An Algarve Garden - 2022

Great to see your cuttings, @Victoria

 

Yesterday the Red Hibiscus in the ground had one flower open and a bud ...


... today the bud has opened and the other flower is still there, hurray ...


J did the facia on The Baffa orchard side this morning. He still has the filed ledge to do over the Winter ...


The inside paneling is finished too ...

 

Beautiful Hibiscus flowers! @Victoria

 

Allamanda carthatica settling in well on the Dining Patio ...

 

I like your little piano @Victoria can you play it ?

 

Hello Michael and thank you for visiting and I trust you are well.

I am not musical at all! I had a guitar in my teens and took a few lessons but my long fingernails didn't agree with strings.

The piano is an 88 key Technics which J has for sale through his hobby business, which is mainly guitars. Sometimes we have full drum sets hanging about. Our guest room is full of guitars, amps, etc. He is well known in Algarve and took up this hobby when I spent 42 days in hospital ... and he missed me! He cannot play either. Can you play?

 

Interesting to hear about J's hobby, it must keep him busy

I used to be able to play the piano but haven't done so for many years. I even passed two exams, one with a merit
I can still read music but I'd have to practice a lot before I could play anything these days. And anyway I think my fingers are too arthritic now

 

We had our friend of 15 years Stu and his assistant Rick come yesterday to pollard the Jacarandas and the Almond tree. We then asked them to cut a foot off the Myrtus 'Tarrntina' hedge.

The Almond went well ...


The Jacaranda with Van's tree house went well ...


However, the Jacaranda by the lane got massacred ...


... as did the Myrtus ...




We have tried to hide the nakedness with the Hibiscus pots ...


To top it all, the big Jacaranda apparently fell on the Eucalyptus poles on the border wall and broke it in half ... and this was not mentioned and discovered after they left!!! We are not happy bunnies!

J then cut back the Tecoma stans (Ginger Thomas) as it was down on the gravel ...

 

I dare say it will all grow back and you won't need it doing again for a couple of years .
Looks bare now though.

 

I agree with you Pete. It was just a shock.

From this ...


... to this ...


We just wanted it levelled to the dent in the top right.

I don't know what to say about the Jacaranda. From this ...


... to this ...

 

I'm wondering if they are thinking by cutting the Jacaranda back really hard you will be able to leave it longer.
When it was cut back last time it put out those long shoots and quickly grew back to the same size?
Trees tend to do that.
But a really hard cutback will still make those long new shoots but the next ones after that will be shorter.
So they will flower better and it will lose that initial vigour that the cutback creates.

I find that when I cut my trees back.,
I know that sounds a bit weird but not good at explaining.

 

Oh Vicky !! As Pete says everything will eventually grow back but I can totally understand your shock and despair.
Have you contacted them since, having said that I suppose there's nothing to be gained from that as what's done is done.

Fancy driving off without talking to you about what they had done!!

I understand too what Pete has just said above, the hard cut back might prove beneficial to the Jacaranda...

 

Must admit I dont like that large piece of bark ripped off of one of the stems on the Jacaranda.
It wasn't done very well in that respect.

 

That's a bit drastic isn't it, and he's an old friend too ... !
It will grow back in time but that isn't the point.

 

We totally agree. I wondered if, when it was cut (improperly) that the trunk/branch was what fell onto the Eucalyptus rail and broke it.

We met Stu 15 years ago when he owned an exotic garden centre here inherited from his father who travelled the world. Stu is 57 now and been here since he was 17 and his father was originally here for many years before. Stu sold the centre (which quickly went out of business) and started a high end landscaping business (not many projects under ten grand.) He does us as a friend. 250 Euros which included cutting up the big stuff for firewood. He has to come from 45 minutes away. We have holidayed in Spain with this guy and his daughters. This is what has shocked us.