HsuH's Garden

Spring has reached South Gloucestershire! The snowdrops and crocus have finished, daffodils are fading, but the garden is finally coming to life. The dominant colour is becoming blue/purple thanks to the aubretia and muscari while primroses, pulsatilla and hyacinths provide splashes of colour.









The carving of the 'Head' is done by Mr HsuH

We've given the lawn its first cut of the year which makes things look so much tidier, and pruned the fuschias and hydrangeas. It'll soon be time to put the pump back into the pond Hopefully the weather is going to continue to improve so we can get on with all those other jobs which have been on hold for the last month.

 

Let's have a tour of the garden. Starting with the front garden, which is not very big but is crammed with colour most of the year. The skimmia in front of our sitting room window seems to have berries pretty much year round and at this time of the year it has added interest of little white flowers and fresh new foliage:



To the right of the conservatory is the wisteria arch and the entrance to the upper garden.




This used to be our main vegetable growing area before we got our Landshare plot 2 years ago. Now it's used for those vegetables which either need a lot of attention or which we want to be able to just wander out and harvest as the mood takes us (the Landshare plot is 30 minutes walk away).

Then back down to the rear garden which is primarily decorative.





At this time of year the soil in the flower beds is still covered with twigs both to protect it from the winter weather (it's fairly light) and to keep the neighbourhood cats from using it.. But the perennials are already showing signs of life so it'll soon be time to do a final tidy up.

 

Thanks Armandii. Initially we had a plan for planting. Over the years, there has been a fair amount of self-seeding, replacing failing plants with others... by now everything is rather higgledy piggledy, a sort of ordered disorder. Since we aren't running a show garden, we've been happy to let things drift and evolve naturally.

Recently we have been thinking about giving our back/lower garden a make-over. We are still at the design stage , also because the growing season is here, we'll wait till autumn to start the work.

 

After the early slow start, the last couple of weeks of warm weather have helped the garden along nicely.

Tulips have finally have opened their smiley faces, as well as kerria, dicentra, honesty... Delphinium, hosta and many others are shooting upwards like mad...




Apples and pears are slow to start this year, but in the past week they are starting to blossom



Flowers and blossoms are all very well but more rewardingly, I'm starting to pick fresh vegetables from the seedlings I transplanted out on 22 Mar April . A big bowl of salad leaves (edible chrysanthemum, rocket, radish leaves), a bunch of choi sum and some pak choi are waiting to take their place on the dinner table.


So all in all the gardens are playing a successful catch up game and are truly full of life now.

 

A month has passed since we started this thread, spring has definitely settled in (not sure when the summer will arrive?) Here are a few photos to show what our garden looks like now.
In the front:



At the back:





The garden is quite "junglely", if you see some big gaps, they are where the dhalias will appear. We leave dhalias in the ground over winter, some delicate ones get covered with clay pots and others are left to the elements. I think they are much tougher then we give them credit for.

There are a fair amount of Spanish blue bells about. Ever since we moved here about 13 years ago, we've tried to dig them out, tried pulling their leaves out as soon as they appear to weaken them,...regretfully I've admitted defeat now. May give it another go when we redo the back garden later in the year.

 

I like garden mysteries since they are part of fun of gardening. Right now there are a couple of mysteries in the garden and some help to solve them would be welcome

1) Guess how many plants this is:

This lithospermum originally had blue & white flowers. About 3 years ago pure blue ones appeared, and this year pure white ones as well. It looks like I've got 3 plants there. Is this some kind of reversion? I know varigated leaves revert back to green sometimes, and plants grow from seeds... but on an evergreen perennial's flowers? The speed at which the original colour is disappearing is slightly alarming. I marked the blue and white flowered stems and tried to take cuttings of them in the past 2 years with no success. I think I'm going to lose the original one.

2) In each of the past 3-4 years we have had 1 morel mushroom, yes only 1, appear in the spring. It doesn't appear in the same spot, reappearing quite a few yards away from where it was previous year. Very peculiar indeed. How did it arrive and why does it wander about so much?? Ideally I would like to cultivate it - to make it grow in the same place and multiply so that eventually I have enough to make a meal.

 

I like the front garden, has a very natural but tidy look to it I think

 

Hi HsuH,

As a beginner I'm sorry I can't answer your questions but your gardens look amazing!

 

Hallo HsuH,
I love your garden. Full of interest and natural. I'm a higgledy piggledy Cottage Garden person, but I am amazed at the way Mother Nature copes with this and make a space for all of our plants.
Thank you for inviting me into your garden today. I look foward to popping back from time to time as the seasons roll on,
Jenny namaste

 

Thank you Jenny Namaste, Armandii, Fern4, Adamsh and all who've showed us your great appreciation. You made me feel pottering around our little world is even more rewarding.

You are all welcome to pop in to our garden here online, or in person whenever you find yourself in this neck of the woods and have a moment to spare. My only apprehension is that in photos things tend to look a lot prettier then reality, and our garden may not live up to your expectation.

With a bit of warmth the garden seems to change every minute. Look at these hosta, only 2 days time difference, the tightly curled leaves are opening up. It is quite fascinating to watch!