Mr Grinch's Garden

Mr. Grinch, does your lawn sit lower than your neighbours, so that the water from theirs is draining into yours, or do they have the same problem as well?

 

No, the whole road is rubbish mate. The house across the road was saying how bad his garden was the other day. The road is on a hill so technically all the water should run to the bottom house but the garden in the middle where i am is just as bad as the ones at the top. Most non gardeners in the road couldnt really give a hoot as they just have a big lawn and not much else, it only really becomes an issue when you actually want to make something of your garden. Next door but one had his whole garden dug up, turf re-layed and he still said last year it was just as wet. It was exceptional last year though. No, ive come to the conclusion that i can help but not cure it, im fighting a losing battle . Wet soil and grass i can handle now as i have the hard paths that will soften with age when the plants mature, its just the standing water which is a pain. Hopefully i can sort this by laying a pipe into the drainage trenches across the lawns.

G

 

I dug two small trenches to lead from the new larger play area, lined with membrane then added a pipe and shingle to the soak away channels under the lawn. All of the water had gone within a day of taking the path up so im hoping this will work. No rain now for a week but would you believe ive had water water the garden, especially the Yew i moved and the new Hornbeam. You cant win ha ha

The trouble of digging a new border are the amount of weed seeds it throws up. Ive got LOADS. Constant hoeing at the moment.

G

 

Sorry, late coming to the party on this, been very busy for some weeks ...

When I plant a hedge I "grow on" 10% elsewhere (often pots) as replacements in case some fail. Not sure that advice helps at all when buying some "extras", and no help at all after-the-fact, sorry about that.

Ashridge Trees sell a variety of heights (bare root) so provided you are not already on the "tallest" model you could top-up with some plants from them, next autumn.

And having said all that I have "spares" from various hornbeam planting exercises from which I can probably select some like-for-like size with yours, which you would be welcome too ... I've got thousands of Hornbeam planted, and a fair number of "spares"

No idea why they said that you should wait until the Winter - except that if they only supply bare-root that will be the only time that you could get replacements from them, and at least you would have had some plants in-situ in the meantime.

I take the view that mistakes happen. Obviously if your supplier is constantly making those sorts of mistakes then they deserve to fail, and naming and shaming would be appropriate (so that others can report alongside if they have had issues too). Might be an, unfortunate, rare occurrence though. I had a batch of 300 Evergreen Oaks that were delivered as plain Oaks. Supplier replaced then and told me to keep the originals - which i have distributed to grateful people who are now growing a small forest of Oak trees as a result

Glad they have sorted out via refund, even though that costs you are year of growing time

I agree. I have one stretch of Copper Beech here (heavy clay too) but all the rest are Hornbeam. Dunno if you managed to find someone to collect? but if you can box them MyHermes will collect (or you can drop off locally, if you are not at-home for a collection during the day), package I sent the other day was a fiver, even if heavy should be less than a tenner, which would be a good price for someone to get several Beech plants (MyHermes have an introduction so you get 10% (from memory) off your first shipment, so I or anyone else with an account can "introduce you")

For a hedge I'm not sure it matters - unless very short length such that individual plants may "show up". I nip out the leading bud from top, and ALL side shoots, for about the first 3 or 4 years (until the hedge is too bushy for it to be "doable"). This makes them branch, particularly at the bottom. There is a school of though that 1/3rd of the new growth on the leader should be removed for the first couple of years, otherwise there is risk that the bottom of the hedge is not thick enough. Needs a slightly brave approach to sacrifice that much though ... for field-hedges they often just cut them back to "stumps" with a hedge cutter for the first few seasons to then grow really thick hedges. Planting a double-row, rather than single row, also helps with "thickness".

I would be very wary of rip-up and re-lay. Might well work, but its a lot of cost. Personally as a first step I would just buy a builders-bag of topsoil and spread it over the law in the early Autumn. mow the grass really short first, spread the soil, use something "wide" to level it with (a ladder is good, tie a rope around the rungs at each end and drag it end-to-end and then side-to-side, if it doesn't "drag" enough then put some blocks/weight on it; if no ladder than back of rake or similar). Then over-seed. That will get it level (might have to repeat the following year, only "less so", once the new topsoil has settled)
If you have some really prominent "humps" then you should flatten those, rather than adding soil to bring the level up. Cut H-shaped slits with spade centred on the hump, peel back the two U-shaped top/bottom of the "H", remove some soil, put the flaps back and tread down well. Can do that any time (when the mower has "scalped" them so you can see where they are is good! but in drought they'll need plenty of water to help recover, so now would be better than July )

May have asked this before, if so forgotten, sorry. Is this a new build with all the builders rubbish buried in the garden? if so that really needs to come out to have any hope of getting the soil "functional" again.

This is definitely what I would do. Whenever you plant hedge / make border / lay path use the opportunity to put a trench in, perforated drainage pipe in the bottom, gravel cover the pipe, backfill.

If you have a "fall" on the site such that the pipes can be joined and routed to "flow" away that's fantastic, or you could make a soakaway, but even if you just put the pipe and gravel in that in itself will act as a soakaway, and will get the surface water underground more quickly - which will stop the surface being so spongy. I'm on heavy clay too, we get great floods during heavy rain, but after the rain stops its all gone in 20 minutes, and most of my drains have no out-fall at all.

 

Thanks for your reply Kristan

No the gardens not a new build site, 80 years old but there are certainly rubbish underneath it all. Bits of brick, glass and broken pots but not enough to cause the problem. It's the topography of the place and the basic fact that its underlying soil is about 3 meters of yellow clay. We havnt had any rain of note now for 11 days but most of that trapped water went within 2 hours after giving it access to the drainage trenches underneath the lawn. I'm hope that my little pipe will do the trick. I watered last night and none of it remained after to pleased with that.

No, I still have the beech plants. My dad said he may have them but if he doesn't then I'm open to anyone that wants them.

I tied the leading stem upwards on the hornbeam with canes, I also pruned out all the side branches including the leading one. Will see how it goes but give then another harder prune next winter I think. They are all leading up so thankfully no failures yet.

Have you thought about opening your garden up Kristan like the open days we see around the place? I for one would be very interested to see how it's getting and to pick your brains ?

G

 

Have you thought about opening your garden up Kristan like the open days we see around the place? I for one would be very interested to see how it's getting and to pick your brains ?
What a spiffing idea . Would love to see it for real too,
Jenny

 

With regards to the lawn, I filled in the big dips last summer and re seeded but the area is very patchy. I may of put down too much. I think the total re lay is out of the question due to price although I think it would do the trick. I will buy a couple of turf rolls and maybe raise the old stepping stone holes that have sunk and seed the rest.


G

 

Kind of you to think that I should do that

In reality mine is a young garden. I can take a photograph that shows just a part of it and make it look impressive! but there is lots that is as yet too young to make a spectacle that people would want to make a pilgrimage to see. Right now I have areas with very young hedges, they need a few more years before they have framed the garden. We also have two "rooms" left to develop that are just scrub at present, and they need to be done before anyone should come and look at the garden - paying or otherwise! (but no sense doing them until the hedges are a bit taller to provide some protection). The maze is only partly planted ... the rest of the plants are being brought-on in the greenhouse to plant next winter ... and so it goes on. I know that in a gardeners eyes a garden is never finished, but I think that's a bit different to being only part-built!

Here are some un-photoshoped!! less flattering pictures showing WIP

Left to Right in the "middle distance" garden:


Apple Walk. Planted them this Spring ... but there aren't even any wires between the posts yet ... (Room 1/2 on the Right)


Room 1 - I'm going to stick a "roundabout" in the middle with a taller planter in it ... but other than that I haven't made any plans .... (Room 2 in the background)


Room 2 ... Mrs K has plans for some sort of Topiary thingie (Maze in the background)


The Hydrangea walk. You'll notice the complete absence of Hydrangeas at the moment But I do have 50 or 60 that I have "coming on" from cuttings I have nicked from here and there on my travels

and in the "far distance" garden:


Maze - only a few plants have gone in this year ... the paths need making (I'm thinking of weed membrane and bark)


The Holm Oak walk. They are so small you can barely see them, and I haven't even mowed the grass yet this year :( (Maze on the left)

 

On a brighter note here's the view from the house:



You can see how young the hedges are around the old tennis court. The herbaceous border (left) is worth a look, as is the shrubbery (right), and the Long Walk (centre, middle distance) will look nice once in leaf (hornbeam, this will be its 3rd season).

Middle distance, left to right, is Apple walk, Room1/2, Long walk, Hydrangea walk

and then in the far distance is the Maze and Holm Oak walk.

Hope you didn't mind this diversion in your thread

 

Do not mind only little bit Kristan. Your have some garden there even with it "unfinished". A garden in my view is not just the ending but also the journey and your on some journey. An exciting one mind. I can't wait 10 years for you to open it, I think you should start it next year then we can all inspect your progress

 

I'm thinking of taking out the two Photinia from the borders. They have never looked happy in my soil. I think its too wet for them. What i have seen, they like sun, dry soil that doesn't seem to be too rich. Don't get me wrong, they a sprouting new leafs that look healthy but the older leafs instead of staying that rich dark green, turn yellow and a bit veiny, then fall off.

I don't think they fit in with my theme either, not very cottage garden like, more new estate/tesco car park. Any body else have any idea for an evergreen shrub with flowers ?

G

 

Don't know much about Photinia but could the yellowing leaf issue be chlorosis that might be fixed with some micro-nutrients - possibly even just an application of Epson salts, or if Photinia prefers a more acid soil then some chelated Iron?

Yeah, that's my impression of them too ... but I'm such a Plant Snob

For a "security" hedge? Berberis darwinii. They flower fit-to-bust each year (round about now, in fact a bit earlier I think) and have some nicely lethal thorns if you need to keep people the other side of the hedge.

But I reckon you need to give a narrower requirements list the list of "Any evergreen that can flower" is a bit broad

Size, season of flowering, would help - unless you don't have any particularly requirements and would perhaps prefer something a bit more unusual - i.e. not to be found in Tescos let alone their car parks!

 

Its a quandy, around here ive always assumed its acid soil. Magnolia love it around here thats for sure aswell as other acid loving plants like Rhodo's and Camelia but my Rhodo never did any good and my Magnolia took years to get its feet into the ground. The Photinia say it like 4.5 to 6.5 so neutralish. I dont like them anyway so will dispose at the end of the season.

Im looking for a stand alone shrub, well two to replace the two Photinia. Evergreen with a colour interest, flowers or unusual leaf and any time of year, not fussed. Must be able to take clay soil, that gets a bit wetish in winter (not waterlogged though) and can get dry in summer depending on weather. One site gets part sun, the other full sun in summer. I already have Weigela, Sambucus, Cornus and a Ceanothus.
Dont like Berbaris or Ilex.

Any ideas ?

G

 

Mahonia? Winter flowering, yellow. Leaves are quite dramatic. I think it is M. Charity that flowers the longest - I certainly have one that flowers a lot longer than any of the other ones here.

Escallonia is a good flower'er, but looks scruffy at all times! Some of them are only semi-evergreen, so you might want to check for properly evergreen ones (or put up with them only keeping their leaves in half-decent / mild winters).

Some nice Viburnums. Forgotten the name, but there is one with gorgeous blue berries, but several that have white flowers with great scent (which I think are evergreen).

Cotoneaster? Can be a bit sprawling, but have nice Red berries in Winter. C. bullatus or C. rothschildianus (if they are not too big)

All from memory, so may have mis-rememebred sizes/details, and as I am on alkaline clay, sorry, but I have no idea if any of these are Acid haters.

 

Im liking Escallonia 'C.FBall'

G