Shrub Garden Challenge

Attached is some picture of my garden back home in the Outer Hebridies. It is quite exposed (North winds come from around the mountain in the picture)but as you can see, could with some effort be transformed into a nice garden complete with shrubs and flowers any suggestion as to which shrubs flowers etc. I am going to pick up 15 bags of 145l multi purpose compost next week to take back to the island ( will this be enough??) so as i can make a start my mother who retired at the end of last year has always wanted to have a nice garden and in the past few years has transformed it from nothing except an area of waste land to what it is now any ideas would certainly be looked into :confused: and it would be fitting if by the end of next year i can send in another picture of how it turned out fingers crossed.


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what a stunning location - hope you get loads of advise! I am a beginner gardener so don't know much but I am keen to see what you do with this lovely spot.

 

that rocky bit on left side of house could be planted up wth thrifts and look very natural
, i would try a windbreak on the weather side of the garden, to allow plants to stay planted!
i think low growing plants are essential for survival

 

you first need a windbreak, don't go for anything solid like a fence, your best bet is a natural wind break, escallonia rubra mecanthra doesn't mind sea spray, or grislinea both form good hedges by the sea, escallonia has lovely pink clusters of flowers over the summer time

 

Barra ,what a beautiful location....I might have to come up to help repair a shooting lodge, it's on Lewis near Tairbeart. If it's close I could bring some compost with me

 

Lovely photos and location. I would like to know what he summer and winter temprature is.

 

Thanks all so far for you comments.

Hamns:-
the temprature in the Outer Hebridies is similar to that of the rest of the Uk July and August is the hottest with temprature of around 20 degress but in winter frost is rarely a problem with the sea air keeping tempratures around 4-8 degrees.

Paladin:-
unfortunatly Lewis is nearly 100 miles futher North of Barra and to get there from the mainland is from a different location but if you ever want to go there visit. www.calmac.co.uk this is the only ferry company which operates to the outer Hebridies.

Rudham1:-
I have just been looking on the bbc plant finder for your Escalloinia and grislinea but it comes back blank, does it have a more popular name. I currently have Shrubby veronica growing just inside the fence do you think i should change it????? (around 2 feet high but lots of gaps between where either the wind has blown it out or possibly from myself not spacing it out correctly I did only last month take some cutting from it and replaced bare areas so as hopefully they will grow into a hedge all around the inside of the fence)
I intent to re dig the borders and have already bought 145l of multi purpose compost can i mix compost with the soil that i will get from digging up the borders or should i just discard it. ( whenever i have turned the borders before the following year it is full of weeds and if possible i would like to avoid this for a while) it works out that the area to re dig will be just over 50 meters long by 1.5 meters wide i just dont know how deep to dig and how much in depth of compost i would need.(should my borders be above Grass hight or should they be below) i have seen both but dont know if there is a reason for one or the other.
Once again thank you all for replying and keep up the good work and suggestion

 

Whilst looking for something else i found this site: The Native Trees of Orkney

Hope it's of interest to you.

 

Or, if all else fails!

How about these lichen I found growing on bare sandstone rocks at Seafield this afternoon :D

They are only just above the tideline and the gold one is really spectacular when the sun comes out.

 

Beautiful pictures - beautiful island. I'd go with Rudham 1 - shrubby veronica is not enough of a wind break on that exposed site. You need something taller than 2 foot. Having looked up shrubs tolerant of coastal exposure - I would add to his escallonia, - Eleagnus macrophilla, Olearia nummularifolia (daisy bush), spartium junceum (spanish broom) and tamarix ramosissima (tamarisk). Nothing to stop the hedge windbreak being a mixture of shrubs - but you really need that in and established (may need support the first year or so)before planting anything in the way of the taller herbacious plants.

When considering herbacious - besides the low growing like aubretia, allysum, thrift, and veronica, consider things like meconopsis cambrica (the welsh poppy) - plants with non rigid stems that can go with the flow. :D

 

it's griselinia - thatll be your problem finding it I expect!
I'd add sea buckthorn - hippophae rhamnoides, I think! - it's another coastal plant, used on the dunes in Holland. Like its name implies - has thorns! quite significant ones.

 

Good luck with your gardening. Barra looks very isolated and not very garden friendly. I don't know whether I would be able to exist in such a remote place. Do you have easy access to the mainland where you are?
Did Anne Lister write a song about your island? A memory is tugging at my brain - I'll have to look it up.

 

Gosh what a super place!
I think your greatest problem will be with the winds and getting some kind of wind break should be a priority as it will make a big difference to the survival of whatever else you plant. I'd be tempted to first put up a synthetic wind break and then try to establish something like a willow or birch 'fedge' if willow or birch will grow that far north. I think birch should be ok as it is currently being re-established on an island not that far from Barra.
You've got vast amounts of seaweed on your doorstep free of charge and digging it in will help improve fertility.

 

I have finaly finished for the year back up at my Mums in the Outer Hebrides. It took 9 days to turn over the soil and plant some shrubs so fingers crossed next year they will grow and give some wind break so as i can plant some really nice things next year i decided to put up some wind break material also just to give the shrubs a chance to establish this year Finaly thanks to all of you who replyed with help as to what might grow in 100mph winds full of salt air etc below are some pictures of how the garden looks now once again thanks to you all

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Looks fantastic Barra, wish I lived in a place so remote, I think I am part hermit! Well done!!

BM