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I recently demolished my garage in order to extend the garden and within the last few days I have broken out the garage floor slab. The idea is to create flowerbeds around the perimeter and to lay turf adjacent to that. The broken out flooring was only a couple of inches thick and once I have broken it down even more I was intending to put a topsoil/compost mix on top to create the flowerbeds. I am assuming that the broken up flooring will assist with drainage and stop the soil from simply washing away when it rains? I have several bags of Homebase topsoil and was intending to mix them in with compost of some sort. Can anyone offer advice and tell me if this is a good idea? I intend to plant climbing roses and honeysuckle at the far end of the garden because I have installed trellis at high level. Going forward I will be planting runner beans and tomatoes on the more exposed wall and pyracantha and other Sparrow friendly plants elsewhere. I will post some photos when I get home, in order to give a better idea of the layout. Hope someone can offer some advice. Thanks.
Unicum arbustum haud alit duos erithacos
(One bush does not shelter two Robins)
Zenodotus (3rd Century B.C.)
Hi MC, as Wendy says, it comes down to what type of soil you have unless growing in pots, generally, I find evergreen type plants like camellia, rhododendron need acid soil along with plants like Japanese Acers which need more on the acid side rather than very alkaline; others like lavender, prefer alkaline. Talking of plants for rockery area I came across an article - Monty Don's top Alpine plants ! CLICK HERE don't bother with Sedum it spreads like wild-fire ! but would recommend Cotoneaster, Saxifraga, Scabious, Gentian Violet, blue geranium (they spread too) aubretia for pretty covering of rocks/low walls, Helianthemum, ohhh, the list could go on LOL !! Water barrel feature may be nice too although you already have the lovely babbling boulders :) but could add half a barrel as a planter trough or hunt the scrap yards for an old stone sink, etc., !! Your new area is like a fresh canvas just waiting for the artist to begin lol good luck, keep us updated :)
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Regards, Hazel
More ideas! Excellent. I will probably set out different plots and create a pathway between them before deciding what goes where. The wall to the left will have some trellis for runner beans and there will be a set area for the Pyracantha. One must look after ones Spadgers!
An absolute must MC, only choice is what colour berries to have!! Lol
2013 photos & vids here
eff37 on Flickr
Pyracantha and Contoneaster are brilliant :) buddleia for butterflies too and make sure you have a couple of Hebes too !!
WendyBartter said:I am going to grow more trees in pots from seed, picked up a conker yesterday & going to Northdown Park at weekend for acorns
I've been out in the garden carrying out minor additions to the fence, inserting the odd piece of trellis and securing the base of the panel that I raised for the rubble removal. I do have one quandary, how to create steps down from the passage to the lower garden. I will consult my neighbour tomorrow, he used to be a builder I believe.
Hi MC, glad you got your soil delivered, it looks a lot of work just to get it distributed! I've been going around a few garden centres/supermarkets buying bits for the new garden, i love it. I've a good idea of what I want & add any odds & ends on promo! I also grow a lot of shrubs from hardwood cuttings; Buddlehea (sorry can't spell it) is particularly easy. Just poke a stick about 8 inches long in the ground in November & it'll be a bush the following Autumn. Cotoneasters grow easily from seed dropped by birds so you may find baby one's in any local gardens or parks growing around established plants. I often go around to friends houses & come away with cuttings etc! Good luck with it all anyway, & enjoy it!
How did your raspberries do this year?
Best wishes
Hazel in Southwest France
P.S. Steps are easy if you concrete one at a time starting at the bottom!
Thanks Hazel. The raspberries (and plums) were very successful this year. Oh, that gives me an idea for the left hand raised bed. I can plant the Alpine Strawberries there!
Let the work begin! Subject to rain of course...
A bit of work was required on the trellis. It's a bit Heath Robinson, but I managed to make my own sections to negotiate the corner pier and the return. I had to retreat indoors on several occasions as there was one thunderstorm and a few showers.
Here's how it was before the additional work.
Ferals eye view from the trellis into the garden
...and down into the corner. The runner beans etc will be grown on trellis set against the wall.