New member in West Cork

John Hughes · Posted: Wed Mar 03, 2010 3:55 pm Post subject: New member in West Cork

Hello,

We finished building our house an moved in last year down here near Rosscarbery, West Cork. The house stands in 0.7 acre of southwest facing gentle slope, so with eager enthusiasm have started to embark on a monster landscaping project, having been left with large heaps of topsoil, and unlimited quantities of stone. Early last year I planted hedging on the boundaries with bare-root white thorn, wild cherry and crab apple making, a total of 135 plantings. Remarkable I have had a 100% success, with them all taking. I did start a small experimental vegetable patch, with onions and cabbages and an area of rhubarb. The onions did very well but the cabbages were a bit battered. ( and our local Irish hare took a fancy to a few.) The rhubarb has taken OK, in a more sheltered part, with evidence of strong growth this year under the mulching. The garden is exposed to winds so I am learning which parts are more sheltered than others and planning stategic placement of shrubbery and stone walls.
My first planting this year is Hypericum shubbery on a slope in front of the house.
So I have a lot to do and learn .....and will have many questions to ask in the future Smile

cheers,

John

Sive · Posted: Wed Mar 03, 2010 4:24 pm Post subject:

Hi John, welcome to the site.You are in a lovely part of the world there in West Cork and no doubt you will have a beautiful garden there one day. Take lots of "before" photos so that you can feel suitably proud when you admire your "after" photos in a year or two!!

John Hughes · Posted: Wed Mar 03, 2010 4:45 pm Post subject:

Thanks Sive,

I have taken many photos during the building so I will definitely do the same for the garden

John

kindredspirit · Posted: Wed Mar 03, 2010 5:03 pm Post subject:

You lucky person having such a great blank canvas with all those stones and heaps of earth. Cool

Good luck with whatever you're setting out to do.

Don't flatten the garden too much; try to keep it all uppy-downey or different levels. Have your plan drawn first before you start putting in plants.

John Hughes · Posted: Wed Mar 03, 2010 5:11 pm Post subject:

Thanks Kindredspirit,

I will certainly make note of you advice.

John

Her Outdoors · Posted: Wed Mar 03, 2010 6:15 pm Post subject:

Good luck with it John - we were in the same position five years ago. Every year brings improvement and it is great to look back at how it all started. House looks lovely.

Sunny · Posted: Wed Mar 03, 2010 6:47 pm Post subject:

Hello John, from a fellow West Cork man. Best of luck with your garden, having such a blank canvas can be quite a challenge, but also much fun, and there are plenty of people here to help you through it.

John Hughes · Posted: Wed Mar 03, 2010 7:12 pm Post subject:

Thanks Her Outdoors and Sunny for your welcoming messages. It's good to know there are people out there with help and advice.

John

royalhorticulturalsociety · Rank attained: Hazel Tree Joined: 04 Feb 2010 Posts: 7

Hi John and welcome! I'm a relative newbie myself so thought I'd drop in and say hi. Looking at your photos you've got an amazing space to work with. What are your plans for it?

John Hughes · Posted: Fri Mar 05, 2010 9:10 am Post subject:

Hi RCS,

I am still in the planning stage. The first thing is to build the entrance, which will involve some major wall contruction. This will absorb a bit of cash ! I would like to flatten out the soil heaps and make a shrubbery, with some contouring. The rest will be lawned., but I may still have other ideas.

royalhorticulturalsociety · Rank attained: Hazel Tree Joined: 04 Feb 2010 Posts: 7

Well good luck with that! Sounds like you've got a lot of work on your hands!

By the way, have you heard about our Grow Your Own campaign?

John Hughes · Posted: Tue Mar 09, 2010 4:59 pm Post subject:

Hi RCS,

No? What is the campaign ?