Rabbit in the headlights

The sun is out today and I just didn't know which way to turn on returning from the school run.  Paralysed by choices.

Jobs to do included:

• Smashing up concrete in hardstanding area to finish paving
• digging out remaining wisteria at front of house and widening the bed to put my Aloha rose in
• finishing building brick wall for waterbutt stand and raised path slabs
• stripping and painting the front door
• tidying and insulating the greenhouse
• working at the allotment
• attacking another garden border and getting it ready for spring
• make a start on replacing the fence at the side of the house

Decided to go for planty jobs as I'd really like to get all my Christmas present roses in the ground before the end of the month.  So, went out to the shed with the full intention of collecting up tools for the wisteria removal task.

But you know how it is.

Thought I'd just pot on my hydrangea cutting first... which took me to the greenhouse.  Then passed the other two roses awaiting homes and pondered where to put those....then decided to weed a patch of border to let my cowslips breathe... then decided to move them to make a place for my Savoy Hotel rose and put it in...then planted Queen of Sweden rose in the main border.... then decided that today was actually the day to redesign the lawn.

Ignore the bit that looks like it's missing - when I took this, I hadn't yet got round to moving the turf from my edging activities, and it's just a heap waiting to be shifted.  Neither had I finished the edging entirely!

Ever since I made the border, there's always been an annoying narrow bit of grass behind the apple tree which is impossible to mow (whose stupid design was that then?) and the curved lawn 'path' which leads to the main lawn area is wider the the mower and generally annoying - especially the humped bit where it abuts an old cherry tree stump. Have you ever tried to use a manual vintage qualcast at a 45 degree angle? It involves lots of swearing and lumps of missing turf, put it that way.  The ultimate plan is to make a slab and scree path to replace the grassy one, so that I don't have to mow it at all, but not quite sure when that project will get done, so the grass can remain for now.

So..... out with the hosepipe to demarcate a new curvy border edge and more planting space. Cue evil cackle. Hahahahaha.  It isn't really eating into the large lawn area so won't shrink the playing space too much.  Hosepipes are brilliant for drawing with when you're trying to visualise a curvy lawn shape as you can just keep moving them around until you're happy with the general line of things.

I'm now going to zoom back outside into the sunshine to crack on with my half moon edger to get that grass gone!  Bigger borders for a happier gardener....  Not bad considering the whole damn thing was wall to wall lawn when we moved here.  Needless to say, I'm not a turf queen - I'd have the lot out and turned over to cultivation left to my own devices!

But this is my idea of gardening - live with your patch, and gradually chip away at it to get it to where the fancy takes you.  Mine evolves into more planting space with each passing year.  Suits me fine.

Tall trees and tiny plots

"Make it stop!" clients plead as they point towards upwardly mobile trees.  But how can you make a tree stop growing when that's what it was made to do?

Yes, you can prune; yes, you can get the top section removed by a tree surgeon; yes, you can remove badly placed branches and lift up the canopy a bit. But guess what? That tree will still want to grow. Trying to keep something energetic, like a Norway spruce or a towering ash tree "compact"  is just mad. It's like trying to do Chinese foot binding on a giant.  These trees were intended to grow as members of a towering forest gang, not to be decorative in a suburban back garden.

You can indeed hack bits off and chop bits back, but you aren't going to do the tree much good.  If you are trying to keep a large tree small, chances are you are going to end up spoiling its natural, graceful habit and end up with multiple leaders, access for disease via pruning wounds  and a generally less healthy and robust tree. If you don't want your big tree to grow big - don't cut it back, get rid of it and choose something which will be a better size for your garden!  Better still, if you are planting, rather than just inheriting, a tree, make sure you know its predicted size and spread at maturity to see if it suits your purposes.

Also, when you find those little knobbly fingers of baby sycamore and ash growing in your borders, don't let them reach their teenage years before you decide you don't want a self-sown tree shading out your flowers. Be vigilant and ruthless in hoiking them out as you spot them - it's much easier when they're 10cm rather than 10m tall.  All you need is a trowel, not a tree surgeon as long as you keep a look out.

Not all trees are Godzilla.  There are many friendly, reasonable and rewarding ones which will add height, interest, wildlife appeal and structure to your garden.

Amelanchier Lamarkii (15-20ft) works hard to merit a spot for most of the year - with bronze foliage in spring, followed by delicate white blossoms which are rich in nectar for pollinating insects. The flowers are in turn replaced by berries, much loved by birds, in addition to being edible for humans. Its leaves also put on a final show for autumn before it bows out during the coldest months.

Amelanchier Lamarkii in spring

Hollies grow tall but are generally slow growing and are tolerant of being pruned or clipped to shape.

Crab apples (15-20ft) are decorative, useful and produce fruit which is attractive to birds and looks lovely lining the vase of autumnal flower arrangements (use a smaller vase inside the outer one and fill the gap with these small, colourful fruits).  There are lots of readily available varieties, with 'John Downie' being one of the most popular (and reputedly the best fruit for making wine and jellies)

For further suggestions, try some of the links below which give the advice on preferred planting conditions, and the final size of a range of small trees - all feature photos to help you decide on the aesthetic merits of each variety:


The Guardian - 10 of the best trees for small gardens

The Royal Horticultural Society - Trees for smaller gardens

Crocus: suggestions for small garden trees

These are articles and sites which I have found useful and are my personal suggestions. They are not sponsored or advertising links.

For some sound pruning tips, follow this link to Fine Gardening

Groundworks continue

Finished paths (or should I be less grand and say 'filled in the gaps'?) around my raised bed this weekend.  Next phase is to fill it with the tulips I've just had delivered from Parkers Wholesale (http://www.dutchbulbs.co.uk/).  This could be a dangerously addictive new find of a website!

Nicked the idea of paviours and bricks from my sister's garden - very pleased with my new addition. It's also a great way of using up just a few of the blue bricks which I dug up when putting down slabs to unify/level the paved area around the side of the house.

So many jobs still to do - and the days are getting shorter...

Pricked out my dianthus 'Sooty' seedlings in the greenhouse today, so hopefully they will overwinter successfully in a cold greenhouse or in the coldframe.

Revamping the border

Time to get to work on the newly emptied border.

October is a great time to think about what works and what doesn't, and what you want to achieve next year.  Getting in there with a spade and the contents of a compost bin will help your soil get a boost for next year, and will give the inevitable frosts time to break up any heavy soil over the winter.

I'm going to set to work in a moment to dig out more ground elder and other weeds and really get my 'new' thorn free border ready for planting.  I've been looking at smaller, repeat flowering roses to put into it on t'internet and have earmarked a few possibilities on www.cants roses.co.uk - 'Susan', a white rose which is reputed to repeat well and have a really good vase life and also the beautiful pink Queen of Sweden rose.

The only thing to remember with roses is not to plant them in soil which has previously been home to roses or they will not thrive due to 'rose replant' problems, so will have to put them in a slightly different patch.

Am very excited about my new area though, so better get to it while the rain holds off.

Being brutal...

I've finally done it - chopped down the huge, vicious rambling rose which took up most of a border.  Thorny work.  (The man who helped me with the prunings at the recycling centre doubtless still bears the scars).

Not only have I regained the vast space it took up, I'll now be able to pick my damsons without getting stabbed by its thorns, and also my eyes are no longer at risk of a spiky poking when putting compost in the bin. There's a lot more light getting in to the whole area so should be able to grow a whole new array of plant in that patch and extend my cutting flower area.

Whilst I had my loppers and pruning saw out, I took out the viburnum tinus which thought it was a tree rather than a shrub.  I inherited it with the house, and have let it be til now, but now that the damson tree at the end of the hedge is much taller, I don't really need it as a privacy screen, so off with its head!
Finished off cutting the hawthorn hedge and reduced its height a bit as well, so all in all, a very good (but prickly) day.  When I took my jeans off last night, my legs looked like they'd had a run in with a fleet of hedgehogs.

A bit sparse now, but I've rediscovered my dogwoods!  Looking forward to my 'new' planting space next spring.

Dividing up a big space

The best thing I ever did was dig up the top half of the lawn as it really brought the garden up to the house.  Luckily, I had a few tall trees established in the middle section, which form a nice screen.  It is so nice not to look straight at the ugly fence anymore!  (It has been banished and the lovely beech hedge can now be seen in all its glory).

Here are various before and after pictures

Before the top of the lawn disappeared

Taking the initiative....

First season - summer (planted with annuals)

Spring this year - with the newly reduced patio...

Viewed from the remaining lawn round the back of the border. Still room for footy and cricket (and cats).