[Good guy]

That was why I chose those plants for my roadside hedge! The kids used to sit on my fence, back in the day. Now the hedge is keeping their children at bay! Not that I dislike other people's children, of course, provided they don't sit on my fence or kick footballs into my flowers!

[tagwex]

See, a forked tongue!

[mel.b]

Thanks to kinderedspirit for taking all the rocks I had dug out...I look forward to seeing updates of your new rock garden

Ended up with around 9 tonne of topsoil I think. I ordered 6 and the guy arrived with a truckload. The price he gave me was cheaper for the truckload than I was expecting for the 6tonne so I said 'yep, I'll take it!'. Most of it has gone into the front garden, however some of it has gone into a new garden bed in the back yard that my dad built last yr for me. I'm going to need another couple of tonne to fill that though.

I have a few blisters but I'm getting there now! Looking forward to getting some plants in this week

[Good guy]

Great work, Mel. I planted barefoot yew, about 18" high, last autumn, to finish off the raised alpine beds. All the plants have taken well and so far they have put on between 2 and 3cm of growth, so I've started nipping them back so they will soon join up. Would you consider yew for your hedge? Evergreen, easy to keep, red berries?

[tagwex]

Are they not really slow growing?

[Good guy]

2 to 3cm this season, so far. Not that slow.

[Sue Deacon]

[mel.b]

I thought I'd post these two pics, which were taken 12mths apart. I was complaining about the sarcococa confusa being slow growing, but when I look back at the photo actually I think it's done ok.

July 2015


July 2016


I also got the other side planted on Monday night I ended up sticking with the sarcococa confusa for the hedging plant, however the nursery didn't have enough in stock. I also got:
- Callistemon citrinus 'Splendens'
- Kalmia angus tifolia rubra
- Weigela flordia 'monet'
- Hypericum x moserianum 'tricolour'
- Hebe Pink Candy
- Fuschia magellanica 'veriscolour'
- Euonymus fortunei emerald gaiety
- Grevillia (not sure what type, couldn't find the tag)
- Catmint - Nepeta x faassenii
- Malva moschata
- Cosmos
- Geranium Sue Crug
- Argyranthemum Maderia

There's a bit of a nod to my home country in there






I got another Argryanthemum after the photos were taken to balance out the front. Now just to get the bark in and the plastic will come up when I do.

How soon is too soon to plant daffodil and tulip bulbs? I'd rather get them in before I put the bark down, but not if it means the bulbs won't flower.

[Sue Deacon]

Looking good mel, looking good!

The daffs can go in September, or whenever they start appearing in the shops.The tulips as late as November as long as the ground isn't frozen.

[kindredspirit]

[mel.b]

So the days are getting warmer and longer and I'm back into the garden.

I noticed this morning that the grevillia I planted last year is not doing well. What do people think - will it come back or not?


Plans for this year are:
1. Finish off the front garden bed I started last yr. I got another 4 Saracoccoa tonight which should almost finish off the hedge against the wall and then I can put the rest of the bark down. i also need a few perennials to go in and a border flower. Later in the yr I will plant bulbs as I didn't get that done last yr. I would have preferred to put the bulbs in before doing the bark, but I'm not going to wait months to do the bark (actually hoping to do it this weekend).

2. My dad built me a garden bed in the backyard where I had an awkard bit of lawn. I've done nothing with it since it was built so I need to tidy that up and get it going. I've got top soil arriving next week and plan to pick up plants at the Clare Garden Festival at the end of the month. I'm not sure what I want to plant yet - maybe some climbers to go up & hide the fence and then a range of different periennals to give colour.

3. I have a very small narrow garden bed on the edge of my patio. My work colleagues gave me a rose a few years ago after my nana passed away and I planted it in this area. I'd like to turn the rest of this garden bed into a little rose garden with scented roses.

4. The area I did around the oil tank needs attention. The Laurel has done really well, but not anything else. Partly because i think my dog thinks it's his territory and will lay (and dig!) in there, but also because it's down the back of the yard it just gets a bit neglected. I'm thinking of maybe putting carpet roses in there...hopefully that will stop Cooper from going in there as well.

If I get all of that achieved I'll be happy and the backyard will start to look better as well. Also, to the side of my house I have a long wide strip that is again covered in pebbles. I'm not going to get rid of these (have learnt my lesson!), but was wondering if there was another ground cover that could be recommended? The area wouldn't get a lot of light as it is between my house and the one next door.

I'll keep this post updated as I make progress.

[Ado 2]

Thr Grevilla stems look alive. Scrape one with your nail if its green its ok. It looks like it could do with a feed and maybe water. As for a creeper The vinca minor is a colourful plant. Periwinkle i think its called it has a lovely purple flower. Look it uo

[mel.b]

Thanks Ado, I'll look at the periwinke.

So a productive day had today in the front garden...

Before



After:

[Sue Deacon]

A good day's work!

Periwinkle comes several colours, the regular 'blue' (purpley blue), lilac, purple, pink and a lovely white.

[kindredspirit]

Your Grevillea needs acidic soil and will not do well in your extremely alkaline soil.

If you wish to save it, dig it up and put it in a pot filled with ericaceous compost..

A good ground cover for pebbles in poor light is Ajuga, the purple variety.