BM's April Hideout

Is it really April :eek:

A great weekend for a spring clean in the garden. Lots of jobs to do and planning for the coming months. Main priority was to declutter and get ready for removing the lawn. I am bored of keeping it going under all my foliage, so I am taking the brave step to go completely grass free. I do love lawns but I love my jungle more, and for that I need a different surface. I am going for more 20mm shingle which will make the garden seem larger, as it will not be broken up between grass and path.

First I removed a couple of pheonix palms that needed some TLC. They sit just that bit too far down the garden to get warm in the winter and have suffered last year and this year. I removed all the old leaves and have them indoors until the summer. They will be going out the front which is colder to be honest, but they will see the sun where they are going to be planted, which I think will make all the difference.



You can see from this picture the pheonix do really well near the house. You should also be able to see that I have decluttered the deck of small pots which have been getting on my nerves.



The pots that they were in are going to be used to house my new and existing 4 foot tree ferns.



With the fronds shooting out it is going to look mental. In front of the pots the cordylines currently in pots are going in the ground. I don't think the cordylines will mind as much as the pheonix's being here in the garden , as they are in my experience much hardier.

Before



Edited to include treeferns

 

Some other declutter shots. I also composted the beds. Makes everything look so much tider and gives the worms something to do. :D

 

The magnolia is doing really well this year. It is a 'Susan' and I never noticed before how nice it smells.







[ 16. April 2007, 05:15 PM: Message edited by: Banana Man ]

 

Various plants to show off, too many to mention, but here are a few.

Tree ferns with soft hairy fronds that look like nice places to snuggle up !





Eucomis that came out, went to sleep, and are now on the move again.



Anenomies opening up...



Hellebores still going...



Jap maples opening 'Bloodgood'

 

Hosta, ligularia, ferns, cowslips...



Forsythia



Aroids



Oh, and I moved the bird feeder closer to the house in an atempt to get more photo opportunities :D

 

So that was Saturday. Today I tackled the front garden. Raking the gravel and similar tidying to the back garden.



My main priority was to check on the gunnera which are doing really well.

in pots...





In the covered lined pond/bog...





and in a trusty 42 litre B&Q sunken tub...



I thought this one was quite graphic, this years fruit spire being born !

 

Other interesting bits out the front are the primroses...



This beautifully weird fern called...

something seiboldi I will have to look it up again :rolleyes:



Malus bursting...



Aquilegia



Dicentra

 

The front hedge is a mix on many plants, laurel, holly, escallonia, roses, euonymous, but I cleared the pavement growth which I populated with wildflowers 'fox and cubs' and lavender to replace the usual mix of weeds and dandy's. :D



and I have a new pot by the front door which I renovated from a cr@ppy old barrel into something more snazzy. It is lined for another marginal plant, perhaps another gunnera ?



Thanks for looking, I will add stuff as April unfolds :D

 

Thanks for the update Bman brilliant as usual

 

Wow stu that looks lovely .i see the gunneras doing verry well you must be so exited this time of year to see everything comming up like that.I hope in a few more years my garden will look just like yours.I think the tree ferns look very nice there.Iv been verry busy in the garden every weekend ill try to put some pics on tommorow morning take car mate..daz

 

Just fab!!!!!

 

It looks like you had a very busy and weekend, Babe, and achieved a lot. Everything looks wonderful and healthy. Lovely pics of the Dicentra and Magnolia.

Can't see any dirt under that Scooby either!

 

Thanks guys, look forward to seeing some pics DD. :D

 

All looking gorgeous.
So when are we going to get BananaCam then, so that we can sit and watch your garden grow :D

 

I had been thinking about it ! for the website focused on the banana flower. :D