auntie betty

why don't people bother to read post before answering them.

Uh-huh...

Hedge Ideas

Can I suggest investing in a leaf blower if you don't already have one..? Whenever I clip my yew hedge (next to a gravel drive - eek) I find its all very well raking up the large bits, but the teeny bits are a pain, so I blow them under the hedge and forget about them! Having thought about it some more, I think I'd plump for the lonicera.  xx

Summer and Winter Planting Advice

i'd go for an early daff, white muscari bulbs, allium 'purple sensation' bulbs, maybe some drumstick alliums or chives, add a heuchera in for permanent foliage (you can plant em in the garden if they get too big after a few years) and then plant an empty pot or two in the top - this you can fill with tender bedding such as pelargoniums or petunias for summer and then replace them with violas and maybe a teensy skimmia come autumn/winter. any major gaps can be filled with houseleeks. I'd advise watering on some vine weevil killer after planting and again come May.

Flowers for July?

Hey all, my garden has suffered this year from its usual lack of flower in the 'dead zone' after all my cottage hardies have finished but before my later stuff begins. Just wondered what y'all used, other than annuals, to keep the interest going when the geraniums pack up....

Climbers for wet areas

Yeah, pyracantha might tolerate it ok. As might euonymous fortuneii or lonicera nitida. All are shrubs rather than climbers but can be tied in to clothe walls/trelis etc and then clipped to keep them flat. You migt consider planting whatever yu use on a bit of a mound to reduce waterlogging at the roots.

Hedge Ideas

Yep, I'd say beech or hornbeam would be the way to go. Or a mixture to get a tapestry effect - very pretty.You could also mix in some hazel. In an ideal world, you'd mix in some hawthorn too, but if you don't want thorns... If you want to keep it formally clipped and tight, you'd be best with yew or lonicera nitida (golden or dark green, or mixed). Yew takes forever, but the shrubby honeysuckles are fast but don't want to get massive either, I've got a mixed hornbeam/beech that I also grow some of the smaller climbing honeysuckles through for colour. Have a look at traditional hedging techniques to get some ideas on best way to plant.

Anyone know what shrub/tree/bush this is?????

Could also be aucuba japonica (known as spotted laurel, though isnt a laurel) - some varieties more pointed leaves than others... I'd suggest searching google images for both and see wot comes up...

help

Could you use hedging to separate areas so you can't see it all from the house? Or maybe keep it to lawn but have large 'island' beds, perhaps with a large tree and shrubbery to at least create a 'path' around those beds? Maybe you should consider making the valley into a water feature - not fighting nature! Could it be a large bog garden bisecting the whole, perhaps with a bridge over? Very tough to be more specific without any photos... It may be worth you investing in a one-off consultation with a garden designer just to get some overall layout ideas and then do the actual work yourself. In big area, mistakes could easily be more costly than the consult... Do make sure you use someone with experience of landscaping large gardens though. Or maybe your local college garden design college would welcome the chance to have their students use it as a hypothetical project - they submit designs to their tutor, and you get copies to peruse after they've been marked with tutor's comments. Does sound like your plot may have enough difficuties to make it interesting for them. Just a thought... 

really need help

Hi, my boys are 3 and 4. I'd say do it this way:

1. Clear up

2. Sort boundaries (paint, clip hedges, whatever).

3. Hard landscaping. I'd go for a simple, preferably completely level, patio. Like you say, minimises mud dragging in. Mine use ours for scootering, and I have a builder's tray I put out now and again with play sand in for them.

4. Lawn. Prepare and turf the remainder.

5. Any other permanent features - trellis dividers, walls, whatever. I'd keep level changes to a minimum for safety reasons - its no good having a garden that mens mum's constantly running around behind the kids in case they trip - she should be sitting out there with a brew, supervising from her comfy chair!

6. Only after all that can you really start thinking about planting. You need time to assess how sunny or shady or windy or whatever certain areas are before you can choose appropriate plants. There's no rush - why not wait and see where your wife tends to sit - then site some beds where it'll give her either privacy, a good spot to watch the kids, and maybe a nice view. Maybe site another based on the view from the back windows. Maybe one to hide something you don't want to look at. Think about having a focal point for each of these 'key' spots. Maybe a small tree, or a large architectural shrub, or some other kind of feature. When you've got these bits planned to do their jobs, then think about linking them together. Do they work best as 'islands' .or should you connect them? Then think about planting. Start with the biggest plants and then fill the spaces between. Plant things either of decent size, or in decent clumps - nothing makes a small space seem smaller than a 'dolly mixture' border. Don't buy herbaceous plants in ones - for a garden your size, plant in 'triangles' made from 3 plants at a time. Also try to repeat a few of these triangles in different areas - it keeps it looking unified. Hardy geraniums are good for this - they'll grow almost anywhere so are likely to thrive regardless of aspect.

Anyway, that's how I'd go about it. If you didn't plant a thing until spring, you'll still have a useable, much improved space in the meantime, and you'll have had chance to research the planting. If you're really keen to get the planating fabulous, invest in the rhs planting combinations book. You start with one plant you wanna use, look it up, and it gives suggestions for things that look nice/grow well with it. Then look that one up... and so on. Definitely helps the novice a lot, and cheaper than buying the wrong things and ending up replacing.

Good luck, Bx

Something for a windy corridor

You might consider a clump-forming bamboo - phyllostachys aurea are toughies and won't wander off like so many bamboos do. I use them for exactly this problem (though my corridor is only 4ft wide) and it works well. You can easily keep the base as small as you need simply by pruning out unwanted stems at the base. The only caveat I'd mention is that it will arch downwards when rained on heavily, so if its an area you need to pass through frequently you might need to keep a broom handy so you can whack it before you walk past - otherwise you'll get a major shower if you bump it! Does the job though, filtering the wind rather than trying to stop it entirely, so it doesn't snap in the wind or force it to funnel past even more strongly than before. If that doesn't appeal, a bit of narrow trellis with something tough like one of the more ornamental ivies (clotted cream is lovely) on it would also filter wind, and shouldn't blow down provided you dont let it get too thick - keep it to the shape of the trellis leaving plenty of 'windows' so the air can pass through. If you let it grow too thick, like a hedge, it'll catch the gale and blow down. Both these things are evergreen - essential, I would think, as wind tends to be more of an issue in winter.

shrubs for cut flowers

Shady spots

Soft yellow or hot pink climbing roses

new guinea impatiens

Pots of summer colour in partial shade

best annuals for shade / partial shade

Hops

Flowers for July?

Shadyish paving creepers

Associations

top 5

Plant suggestions please