This is the good, the bad and the ugly today but not in that order!
I am so glad the winter is now behind us. I've been told that it was the coldest in this area since 1962 and it certainly has left a sorry tale behind in gardens in my locality. One of the main topics of conversation these days between us neighbours is what plants didn't make it through - its postmortem time! As for most shrubs in ceramic pots once the thaw arrived they literally burst their stems open at their bases just above soil level while clay pots just disintegrated and left shards of clay all around their bases.
Maybe Beethovens death march should be played as you read along with this!
Some of my casualties like the Choysia Sundance no longer live here along with a Fatsia Japonica (they had been growing in ceramic pots on the patio) a large Euonymus, a Flowering Carpet pink rose, a French Lavender Fathead, Leycesteria formosa and a pink Cistus.
One disappointment was my new Acer Sango Kaku (the one with the red stems) but it was under a 5 yr guarantee so I’m not out of pocket with that.
But I was shocked to loose 4 pyracanthas – 2 yellow and 2 red berry ones. My neighbour had the same problem and the only one that seems to have survived in our gardens is the orange one – so obviously its the hardiest of them all.
Likewise there are no Ceanothus alive around here unless newly planted. I had bought "Skylark" many years ago as it was supposed to be the hardiest type – just not hardy to prolonged periods up to –17.4 °F. It needed to go anyway – the Amelanchier Alnifolia Obelisk and Physocarpus Diablo were placing it in more and more shade as they grew bigger each year.
My Halimiocistus growing in the scree bed – got dug out on Saturday evening as you can see in the picture below. I have plans for that area. A witchhazel is going in there and plant troughs (converted from fishboxes with a type of hypertufa covering) and some new stepping stones.
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| Winter 2010 Casulaties |
My Nandina Firepower – its a goner for sure.
This Fatsia is staying as I think it will come back – those are green buds on the top and I'll cut off those dead leaves once I get time to start gardening in the Japanese Garden.
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| Mahonia Charity |
Not so sure about the Mahonia Charity – it is getting worse looking by the day and Mahonia Lionel Fortescue in the front garden is looking much the same. I've lost nearly 2 feet at the top of Charity and more of the stems and leaves are turning yellow and falling off.
I've noticed that some of the plants I thought a month ago had survived have just in the past 2 weeks passed away completely.
I have to be thankful that I did not lose more. The Camelia W. Donation just about made it and I'm still not sure if my flowering carpet standard yellow rose and the ground cover one of the same variety will pull through - I think they are on life support just now. Surprisingly some little Diascia 'Apricot Delight" are showing signs of new life.
The Challenge
This is really ugly bit - I've not worked in this part of the garden since last autumn. You can certainly tell from the photo - the local cats have been the only ones turning over the soil.
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| Looking down the border from the public footpath |
I’ve never really been content with this area. Most people extended their monobloc driveways to make them wider using this patch of ground but I wanted it as a flower border. I made a mistake here that I’m sure everyone has made at one time or another. I filled the area with plants and thought it would be lovely. After a year I wasn’t happy with the effect – changed locations of some plants but it still did not work. Every year I have tried something different. I have to stop!
I should have designed this without thinking about plants at first and thought of shape, curves and paths when it was just a blank canvas and just a piece of lawn. When the house was built we had a terrible rabbbit problem and for 1 year I had a lovely front garden design - without any plants in it. I had a shaped lawn and scree beds with different heights and levels all created and it still looked good. The structure was there and I knew where my focal points were to be and the planting part a year later was so easy to do and it looked great from the begining.
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| A view looking down at the public footpath |
I also should have had this designed from the pedestrian’s viewpoint on the public footpath looking down into the garden. I think I made the mistake when planting initially by looking at the border from the driveway. From the footpath there certainly is more depth to play with. I could have a little path through this area leading unto the other path.......... but I'm not really sure what I want! Sorry I'm beginning to ramble.........
Now I have an opportunity - so much has died in this border.
I've always regretted planting my Viburnum Eve Price here as I underestimated how big it would get. Its too close to the Laburnum and even though when I scrape away alittle of the bark and see a little hint of green on the odd branch – can I really bear looking at this for the rest of the year like this? I honesty don’t think I can. (It might take a couple of years to recover)
Another casualty in the same area is the pink hydrangea macrophylla – they don’t flower well anyway in the East of Scotland compared to the West Coast and this one certainly isn’t going to flower for at least another year or two as there is only one tiny bit of growth at the base………….. I think its on its way out - its not earning its keep!
As for my Hypericum Tricolour also in this border – it has a few stems that have rooted just a little further from the main plant so I will rescue those and pot them on ……………….but you’ve guessed it – the main plant on its way out too.
The little hedge at the boundary is still alive – its a yellow Potentilla hedge – but in the shadier part towards the fence it never ever flowers and looks all straggly……….. it hides a wire mesh fence here but I’m thinking of digging it out and growing some yellow variagated ivy up the wire mesh instead.( I've plenty of rooted cuttings)
I’ve moved things around this area so much over the years that the bulbs are now scattered throughout the area and it really does look messy and untidy with the odd muscari here and there and for it being the first part of the garden to greet people by foot – its really is a bit of an embarrassment to me.
So this is my challenge for in the month of May – to get this area finally sorted - at least on paper. I have a lovely Laburnum tree in this border and a well established Pieris Forest Flame which I will have to work around along with a beautiful peach Azalea mollis but most of the other shrubs are young enough to move if I do it in the next few weeks and no doubt dig up more bulbs.
The car parks right close to the edge of the border and anyone in the passenger seat has to get out and watch carefully where they walk – normally I end up in the flowerbed. Plus I can’t have anything too high near the edge in case it blocks the car doors from opening.
So here’s where I would love some suggestions. If this was your little patch what would you do with it? I need some inspiration. How can I create a little bit of theatre with limited funds?
Beethovens Ode to Joy could be played about now!
Just incase you all think the rest of my front garden is like this too I have 4 different areas of front garden – here’s my favourite just now. Its the border where the Pyrus salicifolia pendula is the main focal point and it's in bud just now. The photos don't really show the size of the area but the border is 50 feet long.
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| 50ft long border featuring a Silver Weeping Pear Tree |
It looks like it going to be a busy week in the garden for me. I was out sowing grass seed in the garden just after 7 am this morning. Have a great week out and about everyone and I look forward to your suggestions.
Failures are finger posts on the road to achievement. CS Lewis
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8 comments:
Rosie, I'm sorry you lost so much in the garden, but like you said, it's a perfect opportunity to resculpt this area into something you'll love.
It's a little difficult to get a sense of size, but could you perhaps put a focal point structure near the Laburnum trunk, set back out of the way of a car door? A decorative pedestal birdbath perhaps, or a sundial? As it's close to your driveway, and the first area people see, a little 'wow' might go a very long way.
I'd be tempted to plant more of what you know does well. Sometimes I've found in my enthusiasm I've planted too much variety in a bed, and it gets awkward or so busy, that my eye doesn't know where to look. Restricting myself to three or four plant types helps me sometimes, at least until I get the basic canvas established for a bed. Good luck!
@Curbstone Valley FarmYoure right Clare less is more. Alot of what I have been given over the years has gone into this bed - I was over run by pots until I decided to take away the lawn.
I am definately going to concentrate on propagating more of the same for that bed. I have red barron grass (I hope its still alive) and Hakonechloa in there too - I think I would like to create large drifts of those 2 grasses - not as much as Adrian Bloom would have done!
I think I might make a feature with wooden fence posts of different heights painted black near the laburnum as that would match the black ceramic pots at the front door and I am painting the fence and gates black this year to tie in with the black on the window sills. Then have 1 large cobble on top of each block of wood. Have a curved path through the area starting at where I normally exit the car door edged with the same brick on the driveway - and the path in the same colour of little stones as the scree beds to tie in with that end of the garden.
I think I will feature my pulmonarias in there too.
Been thinking about it all evening.
Thankyou so much for your suggestions
Hi Rosie, first is my condolences for the death of some plants. If i am in a temperate climate i might not be planting because i am sure they will die in winter. It is good here in the tropics as most of them stay living even during dry months, no winter or dormancy to think of. At any rate, you still have a lot. It's good you have a big property, although of course it needs a lot of calories! Have a wonderful gardening week!
Rosie,
I discovered that we grow some of the same plants. Nandina and Pyracantha. I am sorry that some of yours did not make it through the cold winter though.
I do think attacking your driveway garden on paper first is definitely the way to approach it. To limit the expense, I suggest using plants that grow rather quickly and use annuals to fill in the empty areas at first until your perennial plants fill in. I do hope this helps.
It is really a great challenge to replace all these dead plants but I'm sure, soon we will see a colorful, new garden in their place.
Keep up the good work!
Thanks everyone for the comments - I'm getting really excited about this. Been pricing some materials today - edgings and pebbles and hoping to get a scaled drawing done over the weekend.
It is always sad to lose a plant, and you lost so many! But it is a great opportunity for improvement. Your front border with the silver weeping pear tree is stunning! As for the area next to the drive, have you considered a ground cover? Something that stays low and flowers, maybe. A birdbath, fountain, or similar focal point would be nice. Mainly, I would plant something you really like and that is low maintenance.
Rosie, death is a part of life, even in the world of plants. It's a chance to start over, isn't it? I have no suggestions, for I know you are a smart cookie and it will end up beautiful!
Thanks for stopping by my blog today and leaving a comment and I really appreciate you taking the time to do so. I'll either reply to you on my blog or else make a return visit to your blog over the next few days.