[kindredspirit]

[kindredspirit]

Just a little note on the types of bamboo we've planted.

Hibanobambusa tranquillans shiroshima.

Variegated leaves. Seems to be able to take the wind and two of them are quite happily growing in pots (but would like to escape! )



Pseudosasa japonica .

These are aiming high in the world and we can see that!




Phyllostachys Aureosulcata aureocaulis.

These have golden stems and seem to have taken to their new abode with enthusiasm. It looks like they'll be impressive.




Phyllostachys bissetti.

Planted these as a windbreak at the bottom of the garden. Very green.



Thamnocalamus spathiflorus aristatus.

Where I’ve planted these doesn’t seem to be damp enough for them. Not their fault. Mine! I have to keep watering them almost daily as the water drains away immediately.



Chimonobambusa tumidissinoda.

These are fabulous looking. Big knobbles on the stems. We’ve only one and it’s imprisoned in a pot but its making humungous attempts to escape. It needs a nuclear bunker style root barrier but it’s an outstandingly beautiful plant.



We’ve a couple of other bamboos that we don't know the name of, (gifts from people); one has red stems and looks quite attractive, the other, golden and green stems.

(Pics are of mature specimens - not ours. (We'll have to wait a couple of years.) )

[kindredspirit]

Planted a row of ferns alongside the north side of our wall on the starboard side.

They're five types as follows,

Polystichum Aculeatum (Hard Shield Fern)

Polystichum Setiferum (Soft Shield Fern)

Polystichum Braunii (smaller type of shield fern)

Dryopteris Affinis (Cristata, the King)

Dryopteris Remota (Scaly Buckler Fern)

Pic below:

[ormondsview]

Your wall is magnificent. Are they expensive to get built? Stone is such a fine accompaniment to any garden. I was wanting to make an entrance way of stone and was wondering about the cost. Will it be in the hundreds or thousands?

[sal]

my friend in currow,killarney paid 5000 for her roadside front with out gates,they were extra,thank goodness i prefer the natural hedgrow and because of planning permission cant change ot anyway,big conservation thing going here,mind you a few of my neighbours have chose to ignore it,

[sal]

kindred spirit,i have to say your garden is amazing,i`m speechless,you have put an amazing amount of work into it and it truly shows,well done

[Garlicbreath]

[kindredspirit]

How our garden used to look

before the back got pondised. (Is there such a word?)



And the front got Burrenised.





(Those lumps around the bases of the trees are cow manure.)

[kindredspirit]

How the back garden looked when I started a year ago.





How it looks today after 1 year. Sorry I’m not faster with the garden but I’ve an awful lot of irons in the fire and it’s difficult to find time for everything. And as you can see, I took away the divisional wall in the middle. Whack, whack, wall gone in 10 minutes. I think the pond looks better without the waterfall wall.





This is a Pagoda, originally intended as a smoking area in a pub, which I picked up cheaply. It still needs 1 metre high iron legs to go under it and which I have been painting today.



These are 4 trays of Loddon Lilies waiting to go into the pond. They’re still waiting as I seriously hurt my back lifting the first one into the pond. The weight of them is unbelievable.



This is the first tray of Loddon Lilies that I put in.



This morning I laid down the white cobbles in the gouge out the front. (2½ tonnes! ) I underestimated by two 50 kilo bags, so I’ll have to go off tomorrow evening and buy a bit more.







The pots in the middle are Creeping Willow. (This gardening lark never finishes, does it?)

[kindredspirit]

This is a list of the plants growing in the pond that I either dug up locally from farmer’s fields or nicked from the roadside and a couple that I bought.

Common Bulrush.

Purple Loosestrife.

Yellow Iris.

Pipewort.

Arrowhead.

Bog Myrtle.

Canna. (Florence Vaughan.)

Watermint. (a hitchhiker)

Giant Chain Fern.

Southern Shield Fern.

Arum Lily.

Unidentified long grass that grows in local watercouses. (I’m delighted with these.)

Loddon Lily.

Water Lily.

Flowering Rush.

Other hitchhikers, blanket weed and parrotfeather. When I find these, they’re immediately sent into orbit over the back wall. They’re a little persistent, though.

Over the winter I will be planting 8 varieties of seeds and I’m going to try and grow these in the pond. I may be successful but possibly not.

They are

Hibiscus Galaxy.
Hibiscus Palustris.
Hibiscus Militaris.

Astrantia Major.

Baptisia Australis.

Cimicifuga Racemosa.

Filipendula Ulmaria.

Rodgersia Pinnata.

Has anyone any of these growing in their pond and do you find them successful? (Or did they slowly rot away?)

I’m open to all suggestions about plants that I can grow in the water.

[kindredspirit]

Pic of one of the fountains as at 4th of January. (Bit cold here!)



Pic on the 9th of Jan. (Temp got down to -11.6°C one night! )

[sal]

like the fountain,actually like all of it,it makes my back garden look like a scrap yard cum tip

[kindredspirit]

[Lucinda]

Kindredspirit your garden is amazing. I hope that your plants come through - when will you be opening for guided tours?

[kindredspirit]

To take my mind off the Armageddon in the plant dept after the frosts, I'm building a pagoda.

Lifted it up a metre the other day and vertical panels have been inserted into five of the sections; the sixth section will be the entrance.

On three of the sections I'll probably be making up three stained glass inserts and putting them above the vertical panels. Each glass insert will be only 25% stained glass and the other 75% will be clear glass. Two sections will more than likely be left open on top and the entrance will be left open as well. (Well, that's the plan, anyway.)