Refurb is done!

....... and doesn't it look good. feeling chuffed to pieces.

It was hubbies idea to build a raised bed for the olive tree. I wasn't sure, but yet again he has proved me wrong, I think it looks great.

We used our wonderful builder who is no landscaper but when I asked him if he would do the work,

he was up for it. As usual he has done a magnificent job and come up with some super ideas along the way too.

He also put up the arch I bought last year.

The neighbours got a guy in, to put up the new fence.

You can see the old raised bed

after its refurb it looks like this

posh huh! I need to sort the posts out, I tried wire brushing the old paint off but that didn't work, so I need to find some paint the colour of concrete posts lol!

The winter protection is now going to be easier due to a clever idea from my builder. Inside the sleepers he has attached clips to hold copper pipe, which I can attach varying lengths as the plants grow.

and he presto one frame

with one builder in the back ground.

I had been worrying how I was going to construct the frame as the plants got bigger and I am no builder. I am a bodger! So this takes all the worry away.

I still have some planting to do down by the pond in the bed that has remained unplanted whilst I waited for the new fence to be put up. But all in all I think next year could be rather good!

Lots of changes occuring

I haven't blogged for ages, mainly due to the weather and it being too hot to be gardening and the fact I am doing the Millionstep Challenge raising money for Diabetes UK and I'm totally cream crackered!

Anyway a quick up date on whats been going on....

We have had a major falling out with the neighbours over their fence.

This is the lower part which is over 25 years old, if you remember they replaced the top part earlier this year, as promised back in January. Since putting their house on the market and selling they thought they could move without finishing the job and leaving it to the new people. Which after a bit of research we found out they couldn't, without declaring it in the legal paperwork. So after coming round and giving us mouthfuls of verbal abuse, my husband remaining remarkably cool and knowing we where in the right, the fence is being replaced Tuesday and the neighbours no longer talk to us!!!

My Arid bed, has loved all the hot weather

but is slowly falling apart

to the extent that it is likely to fall apart very soon

and the gravel is gradually pushing the wood further and further out

until it is hanging on by a few nails

how it is still together I have no idea, but having propagated a rare banana Ensete Hiniba these are just a few of them,

I didn't get as many as I had hoped, but

enough to raise funds to repair the Arid bed. The work on the bed starts Monday. I shall post again later this week to show the finished result.

Boring? I hope not!

I was on one of the many forums I go on, finding information and new ideas for my tropical look garden. There was a discussion about the types of plants people use to get the effect. I mentioned that I used a lot of annuals. The response I got from one member was :-

'Boring'!

It quite flummoxed me, so much so, I never even responded.
Since then I haven't blogged, and to be honest, I have commented that much on the forums either. I thought, maybe it is boring and people won't be interested. So I continued in the garden but just followed the forums.

I know I am lacking structure in the garden over winter and it is something that I would like to improve. But due to the frost pocket I live it, I have lost a lot of rather expensive plants over the years.

I saw a garden a couple of years ago that had a lovely Loquat 'Eriobotrya japonica' in it. An impressive plant/shrub/tree with very large leaves that looks very at home in a tropical setting due to its large leaves. So I bought 2!!! Well, it was buy one, get one free.

They where slightly bigger than I had anticipated, but once planted, especially since the neighbours, have had the top half of the garden's fence done, I think the look quite good.

What I hadn't really thought about, was actually how big they will get, but with judicious pruning, I am hoping to keep them an 'OK' size.

Having planted these, and bearing in mind how many seeds I have sewn this year, (keeping costs down)

I realised how much you can do with seed grown plants and how amazing it is that something like this

Can grow to something like this, that is taller than me (5ft 10) in just 5 months!

Plus, I don't have the hassle of lifting heavy pots or digging out heavy plants to move them into the warmth of the frost free greenhouse for winter. The other advantage of course, is, I can try different seeds as well as my favourites. 

But then this last year I did dig a couple of plants out...

Cyphomandra corymbiflora, was dug up in the autumn, although it is big and wide it is also light so easy to move.

A bit of a challenge for me to overwinter as there where so many leaves, every time you knock against it, it gives of a very strong smell.

I also dug up my Sonchus arboreus ' Tree dandelion', and Solanum betaceum 'Tamarillo', both have been badly affected by whitefly

this was back in February, they are on the right and I have had to remove most of their leaves and spray them to eradicate the whitefly. Which I didn't, but I think I have saved the plants, we will see.

Note to self:- read up on how to reduce whitefly in greenhouse!! 

Its been a tough old winter, I have lost most if not all of my elephants ears, there corms are mush. Yet the cannas I forgot to get out seem fine. We will see.

So do I have a boring garden? No, I don't think so, it might be empty in the winter, but in all honesty how often do we go outside at that time of year and by growing annuals I can bring in a lot of different types of plants, it might not be everyone's choice, but it suits my garden.

Plus I have my arid bed, which has come through the winter remarkably well, more in my next post.

Plans for the Garden, so far!

Come the spring do you plan what you would and would not like in your garden. Do you have areas you like and dislike. I do. Some more than others.

The neighbours fence is my biggest hate. It has most definitely taken a battering this year, lots of panels have popped out and refuse to go back in so I have had to put up chicken wire to stop Darcy going through.

For the past few springtime's, they have said 'we will be doing the fence' and nothing has happened.

This top part, I was trying to work out must be about 10 +/- years old

Now the blue painted fence is closer to 25 years old. It surprises me how it still stands.

The other day I was informed that they will be replacing the fence this year, you could have knocked me down with a feather. Hubby and I have always said that if ever they did do this, that we were prepared to buy the concrete gravel boards, as out garden is higher than theirs, I add more compost than they do and this would hopefully prolong the life of their fence.

I told them this, saying we would add 6 inch gravel boards at the top and 12 inch ones on the section by the pond area. So to allow for this when ordering. They where keen to go ahead quite quickly so I have ordered the gravel boards which will be arriving Wednesday and yes they do know! I just hope they buy the fence panels and go ahead.

I have been having physio on my back since before Christmas, it has been giving me so much jip! The physio has threatened me with all sorts if I dig in the  garden, but as you can see there is a problem here by the pond. The Rheum has started to roam and the piece of wood we put in to help protect the fence, has bowed considerably, so much so, no gravel board will slide in there!

Not sure what to do, but I suspect I will do it myself!

Whilst we are down by the pond, the other part I want to sort out is the other side by the water fall. This looked amazing when it was first done, 8 years ago, now, it looks a flipping mess. So I will be digging this area out as well. What I shall do with it, I have no idea?
A work in progress!

Happy New Year 2018

Happy New Year!

I got a camera for Christmas, so I can at long last take some decent photos.

The wind has been very bad today

I don't think I have ever seen the fronds on the palm like this.

Fortunately my protection structures remained upright and in one piece.

The fence panels are finally giving up.

They have been up for near 15 years and should really have been replaced before now, but its not our fence.

So I wedge them, tack chicken wire (as you can see below) so the dog can't get into the neighbours. Come Spring time, we shall invite the neighbours round to have a look!

The Arid bed is looking good

and cover seems to be holding up well to the wind too.

I might have to look at replacing the wood which supports all the gravel. I know the bed wasn't  constructed very long ago, but I used wood that had been the edging of the old veg beds and sadly it is rotting quite badly.

Life in the greenhouse continues

my palm is looking really bad, its a Washingtonia Robusta I have had it a number of years. Each summer I plant it out and it goes mental growing like crazy, then each autumn I dig it up and bring it in, as its not hardy. I usually lose a few fronds but this is the worst ever, it does not smell good either, so it maybe bye, bye time.

 Everything else seems fine

All my cuttings look good.

Just have to watch if the weather gets warmer

Quite fascinating some of the colours of the leaves.

The small Agave middle left is not looking good. I often wonder why some years the plants are fine then others even though you have done nothing different they curl up and die. Its rude!

My sonchus palmensis sees to be coping with greenhouse life, I hope it comes through ok as I am eager to see how it continues once its back out in the garden. I intend to start some more from seed as well as I really love them.

Cyphomandra Betacea is still fruiting and is looking good.

I even took some leaves off one of my succulents and they have rooted already.

All seems rosy in the greenhouse.

If you remember I treated our decking with Osmo Anti slip decking oil. I can highly recommend it. It was not cheap but totally, totally worth it, the patio at the top is like an ice rink, where as this decking is totally none slip!