A small change to the garden

[charlie]

The hard work way is to double or deep dig it over, removing the unwanted rubbish as you go. I can't see any reason why the digger couldn't do that as it backs out of the site. Heavy mulching with something organic will encourage worms which will (over a longer period) do the same job

A lot of people would dig in something well rotted to help revitalise the soil but yours may be ok apart from the compacting.

[Chrisg]

Thanks Jonk, by the sounds of it you know the fun we have been going through. Yes the back bit is open plan kitchen diner. So ant more photos of your project?

I'll see if I can persuade the builders to dig the soil to loosen it up with the digger on it's way out. Then I can spend a happy few days in the garden going through and clearing out the rocks. Thankfully my plans for the succulent area include banking up tot the top of the patio walls and I am going to need a lot of rubble for the bank :lol:

the build has shown me how important the garden is to help me relax, I hadn't realised how much time I spent just pottering in it, so to be honest the idea of days of mindlessly shifting through soil and digging in some manure or other organic material sounds a pleasure after not having any access to it for 4 months. Of course I may edit this having had to do it :lol:

[Chrisg]

The builders finally left and cleared the back garden, so the last couple of weekends have actually been spent gardening :shock: Last weekend and this Saturday were all about fences, firstly putting them up, then protecting them. It is very strange to have fences again and not have people looking in as they walk past.

Then Sunday and Monday were about starting to dig the garden and remove the builders rubble. Remember that digger they had on site to clear the garden and dig it over, It appears to have been purely cosmetic and not actually used at all. First bit of garden I went to dig up pure concrete, second bit I found the old brick surface from when there was a coal bunker. Both were under about 1cm of soil, so it's not like they can not say they dug down and didn't find it. I removed the bricks and broke up what concrete I can, builders have been told to get back here and break up and remove the rest.

Now I know why I love succulent gardens so much, there is no digging! Forget breaking up the soil, put rocks on the surface, put plants between them add gravel and then sit back as you never have to touch it again :lol: If you get bored you can remove the odd dead leaf but that's the extent to gardening a succulent garden.

Who knew gardening required so much physical effort, I may not be cut out for this :lol:

Ok despite aching pretty much everywhere today the side garden has progressed most of it has been dug, cleared and levelled, the bits that haven't are going to be raised anyway, so no problem if I can't be bothered to finish

We want this to be a secluded seating area, so by the fence will be bamboos and tree ferns with other lush planting

Looking out from the seating bit, you can see the cul-de-sac at the bottom of the garden, the hope is that the bamboos especially will block this off (although as London housing views go it could be a lot worse). The bed by the patio will be the first of the succulent banks. This one I'm thinking will contain at least one of my cycads, you can see the largest on at the end of the garden. I'll probably also place quite a lot of my alpines there as they will get a bit of protection from mid day sun, but sun at other times.

[Chrisg]

Photo from the seating area.

[Chrisg]

The work in the garden has progressed and it has been a bit of juggling around between different jobs in the house and around the garden. Apart form the fencing the main work has been in the side garden area. Last post has the digging started and the testing of design.



The digging took much longer than expected, mainly because every fork-full had to work through concrete or rubble which then had to be separated out. Finally it was finished and it was time to make things a little more permanent



It is amazing the difference it makes just having it set out. I am pleased with the vertical wooden slats that sort of separate the area form the rest of the garden, but we'll only know if they work once the plants are in.



I also started building up the height for the first of many succulent rockeries. I had been collecting suitable rubble from the build, this allow me to get some height in without needing to buy extra material. Sadly I can't do without rock and gravel and tomorrow 4 tonnes of rock and gravel is being delivered as a start. I am guessing I will use 2 or 3 times this in total throughout the various areas.



By the time this is covered in gravel and rocks you wont know that rubble is underneath. The "well" is for the large cycad, to allow me to just plant it instead of having to dig out areas to fit it in. The stone arriving tomorrow will form the smaller pockets for the rest of the plants. I am thinking the garden end will be succulents like echeveria and a few smaller agaves, the other end will be more alpine planting.

In the mean time the vertical planting has started, firstly on the fences. I used to have a lot more of these pot holders, but can not find them at the moment.



I am tempted to do a whole green wall on part of this fence, but not sure I have the confidence to go for it.

The vertical posts, looked a bit empty as well, so they had to get used for a few pots until the bamboos turn up and get settled in.



Once the first succulent bit is all planted up, I'll move onto planting the rest of that section, I'm currently thinking a bamboo for the house side of the vertical posts, then a few tree ferns and the a couple of trained plants as mentioned elsewhere for around the seating bit. Hopefullyall under planted with a few interesting shade loving plants.

[charlie]

Just having the fence makes it look and feel more like a garden, its fascinating watching it take shape.

[JonK]

Looking better already.

What size are your upright woodern slats? I was thinking of doing something similar.

[AndyC]

Your fence certainly has a lot of potential for a good display. Are you going to add trailing succulents to your spikies?

[LONGK]

It's a constant amazement how for months whilst all the hard/major work is being done it looks as if nothing is happening or, worse still, it's all going backwards. Then as the small jobs take place (admittedly the fence is only a small job relative to the overall house project) it looks as if giant leaps have been taken! Just marking out the landscape has made such a huge difference to the photos.
Really like the pots on the fence. Where did you get the holders from (or did you make them)?

[Chrisg]

It's a constant amazement how for months whilst all the hard/major work is being done it looks as if nothing is happening or, worse still, it's all going backwards. Then as the small jobs take place (admittedly the fence is only a small job relative to the overall house project) it looks as if giant leaps have been taken!

I'm pleased you added the bit "small relative to the whole project" as it didn't feel like a small job when I was doing it :lol: Although that is partly because of the shock of going form not being able to do anything in the garden for close to 2 years to suddenly having all this work to do.

Th fences did make a huge difference to how it felt, apart from anything else it means we can sit outside without feeling like a zoo exhibit.

Andy, I am not sure what else to add, I don't really have anything trailing in pots, although thinking about it did buy some small clematis a while back which may work if I can remember to water them. Ideally I would like to set up an all year around wall, as many of those plant shave to be moved for winter. Once I have built the raised beds, I will have a bit more time to think about a planted living wall, instead of just pots. It may be that this is next years project, That fence may be a bit sunny and hard to fill without watering issues, the other side straight opposite the kitchen window may be a better option for a more shady living wall.

Jonk the vertical posts are I think 5" x 2" (about 13 x 5). I love them, and they are going to continue through the other beds. Size wise, I think in the gravel they are a good size, but the ones by the fence look a little lost, and I wonder if they could have done with being a little wider. The problem is finding treated wood which is straight and not warped.

LongK: the pot holders are from a company called spanish rings http://www.spanishrings.com/. They are not the cheapest, but couldn't find them anywhere, now I know what I am looking for there are cheaper ones available, but they don't look as neat. I have two sorts the trellis ones which fit over trellis (probably didn't need to say the second bit) and then the downpipe rings, which come with something to attach them to pipes or in my case the vertical posts. I've had them 4 or 5 years now. I have another type which is a clips over trellis and then grips the tip of pots. They looks really flimsy though and while nothing has every fallen, I don't like using them other than with very small pots.