I have now moved to Reading, and have a brand new garden to get started on. Lots and lots to do... My first major problem is that the northern edge of the garden has a concrete path running along it - in the top-best south-facing position! Who put a path *there*?!! I hope to get some help to break up and remove the concrete, but doubt that will be any time soon.
2nd, related, problem, is that the same northern side of the garden has a russian vine growing all along it, on a trellis which has collapsed under its weight - onto our side! So you can't even walk along the concrete path, which is doubly annoying... ;D
My first task will be to clip the russian vine back to almost nothing, though I won't remove it, as it makes a good privacy hedge.
The view from the back door:
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3045/3008672139_ef0369b6cb.jpg)
Looking east, back towards the house:
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3047/3008672889_3428cf2bc2.jpg)
and the end of the garden:
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3174/3009510198_5e1c8e87a5.jpg)
As you can see, a not very attractive security fence. Any ideas what I could grow up this, or in front of it, to mask it? A row of bamboo? A climber or creeper? Would a rosa rugosa grow high enough (9-10ft)? It faces east, so I need something that can tolerate that - though, it's not overshadowed, so gets plenty of light.
The previous tenant left a fair amount of debris. We have to get the council to take away *five* dead appliances, one of which is the fridge you see in the garden. There's also a gas cooker in the front mini-garden, and 3 assorted appliances in the lean-to. Lovely! :(
The blue thing is some sort of paddling pool that I'm advertising on freecycle - if no takers, the council will take that away too.
Good news is that the lawn, while neglected, is not weed-infested; no sign of ground elder, couch grass, or even dandelions or brambles. Could this be a bad sign? The main weed, in the borders, is mallow. What does this tell me about the soil?
Lots and lots to do, but could be much worse. All advice and ideas appreciated. :D
Not sure what the mallow tells you... lack of other weeds is odd... looks like you have your work cut out! Look forward to the new and improved piccies! ;D
Hi Helen,
I hope your move went well and you are beginning to get straight. You have a nice blank canvas there to start with which is good, I bet you have lots of ideas and are itching to get started.
For your security fence at the bottom, a Rosa Rugosa would be lovely and good for wildlife, but I don't know how quickly it would cover the fence. Could you plant one on one side and something like a Clematis montana Rubra on the other side, that way the Clematis would grow up quickly and hide the barbed wire while the Rugosa is growing. They flower at different times too so might complement each other. And you can cut the montana back hard as soon as it has flowered each year once the Rosa is established. Or you could grow a blackberry up there - getting fruit as a bonus? Someone on our allotments has one trained horizontally to provide a screen and then just prunes it back to the horizontals each winter.
I think you said you were going to plant vegetables, would the paddling pool be useful in the short term for covering a patch of ground to kill off a few weeds ready for you to dig over, and even after you have dug to keep the soil weed free and warmer?
Oooh, I am quite envious of you and all the excitement you have to come of planning your new garden. :)
T.
A passion flower will also grow fast and cover the barbed wire very nicely. I have a passion flower in my garden and it gave me around 20 feet of growth this year. I've cut it back hard now but I know it will return in spring with it's fantastic flowers.
Hi Helen I was going to say the same about the paddling pool cover some while your working on the rest it will keep it dry at least. Looks like you will have plenty of leaf mulch and the lean to will be a great place to start your seedlings off. Maybe a large bean frame at the bottom of the garden. ;D ;D ;D
I keep warning my husband that the lean-to will be my nursery! Non-gardeners never quite understand these things... :D
Can't wait to see all my little rows of bean seedlings in the spring.
A bean-frame? I'll go and look it up! Someone offered 'roll cages' on Freecycle the other day, which turn out to be the things they have round the back of supermarkets for wheeling boxes around:
http://www.warehouseequipment.co.uk/rollcages/3_sided.php
I thought I could put slats across the cross-bars, cover it in polythene, and have a 'green house' of sorts. Didn't hear back about those, though - will come up with some other sort of scheme, depending on what I can find to make it from.
I'm going to give the cherry tree a good clip, as I'm sure it will be very pretty in flower but it's going to cast a lot of shade. At least it will block the view of that ugly fence. Montana and passionflower sounds like great ideas. Perhaps I'll plant both while I get a rosa rugosa started.
Made a start on the russian vine today. :)
I am just a tiny bit envious as I don't have a garden just my plot. If you do something everyday, be it for five minutes or five hours, come next summer you'll be amazed at what you'll have achieved.
Don't forget to sort out feeders and water for the birds which will give you something to look at over the coming months.
Happy gardening!
Quote from: hellohelenhere on November 07, 2008, 20:31:15
I keep warning my husband that the lean-to will be my nursery! Non-gardeners never quite understand these things... :D
hee hee, last year the greenhouse we inherited when we moved here was finally in the position i wanted it so i would be ready to grow this spring., but my mum and husband filled it with alot of junk which should have been in a shed ::).
well this spring i didn't moan, but simply filled her year old conservatory with seedlings and young vege plants, which didn't fully get cleared till early July. being my mum she didn't say a word, but quickly bought a small shed and one summer weekend emptied my greenhouse and bought me a potting table as well ;) :D.
Haha TM, Shed Wars! :D
(Is your mum called Thifasmomsmum?)
Flighty, I do feel lucky! Last place we lived had a garden that was well beyond anything I could do to rescue it, full of junk and builders' debris - and no access to it because of major building work. It made a nice refuge for local birds and a resident dog fox (till the building work scared him off) but was a source of frustration since we couldn't use it.
I'm so delighted now to have a fully accessible garden with good light! I'll rig up some sort of bird feeder as soon as I can.
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2345/2312714130_fb39707c30.jpg)