Next B B Project

Brief update on the effect of removing the Lawson's Cypress; firstly after the rain yesterday there were puddles on the ground in part due to the pounding it got, but also due to the shelter being removed.
Another result has been the strong winds have blown a couple of large branches off the remaining Norway spruce.

 

Having created a pile of lot of the stump grindings, pine needles, some green stuff and added some fertiliser the temperature 15 inches in was 32°C.

 

After the recent windy weather one of the neighbours was saying about how much windier his garden now the trees had gone.
Some people are only happy when complaining.

 

But surely it is also much brighter without trees there? I bet they don't comment positively when they realise that.

 

Weeding and digging over the spring, now started to plant up.
Weeds I never had in that area before have taken full advantage of the higher light levels. Still looks very empty, yesterday got 4 hardy geraniums and there is more stuff coming on in the greenhouse. Still learning what the soil is like and how the water drains in (from neighbours small gardens, but 6 ft above mine) and out. Light levels are higher than I expected, but with the oaks leafing up this will change again.
Photos when the first non weed flowers.

 

One of the neighbouring bungalows has just had a conservatory added to tkae advantage of the extra morning light they are getting.
The mound of chippings has been planted up with squashes.
The rest of the strip is still producing a lot of weeds never seen in that area before.
I've been gradually planting the area, just about finished this for the time being, more to be done in the autumn when the plan is to move some shrubs from elsewhere in the garden.
This area has remained damper, during this dry spell, than I had anticipated. This is especially noticeable for the areas with the most stump grindings, these retain water very well not sure how many years this will last for.
One downside is that I suspect the ferns planted in the past few years will suffer from the lack of shade and their area is going to dry out more.

 

How's it progressing @NigelJ ?

 

@Sheal So far been planting the area and seeing how the environment has changed in that areas, masses of weeds have germinated, so far most of the plants are growing, although the lupins seem to have disappeared.
Already thinking that the planting area might grow a bit, just to tidy it up and there are a number of shrubs to move or propagate this autumn.
Planting squashes on the heap of stump grindings seems to have worked as apart from watering on planting they've just been left to their own devices and are now growing rapidly.
I have some more polygonatum and arisaema to plant there.

 

The inevitable weeds! The ground disturbance has probably triggered seeds. It's a shame about the Lupins, would that be slugs do you think? Mine did really well this year but I left it too late to take pictures.

It'll be interesting to see how the new planting does over this coming winter - fingers crossed for that.

 

End of first year (well nearly) update. Since late spring and through summer I've been planting lots of shrubs, trees and perennials; I also put in some annuals to fill gaps. Thanks to the mild damp weather everything seems to have taken and the annuals have gone wild. Once the annuals have gone I shall be able to see how things are going and I'm sure some things will need moving as they have grown better or worse than expected.
Impatiens flanaganae a lot happier here with slightly damper conditions


salvia guaranitica "Purple Majesty"

Aconitum henryi

Geranium "Kanahitobanawa"

Crocus speciosus


Crocus nudiflorus


The crocuses have really benefited from the extra light, the flowers are more upright on shorter stalks than in previous years, a bit of a surprise as I know plants can grow long and straggly in poor light, but I'd not thought it would be the same for flowers in the absence of leaves.
The soil has been more fertile than I expected after decades of conifers growing on it.
A lot of the trees and shrubs will take some years to develop.
Among other things a number of hedychiums, fuchsias, mahonias, polygonatums and rubus have been planted, also an Aralia, a Colletia, Clethra, Hydrangea, a Viburnum and a Zanthoxylum (in fact an A to Z of plants)
This is how the annual are doing.
Tithonia


Nasturtium

The squash plants mentioned in earlier posts are rampant and I have 10+ squashes to harvest.

 

All the plants look healthy Nigel. What soil are you growing on, it looks loamy to me?

 

@Sheal the soil is right old mixture and patchy, there are patches of clay and patches of more loamy soil which often has lumps of clay in it, there is a good scattering of stones of various sizes throughout. When the trees were removed the stumps were ground down and lot of this material was incorporated into the soil. I skimmed off some of this material into a heap to break down a bit. The rest got dug over twice with garden compost added between diggings. All trees and shrubs are planted with the addition of mycorrhizal fungi and blood, fish and bone meal mixed in the soil.
The stump grindings have certainly increased the soil moisture levels, also it shouldn't be forgotten that there are several decades of leaves, pine needles and cupressus bits incorporated in the soil.
Obviously this soil will change over the next few years as organic matter breaks down; there is also runoff from the mainly paved yards of the neighbouring bungalows that are about 6 ft above my garden so essentially all their rainwater comes into my garden.

 

That is a mixture Nigel. Do you find that you can plant a good mix of species owing to the different soil types? For instance an Azalea in a particular spot that wouldn't thrive in a different area of your garden?