Mr Grinch's Garden

Nothing much going on, since Wednesday its been freezing with the odd snow flurry. Least its not hissed down which makes a change but still too cold to do anything in the garden.
Went to "an evening with Monty Don" on Friday. A very enjoyable evening with The Don being on top form. Great talk about his garden visits around the world and his garden. Watch out for the new path to be shown on GW next month, we had a sneek preview. Great design tips aswell. Oh, and we raised a bit of money for charity.
http://www.oakleaf-enterprise.org/

G

 

Jealous of your Monty evening.

On Rhodos.

Since I was baby, I had to endure walking past a long row of pensioners' maisonettes where the residents' association had imposed these, these things. They go with old people and decay. They have brown smelly bits underneath. They are all fur coat and no knickers; like a monsterous granny wearing teenage make-up. Show me a rhododendron and I'll soon show it a bucket of lime. Can you tell the difference between a rhododendron and an artificial rhododendron? No. That's because nothing that could give me a metallic headache like they can could possibly be alive. Their
lebenstaummission is to colonize, swamp and drive out all competitors from anywhere beautiful. Germans are even breeding rhodos that like chalk! They must be fought. Heath, meadows, woods; other people's gardens: they don't care. They are a tangled mass of impenetrable invasive seed, suckers and rootlets designed to take over the world. They are ugly. They are weeds. They are triffids.

They are the enemy. I'd sooner plant Leylandii.

 

Was he amazing? Any tips u could pass on?

 

Good job its in a tub

 

Well chimney, he has 7 of those blue linen suits and height in a Garden, makes a garden. Hense why im planting my Hornbeam

 

Ive been thinking, dangerous i know. When i extend the little walled raised area at the back for my chooks and childrens raised vedge bed (aswell as the trampoline), im going to line the area with Ilex Crenata to enclose it eventually making a low hedge with a little entrance to get in. It will add a bit of ever green to that corner and mirror the Box near the patio. The reason for Ilex Crenata ? Looks like Box, evergreen, doesnt scorch, grows from the hard wood if trimmed too hard and doesnt suffer many diseases.

G

 

What about the "Fur coat & no knickers" bit? or are you too old to remember what that's about ?

Me too. Site is flat here, no obvious vistas across the countryside, so I need hedges to make rooms. Clay here, so Hornbeam rather than Beech (which, personally, I would prefer - Hornbeam more likely to need cutting twice in a season, Beech holds it Winter leaves better - and, personally, I prefer the smoother leaves of Beech)

I do have one (Copper) Beech hedge, but there are parts of it where it clearly struggles with my wet clay. I should put a land drain in really ...

 

U got a plan drawn mr g?

 

I don't think its over optimistic Armandii ... with the advent of Box Blight I think Ilex crenata is a worthy replacement. Just a bit slow growing ...

 

I hope you didn't cheat and substitute Movies for Memories?!!