Non-Gardener builds an Observatory, Garden Railway and even Dabbles with Plants!

I hadn't given it any thought, but it's a work in progress! After spending around £75 on the Snowdrops, Bluebells and Daffodils last Autumn, I just wanted to see what happened with them before going any further. Filling out the woodland is going to be a long term project and I also need some evergreen shrubs to add to the bottom end, which is rather bare and see through over the Winter.

 

That woodland is beginning to look great @ArmyAirForce , very natural and lovely to see the snowdrops heralding the beginning of Spring and what’s to come. So interesting to see all the activity on your camera too.

 

25th February 2025

I was back out in the garden for a while yesterday and noticed the first crocuses are out in the pot next to the workshop. There's several more around the garden that aren't flowering yet.



We cleared quite a bit of dead plant matter from the patio border the other day. Yesterday, I dug out all the daisy pomponettes from the patio and from the side of the house and moved them to the woodland, planted in small clumps, behind the Snowdrops and Bluebells.

I have a packet of wild flower seeds that I want to put further back, spreading towards the Laurel hedge. I tried one packet scattered at the back of the railway embankment last year, but nothing much came of it. I think I'll try to start the second packet in the plastic planters bought last year. Once any plants get going, I'll transfer them to the wood.



The bird table in the wood has been quite popular. I think there's been more birds there, than I've seen on the hanging bird feeder outside the wood, despite having the same seed for both. This video is a mix of trailcam and bird table captures over the first week of February. Rabbits, fox, mice, pheasant, other smaller birds and a cat.

 

Snowdrops usually grow best if you buy them "in the green", that is just after flowering when their leaves are still green. You can find them online, cheaper than garden centres. Dried bulbs in autumn aren't so good as they don't really like drying out.

 

From what I can see, they have all sprouted and are between two and four inches tall at present.

 

27th February 2025

I'm enjoying the photography opportunities in the woodland, with both the flowers and and sun sets. Here's one clump of Snowdrops, around the middle of the wood, with the sun setting behind.



28th February 2025

On the last day of February, I made a start on the lawn edging project. I'm starting at the top of the lawn, either side of the patio. The initial step was to dig out this patch of big root geraniums. I tried to do this are carefully as possible, as I was going to move them. I wanted to removed the slates, and extend the lawn to the Laurel hedge, just leaving a small border between the extended lawn and the patio.



It took quite a long time to dig it out, as the whole area was covered in slates, to around 3 inches deep. They must have been laid some time ago, as although they were on top of a weed membrane, the whole area was mixed with soil. I'm guessing this soil formed over many seasons of plant life cycles.

The yellow overlay shows where the new lawn edging will go. This will give a border around two feet wide, which already contains Lavendar, a Hydrangea and Montbretia coppertips.

 

All the Geraniums were piled into the wheelbarrow and trundled down the garden to the bottom end of the wood. There was a small patch of grass and moss, between the Laurel and wood, where the path begins to exit the wood. Most of the Geraniums were planted in this area. If they take and survive, great, if not, there's nothing lost as they needed to be dug out regardless.



I packed up after finishing planting, but had to stop for one more photograph of the Snowdrops before going back indoors.

 

1st March 2025

This afternoon, Lynne and I spent several hours, digging out the slates. Half a wheelbarrow load was dug out, washed with a hose while raking the slates around the barrow to get the mud off and they were then tipped onto the Sun room border. I think we did about seven barrow loads. At some point after the edging is done, they will probably be re-distributed to back fill the edging. We didn't get the whole area finished, before it got too cold to stay out, but the majority was cleaned out. It will be easier to trim and clean up the Laurel clippings over grass, rather than Geraniums and slates.



We hadn't seen the fox for a couple of days on the trailcam. I had a gut feeling the fox would be back early evening, so we both hung around the kitchen window just before 6pm, watching the sun going down. Sure enough, we spotted the fox on the lawn, heading into the wood, where the camera caught him.

The trailcam also caught the fox in colour for the first time. While it was dusk, the trailcam has what it calls a "Starlight" feature. This amplifies what little light there is, to give a colour, though slightly grainy image. It can do this further into dusk than it would normally, before switching to infra-red. It was great to see the fox with our eyes as well as catch it on the camera.

 

You have worked hard, but you always do. I find that hardy geraniums transplant well. I like your woodland area.

You could use a tarpaulin to catch the laurel clippings.

 

Thanks.

We do, but it's a pain, as it always decides to be windy after we start cutting!

 

2nd March 2025

On Sunday the 2nd, we had a grand tour of six local garden centres, 'though we returned to one at the end of the afternoon, so I guess you could call that seven visits.We were looking for one plant for the kitchen patio and two for the woodland.

We picked up the Ilex Aquifoleum, tagged at £45, but were given it for £30 at the till and the Curly Red was £9.50 at a different location. The Ilex was on the floor of the car, behind the passenger seat, with the seat pulled forwards to get it in. We passed home and dropped it off on the way back to the first garden centre, where we picked up the Viburnum tinus for £55.



3rd March 2025

This morning, I went out to do the planting. The Curly Red was for the lower end of the kitchen border, between the paving ramp and steps. There's a patch of
Crane's-bill Geraniums which flower across the Summer, but the area is bare over the Winter. I wanted something that would grow higher over the top of the Geraniums and put some colour there for over the Winter.

 

Next, I moved down to the bottom of the wood, to plant the Ilex Aquifoleum. This was at the bottom end of the wood, behind the Japanese Maple, to help fill in this area with something evergreen, as the other plants in this area are all bare across the Winter.

To the bottom left of this image, is one of the walls left over from the air-raid shelter. I thought I'd be safe where I was digging, but about six to eight inches down, met a stack of four bricks, cemented into one lump. It took a small sledge hammer, a crow bar and lots of bashing to break it all out.



Eventually I got all the rubble out and got the plant in. Some of the soil spoil, went to bury the remains of the air-raid shelter wall. We need a soil delivery soon for various jobs and I want to build up the soil thickness from the existing plants, down to my stepping stones. This will give a better surface for planting of additional flowers around this area. Currently it's a mix of clay, stone and brick.

 

Around the front of the woodland, still at the bottom end, is where the Viburnum tinus was to go. The original plan was to put it behind the fern, planted at the back end of last year. It didn't look right in that location and felt crowded by the dogwood and red currant. I know it will grow taller and wider in time, so wanted a bit more space.



As a result, I dug out the fern. This was fairly easy, as over the Winter, it hadn't done any rooting. The hole was enlarged and the Viburnum planted there. This brought it forwards, away from the other two plants.

One branch of the dogwood had touched the ground behind the Viburnum some time ago and had rooted and grown new branches. This was dug out, leaving a suitable hole for the fern to go back in.

 

Here's the view from inside the wood, looking out towards the lawn. Once the Viburnum grows and spreads, it will help to close in the wood over the Winter, while the rest of the plants are bare.



The rooted dogwood branches that had been dug out, were then moved to fill in another gap, between the Buddleja and White-cedar. Waste not, want not!

 

Inside the wood, there are daffodils with buds now, which shouldn't be far away from opening. The Daisy Pomponettes that were moved from the kitchen patio are also flowering now.



Finally, a general view of the lower end of the woodland, showing the various plants in this location.