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Adventures in non-edible gardening
In terms of putting things in, most of it related to the 540 (actually more like 600) bedding plug plants that seemed like such a bargain at £30.... In fact, after some of them had a rocky start, they did mostly do quite well.
- Begonia (kept going until the first proper frost, which was very late this year, and a few of the more sheltered ones have pulled themselves back together and put out a few more flowers)
- Cineraria (perfectly good foliage plant, still look good now)
- Gazania (did quite well but not really my sort of thing. Also, I think something was eating the flowers as we kept seeing ones that were about to open but didn't see many that actually were)
- Busy Lizzies (did their job)
- Lobelia (not really dense enough to stop weeds coming up under it, but pretty enough and lasted well)
- Snap dragons (half a dozen of them did very well in front of the kitchen, the rest of them didn't do much)
- Salvia Firecracker (sort-of the reason I bought them all in the first place (I wanted some red salvias, and the pack contained them), but I didn't see a single flower)
- Petunia (did their job, too)
- Tobacco plant (marvellous if short blaze of glory that, happily, included the BBQ)
- Stocks
I've also planted up a shady bed with honesty (as it did so well this year!) and foxgloves, so hopefully that will look nice next year. Various other experimental bits have gone in: a goat's beard, and three or four things that I forget (but have labelled) that have gone under the big conifer in the front garden to see if they survive. (Of course, we then removed the conifer, so all change in that corner. I'm still picturing three or four slender, silver-barked beauties to replace it.)
The other bit of planting was the grass garden, which was hard work but is quite pretty now. One of the grasses is gone: some very similarly-coloured wild grass got started in the same hole in the fabric, and took it over entirely. The others are growing nicely, and hopefully they'll fill out more next year. Even the teeny tiny pathetic little maple is settling in, now that it's out of the pot. It's not *much* bigger, but I think it has grown.
The willow fedge has, I think, been a success. As advertised, the sticks I bought and poked into the ground have rooted and grown, although sadly not at an entirely even rate: the ones near to the remaining leylandii and what we suspect are old building foundations haven't done as well as the ones in the best spots, but I'm fairly confident that they will catch up. Now that the leaves are off, a few places where I made mistakes tying them into a lattice are visible, so as well as trimming the tops off the taller ones I need to get out there with a ball of string and tidy up a bit.
Otherwise, it's been all about the taking out of things, mostly leylandii (we're getting there...). I've also dug up the two beds along the edge of the back patio and conservatory, made a valiant but ultimately futile attempt to get rid of the weeds (especially couch grass) (if and when it finally gets cold enough that the deliberate plants go dormant, I'll get the spray out) and replanted some of the contents in other spots. In the spring, the currently-potted herbs, and some new ones bought for the task, will be going into the empty bits, so that Mike has a nice convenient supply that doesn't need watering every five minutes in summer and doesn't involve getting muddy slippers in winter. Except for the mint. That can stay where it is, he'll just have to walk to get it. We've also taken out the rather sad roses by the front door, and I've moved some geraniums there instead, under planted with some alliums.
Today, we belatedly planted some irises and fritillaries along the edge of the drive, and the dogwoods that we tracked down at different garden centres over the last couple of days (still want two more mid-winter flames, but I can order them online). Really need to do some pruning....
- Begonia (kept going until the first proper frost, which was very late this year, and a few of the more sheltered ones have pulled themselves back together and put out a few more flowers)
- Cineraria (perfectly good foliage plant, still look good now)
- Gazania (did quite well but not really my sort of thing. Also, I think something was eating the flowers as we kept seeing ones that were about to open but didn't see many that actually were)
- Busy Lizzies (did their job)
- Lobelia (not really dense enough to stop weeds coming up under it, but pretty enough and lasted well)
- Snap dragons (half a dozen of them did very well in front of the kitchen, the rest of them didn't do much)
- Salvia Firecracker (sort-of the reason I bought them all in the first place (I wanted some red salvias, and the pack contained them), but I didn't see a single flower)
- Petunia (did their job, too)
- Tobacco plant (marvellous if short blaze of glory that, happily, included the BBQ)
- Stocks
I've also planted up a shady bed with honesty (as it did so well this year!) and foxgloves, so hopefully that will look nice next year. Various other experimental bits have gone in: a goat's beard, and three or four things that I forget (but have labelled) that have gone under the big conifer in the front garden to see if they survive. (Of course, we then removed the conifer, so all change in that corner. I'm still picturing three or four slender, silver-barked beauties to replace it.)
The other bit of planting was the grass garden, which was hard work but is quite pretty now. One of the grasses is gone: some very similarly-coloured wild grass got started in the same hole in the fabric, and took it over entirely. The others are growing nicely, and hopefully they'll fill out more next year. Even the teeny tiny pathetic little maple is settling in, now that it's out of the pot. It's not *much* bigger, but I think it has grown.
The willow fedge has, I think, been a success. As advertised, the sticks I bought and poked into the ground have rooted and grown, although sadly not at an entirely even rate: the ones near to the remaining leylandii and what we suspect are old building foundations haven't done as well as the ones in the best spots, but I'm fairly confident that they will catch up. Now that the leaves are off, a few places where I made mistakes tying them into a lattice are visible, so as well as trimming the tops off the taller ones I need to get out there with a ball of string and tidy up a bit.
Otherwise, it's been all about the taking out of things, mostly leylandii (we're getting there...). I've also dug up the two beds along the edge of the back patio and conservatory, made a valiant but ultimately futile attempt to get rid of the weeds (especially couch grass) (if and when it finally gets cold enough that the deliberate plants go dormant, I'll get the spray out) and replanted some of the contents in other spots. In the spring, the currently-potted herbs, and some new ones bought for the task, will be going into the empty bits, so that Mike has a nice convenient supply that doesn't need watering every five minutes in summer and doesn't involve getting muddy slippers in winter. Except for the mint. That can stay where it is, he'll just have to walk to get it. We've also taken out the rather sad roses by the front door, and I've moved some geraniums there instead, under planted with some alliums.
Today, we belatedly planted some irises and fritillaries along the edge of the drive, and the dogwoods that we tracked down at different garden centres over the last couple of days (still want two more mid-winter flames, but I can order them online). Really need to do some pruning....