Garden Ideas 1
When I had the hard landscaping done in 2017 my aim was to have a garden that was mostly patio with limited ground planting and with the majority of plants grown in containers. That still applies. It'll be predominantly a flower garden but there is scope for growing some fruit and vegetables if I decide I want to. I'd like to end up with all year round interest but especially a selection of plants which flower for prolonged periods during the warmer months. The plants already in the garden will be staying but may be moved to new positions.
Here's a (very) rough outline sketch of the garden so you can follow what I'm talking about. It's not to scale and doesn't show the changes of height where the path is. That actually says 'HOUSE' not 'HORSE' - I had to fold the paper because I'd drawn the patio way too wide 😂
The parts marked as A, B, C and D are beds that will eventually be planted up. E is where the poorly burgundy clematis is, and F is where the pots are.
I'll start with E. I know I should have given more consideration to labelling each area but E is the easiest to discuss so it's going first! There is a trellis fixed to the back wall of the house and this is currently the home for the poorly pot grown clematis. The clematis will be moved to C once it's been pruned (whenever that is!) and pampered when it's replanted against the fence. In it's place against the back wall of the house I'm going to have a small container grown honeysuckle, probably this one - Rhubarb and custard, which has a height of 2 metres and spread of 1.5 metres.
F is where the plants currently in pots will continue to live. I haven't drawn this properly as it's more of a narrow triangular shape than it appears in the sketch and there are also a couple of pots by the top triangle on the left hand side. These could all do with being repotted. The euonymus definitely needs to be in a much bigger pot as does the pieris. There is also the hydrangea fire and ice, and the magnolia tree I was gifted. This part of the garden has some shade in the morning but seems to be the best place for these plants and they've all done well here. This is also the area where I have the table and chairs.
D next. Apart from being weeded and generally tidied up, this part of the garden won't get much attention this year. This is where the two climbing roses are and I have no plans to move them although they need to be pruned and tied in properly. There is also a third rose at the end of the fence nearest the house which was bought as another climber but which clearly isn't! It flowers, a beautiful white rose, but it's scared of heights or something and isn't even tall enough to reach the trellis after three years! Just below the actual letter D in the plan is where my neighbour's honeysuckle grows over the fence. I'm perfectly happy about this as I can enjoy the beauty of it without the constant battle to stop it from taking over, but equally I will ask them to cut it back if it ends up interfering with my plans.
My water supply is on a meter so I want to take this opportunity to improve the water butt situation in the garden. I currently have a very old 100 litre water butt which is on its last legs and the tap is temperamental so water quite often drains away, so I've been looking for alternatives that will improve the storage but won't take up too much room. I've found this ...
... which holds 320 litres with space to plant in the lid. The B & Q website doesn't specify the height but I will order one to replace the existing butt as it can't be seen from the house anyway. It'll be sited where the existing water butt is so will be fixed to the down pipe from the garage and set at the end of A against the garage wall.
I'll share my ideas for A, B and C on Wednesday..
I'll start with E. I know I should have given more consideration to labelling each area but E is the easiest to discuss so it's going first! There is a trellis fixed to the back wall of the house and this is currently the home for the poorly pot grown clematis. The clematis will be moved to C once it's been pruned (whenever that is!) and pampered when it's replanted against the fence. In it's place against the back wall of the house I'm going to have a small container grown honeysuckle, probably this one - Rhubarb and custard, which has a height of 2 metres and spread of 1.5 metres.
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D next. Apart from being weeded and generally tidied up, this part of the garden won't get much attention this year. This is where the two climbing roses are and I have no plans to move them although they need to be pruned and tied in properly. There is also a third rose at the end of the fence nearest the house which was bought as another climber but which clearly isn't! It flowers, a beautiful white rose, but it's scared of heights or something and isn't even tall enough to reach the trellis after three years! Just below the actual letter D in the plan is where my neighbour's honeysuckle grows over the fence. I'm perfectly happy about this as I can enjoy the beauty of it without the constant battle to stop it from taking over, but equally I will ask them to cut it back if it ends up interfering with my plans.
My water supply is on a meter so I want to take this opportunity to improve the water butt situation in the garden. I currently have a very old 100 litre water butt which is on its last legs and the tap is temperamental so water quite often drains away, so I've been looking for alternatives that will improve the storage but won't take up too much room. I've found this ...
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| Source |
... which holds 320 litres with space to plant in the lid. The B & Q website doesn't specify the height but I will order one to replace the existing butt as it can't be seen from the house anyway. It'll be sited where the existing water butt is so will be fixed to the down pipe from the garage and set at the end of A against the garage wall.
I'll share my ideas for A, B and C on Wednesday..
I like the layout very much.
ReplyDeleteBefore the extension, next door had a honeysuckle that grew through the fence similar to yours. It was beautifully fragranced with a tendency to greenfly (or was it blackfly - I forgot). However, that was the only thing I needed to do so no complaints. I missed it when their extension meant it had to go.
Perhaps I should consider another at some point - it was a lovely plant.
xx
I do like sharing plants over and through the fence and I was upset when this one was destroyed in a storm a couple of years ago so it's lovely to have it back. There seems to be new variety of honeysuckle that's not as vigorous so it means I can introduce one in my garden. Honeysuckle brings back very special memories of Ced.
DeleteI like your plans, so far. :) That honeysuckle is gorgeous! I love those colors! I wonder if it will grow here, in my garden? I hope the clematis will do well in its new spot in C.
ReplyDeleteI don't know what growing zone you are in but they are quite hardy and like full sun, so may be worth a try. The scent is heavenly (not that I can smell it!) and bees love them.
DeleteI'm hoping the clematis will survive the move but if not, I may try to find another of the same variety to replace it.
I like a woman with a plan, especially a garden plan. Depending if your clematis blooms on new or old wood will tell you when to prune back. Looking forward to see this fab plan unfold.
ReplyDeletePS: Horse & House confusion on my part in grade two, was the first sign I needed glasses for distance! (lol)
It needs to be cut back after flowering each year but, as with other things in the garden, it doesn't know whether it's coming or going due to the extremes of weather! The euonymus displayed it's autumn colours at the start of June when it shouldn't happen until September.
DeleteThe clematis may be nearing the end of its season already even though it shouldn't until the end of August/beginning of September. Danielle will have to make a judgement call on when to move it.
I've been typing up the next part of the plan ready for Wednesday but am finding it quite hard to describe my ideas in writing 😂
Glad horse and house brought back memories!
You have given a lot of thought to create a nice plan. It’s going to be beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI really like the water butt with the planter lid. I think here they are called rain barrels. One day I’d like to have one. This house doesn’t have gutters so I can’t collect rain water easily.
Thanks Nil, fingers crossed that it works out as I want!
DeleteIf the lid us deep enough I will grow strawberries in it.
Putting honeysuckle where your clematis is sounds like a great idea. You look like you have a well-organized plan.
ReplyDeleteI have the ideas and a sort of plan but it's up to Danielle to do the well-organised part of it 😂
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