BON VOYAGE- HOMEWARD BOUND MR & MRS T

Continuing the guided tour of the new garden, a few more photos.

No shortage of shed space here, got these two plus a third one near the house and a garage for storing stuff as well.

Just beyond the furthest shed in this photo is - a sycamore. Although it's been pollarded quite regularly over the years and isn't huge, I think it might have to go eventually. Not having one of those in my garden.



Little herb garden near the back door. The pots are mine, I'll plant the rosemary and sage in there when I get time, there's already some oregano in there which I'll keep. Pity about the box hedging, which appears to have been planted in the shape of a swastika! I might take a few of those out to give more room for the herbs and make it easier to get to the shed.



Got a little greenhouse in a sunny corner by the kitchen. Needs a good clean and a couple of cracked panes replacing but I should be able to grow a few bits and pieces in there. You can just see on the right of the photo, a large hazel growing right next to the greenhouse. Not ideal, so I'll probably coppice it to start with and may get rid of it completely in time as it's very close to the house too.



This area poses an interesting challenge. It's along the side of the drive leading to our semi-detached garage, which is separate from the rest of the house and garden. The fence faces south on that side and the soil is quite sandy here, so it will be a hot, dry border. I'm already drawing up a list in my head of low growing, dry tolerant plants which I can plant along there to make it more attractive and colourful.
So far I've come up with; Helianthemum, Ophiopogon, Hardy Geranium, Teuchrium and Potentilla 'Gibson's Scarlet'.
Any more suggestions?

 

An interesting garden Trunky. Are you sure you can wait a year before you start 'playing' in it? I don't think I could.

 

OOOOhhhh what a lovely prospect planting area Trunky Now then planting ideas ...wat aboot


The Cercis siliquastrum (Judas tree) --Truly a tree for all seasons. With an abundance of bright cerise pink blossoms in spring then in summer lovely heart-shaped leaves on delicate branches, its one of Beth Chatto scree plants... in her planting above... JUST BEEutiful ....soooo great minds think alike @JWK


Love this combination

and Angels fishing Rods
And some Verbena varieties "Rigida"
and the dwarf Bonariensis "Lollipop"
Not forgetting these plants Achillea- who would revel in the scheme and not flop over as they often do in too rich a soil
Achillea 'Cloth of Gold'

and Achilliea "Strawberry Seduction"
OMG OMG can i come and help .......soooo exciting all these new plans and ideas to consider Or I'll have to have your scree bed idea here now as its got me all a flutter now

 

Ooooo! That first picture has given me an idea for my front garden @BeeHappy, thank you for posting it.

 

Thanks for the suggestions folks.

@JWK Although it's quite close, I've never got around to visiting Beth Chatto's garden. I think it's about time I did, I'm sure I'll come away with all sorts of ideas for planting that dry area, thanks for the timely reminder.

@BeeHappy Some good suggestions there thanks, you've given me lots more ideas for planting now.
The combination of lavender and arctic poppy works well and I like the look of the dwarf Verbena too - haven't seen that one before, so a new plant for me to try there.
Achillea is another good suggestion for that situation, I might go for a low growing variety in that bed so it doesn't flop over.
I've had a browse on the Beth Chatto Gardens website and that's given me a few ideas too.

I'm gradually adding to the list of plants I might use in that hot, dry bed now. A few more possibilities; Lavender, Osteospermum, Dwarf Verbena, Achillea, Oregano and one I've not tried before - Eriophyllum, anyone have any experience of growing that?

 

@Trunky your most glad to have been some use .... suggestions are just that aren't they! sometimes just learning ....as a self-confessed plantaholic and reading about certain plants that you may covert but no matter how much you lust after ...your garden may not be entirely suitable for .... the bonus being that there are new undiscovered plant suggestions for other gardeners to read up on and decide their on their suitability for them ... it's all about personal choice in the end and knowing your own garden climate and frost/ sun pockets ..... your most certainly going to enjoy creating that area a wonderful blank canvas to let your imagination run wild with - happy days

 

Managed to sneak in a little gardening this weekend.

I decided to get rid of the large hazel which was growing right next to the greenhouse. Not only was it overshadowing the greenhouse, but it was only about 3 or 4 feet from the house, close to the kitchen window and near a drain - what could possibly go wrong?

I'd estimate it had already been growing there for at least 10 years, I could have just coppiced it but hazels stumps just go on getting bigger and producing more roots however much you coppice them so it has to go. Digging it out wasn't an option so I simply cut it down and treated the cut stump with a strong Roundup mixture.

Mrs Trunky set about cleaning the greenhouse glass as it was quite green on the outside, so today I did my first sowing since we moved here. Just a couple of pots of winter salad leaves (Mizuna and Tatsoi) in the greenhouse but it's a start.

Around the back of the garage is a small, steeply banked strip of land just a few feet wide which will need strimming and tidying up a few times a year. It's mainly rough grass and Vinca at present but a few brambles had begun to establish themselves. I wasn't having them in there, so I dug out the ones I could and cut the rest off before treating the cut stumps. Came away with a few scratches but I'm sure it's saved me a lot more work in the long term.

 

Wow, that is more than just a little

Congratulations on your first sowings Now it will really begin to feel like "home"