mean all alcohol. Others don't. You are clearly not acquainted with the drinking habits of rich Arabs in London clubs.
Ken - that bull was very threatening when he first arrived in late April. His predecessor had been very friendly and like d to have his head rubbed. This one was very quick to voice his objections to our being oout in our garden. By September he had calmed down but it was the first week of November before he let OH scratch his head and the next day he was carted off to his winter barn. I hope he remembers us as friendly and not a threat when he comes back this spring.
Mr Rotivator - Got you! and I will look out for a leaping salmon.
I am, but they wouldn't be regarded as good Muslims! No religion should be judged by its more nominal adherents. I think you'd be hard put to it to find anyone regarded as an authority on Sharia taking that view.
Quote from: Obbelix on February 16, 2006, 17:09:05You are clearly not acquainted with the drinking habits of rich Arabs in London clubs.
or on their own home soil either .......... but we digress from the beauty that is your garden Obbelix.
truely an inspiration.
Mrs KP - Thank you. I'm pleased you like it. I had been getting a bit down about it all as winter is likely to drag on another monthe here and then the weeds will go whoosh even faster than the real plants and I will be playing catch up again. All the positive feedback I've had has made me feel much better about it.
Robert B - I think you're missing an essential point. I do not really care how Muslims interpret their Koran as long as they do not expect me or anyone else to live by their interpretation. The same goes for any other religious or political persuasion.
I expect people to show tolerance, especially in multi-cultural societies where freedom of thought and expression are the norm but require respect for and from everyone else for such freedom to work.
If your Muslim friend wants a bottle wall he can always do it with pop bottles, just as long as I can do mine with wine bottles without being judged as sinning for it.
Of course, and since Islamic law only applies to Muslims, they might disapprove but that would be as far is it went. Only problem is, I'm married to the lady in question. Alcohol in her house is greatly disapproved of! I do sneak an ocasional bottle, but if I do it too often I get accused of being an alcoholic.
Speaking of 'peckers - I like the fat-ball holder!!
Hi obbelix,
Just viewed pics, your garden and the surroundings are magical. Well done!
:)
stunning garden & surroundings
love the bottle wall ;D
Thank you all. The fat ball holder was a new thingy on sale a couple of years ago. I bought two but haven't seen them since and would like a couple more. They're wonderful because I can get 5 fat balls in each and the 'peckers can hang on to them. At the moment I have to refiill both every 48 hours and the 4 nut feeders every 3 to 4 days plus a seed dispenser and the ground feeders' trough.
I'm really pleased with the bottle wall. It was a free solution to provide a low retaining wall and was very easy to construct. No skill whatsoever except the first straight line and a bit or mortar to hold the stone ends in place.
Now I'm collecting magnums and Jeraboams for a future water feature.
Care to share a glass of champagne? :D
Maybe a bottle!!
...or two!