Category: succulents

A min-group day out – part two.

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date July 25, 2013
1 Comment on A min-group day out – part two.

So we are still in the little Shropshire village of Ruyton-XI-Towns and we are moving on from Jill’s lovely garden to a neighbour’s garden. We are told this garden has to be seen to be believed as a brilliant example of how to squeeze in lots of top quality plants into a long, twisting space sometimes narrowing to just a path width.

The narrow borders are full to the brim with interesting plants and any vertical surface covered in climbers especially clematis and roses, many of which are richly scented.

We were impressed with the colour of this little selection of poppies and their tissue paper petals that unfurled from loose buds.

Our third garden delight of the day was a different kettle of fish all together. It belonged to Chris, another “Hardy Planter” and was out of the village along a narrow country lane with verges rich with native flowers. As we neared our destination cultivated self seeded plants added an extra depth to the colours within the grasses of the verge beneath the hedge.

This garden had a delightful little nursery in the shade of mature trees close to the lawn where we sat to enjoy our tea and cakes. We could see what was awaiting us in the nursery and we were tempted by an unusual pink flowered Geranium phaeum and a Lysimachia “Firecracker”.

What struck us about the garden was the way shrubs and trees had been used to create frames, gateways and doorways to tempt your footsteps. The low afternoon sun created deep shadows and brightness that invited you onwards.

Closer to little interesting features and details caught our eye.

We wandered back down the lane after a good wander around, an enjoyable break for tea and cake and after making a few purchases in the little nursery and we were delighted to see that self-seeders from the garden were making their way down the hedgerow and verges.

Tags foliage plants, fruit and veg, garden photography, gardening, ornamental trees, outdoor sculpture, poppies, roses, sculpture

garden design gardening hardy perennials July succulents

A new border for Avocet

We recently revamped our original scree garden, replacing its wooden edge boards, topping up the slate slithers and adding a few new plants.

Whilst doing this, the idea was hatched of making a similar bed in the long thin bed alongside the path to the garden shed door where we previously grew mint.

I shall digress a little from telling you about our new slate garden to explain why we have removed our original mint patch from its home for the last ten years. It had become overcrowded and the mints themselves had become woody. We have instead just replaced it with a new mint garden on the opposite side of the path to the shed where we have planted up 9 different varieties of mint in deep plastic containers sunk into the ground. This will hopefully stop them spreading too much. Each mint has a different scent and taste, but some do look extremely similar.

Now to go back to my story of making the slate garden. We thought it would be effective to match our recently revamped scree bed with a slate border on the opposite side of the path to the shed, mirroring the new mint patch.

We mostly used alpine interspersed with a few choice bulbs and a compact thyme.

We have added a few very special little plants such as this Tulbaghia in the picture above right.

While in the mood for making mini gardens we planted up two old market garden crates which we found in an antique centre with a mixture of sempervivum with different coloured leaves. We used these mini-gardens to cover an unsightly manhole cover.

And we have a plan for another little garden – a ladder garden. When it happens I shall share it with you all.

Tags garden photography, garden projects, gardening

allotments birds garden wildlife gardening natural pest control succulents Uncategorized wildlife

Growing up! Making a green roof.

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date April 29, 2013
10 Comments on Growing up! Making a green roof.

We have created a new feature on our allotment this week – a green roof. We thought we would try to make up for the area of ground taken up by the footprint of our shed by making a garden on its roof. We have spent months at the planning stage, working out how to strengthen the roof, how to make sure we could still collect rain water run-off to fill our butts and choosing plants that would look good and support wildlife. We would like the roof to entice more beneficial insects , pollinators and natural pest controllers to visit our plot. Spiders, beetles, hoverflies will also be welcomed as our little garden helpers and of course we want to attract butterflies too just to delight in watching them.

After strengthening the structure of the shed by building an internal framework of 2 x 2 inch lengths of wood, we added a second layer of roofing felt. Next we fitted the outside frame out of 6 inch deep feather edge and inside this stapled down a double layer of geo-textile membrane. We hope the membrane will allow rainwater to pass through it after permeating through the compost. The rainwater will then be caught in the guttering and can run into the butts.

A structure of 2 x 2 inch lengths of wood was used to divide up the surface.

We next added the first layer of special compost to a depth of about an inch. This is a lightweight compost to which we added perlite to a ratio of 1 to 3 perlite to compost. Chicken wire was then laid over this first layer of compost and then a second one inch layer of our compost/perlite mixture was added. The wire should help hold the compost in place in times of heavy rain and we hope it will also give something for the roots to grow through and grip onto.

Finally the planting. Delicate alpines in some sections and mixed sedum and sempervivum in others. We added a driftwood feature for interest.

What we hope we have created is a little meadow in the air, a miniature garden that takes up no growing space that could otherwise be used for crop production. We will have the added benefit of an increase in insulation, giving us a cooler shed in the summer and a warmer space in the winter.

So now we are keeping our fingers crossed, hoping that we do not have any heavy downpours before the plants get their roots down, and hoping that Blackbirds do not find a way in. They have a habit of uprooting young plants in the hope of finding a tasty morsel.

I shall keep you informed of progress.

Tags allotments, birds, garden wildlife, gardening, organic gardening, roof gardening, roof gardens

garden design garden photography gardening grow your own hardy perennials July ornamental grasses ornamental trees and shrubs photography poppies roses Shropshire shrubs succulents trees

A Wander around our Garden in July

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date July 11, 2012
8 Comments on A Wander around our Garden in July

July in the garden so far has carried on where June left off – rain! The grass paths squelch as you wander, trees drip on you and herbaceous plants soak your legs. The plants have loved it relishing in the warmth and dampness. They grow tall and lush too quickly and do so without gaining strength. As a result they get knocked over in windy spells and any heavy showers.

As rain persists each day from dawn till dusk a moment of light and dry gave me an opportunity to take photos for my July wander. After waiting all day I finally took the following pics just before 9:00 in the evening.

One plant that never fails is this wonderful tall grass with striped leaves. It is a good four foot tall and the long leaves are popular with the “Undergardener” to cut for flower arranging.

Our gravel garden, The Chatto Bed, is now full of colour, gentle yellows, pinks and purples. When the sun does come out for its short sessions the gravel bed is buzzing with bees. They are having a hard time this year with all this rain and wind.

The Huskers Red Pentstemon is now at its best – what a beautiful plant it is – coloured foliage, dark stems and delicate contrasting pale flowers. Having grown this from seed sown a few years ago it feels good to see it looking so good.

The Quaking Grass, Briza maxima is also known as Nodding Grass and Sparrow Grass, presumably because it simply can’t stay still in the slightest breeze.

Jude’s Border is a rich combination of purple-leaved shrubs and contrasting perennials.

Our mini-meadows sown in terra-cotta pots have been very successful. Different flowers appear each day. The pink poppy glows in the dullest of weather – a “dayglo” poppy.

By our front door the “Freda Border” continues to provide colour in the perennials and gentle variegated foliage in the shrubs.

Let us now wander into the back garden and see what’s going on. Our apples are filling in nicely now and even getting a little rosiness as they start to ripen, while the Blueberries change from green to blue.

The secret garden is probably the most colourful patch at the moment.

The “Chicken Garden” although less colourful at the moment as the alliums are losing their colour, has an impressive show of perennial foxgloves, favourites of the bees.

Grasses are flowering delicately in all the borders and often after a storm hold onto rain drops. The droplets of moisture act as prisms as light finds them.

In the greenhouse tomatoes are forming on their trusses and further flowers open from their buds. Peppers like glossy green boxes promise sweetness to come.

As we approach the middle of July we can but wonder what the rest of the summer can have in store for us. So far we have had the wettest summer months on record – it is hard to imagine that summer will truly arrive. It has been hard to keep up with maintenance in the garden this summer. There is so much growth that herbaceous plants need frequent deadheading and thinning and shrubs pruned to stop them overpowering the plants beneath. Jude, “The Undergardener” is pruning back the lower branches of the variegated dogwood to let light into the smaller plants below.

As the light began to fade I took a few photos to show it glowing through foxgloves.

Tags apples, foliage, foliage plants, fruit and vegetable growing, fruit., garden photography, gardening, grasses, greenhouse gardening, grown your own, July, peppers, poppies, roses, shrubs

climbing plants fruit and veg garden design garden photography gardening half-hardy perennials hardy perennials meadows ornamental grasses ornamental trees and shrubs photography poppies roses Shropshire shrubs succulents trees

Another Wander around our Garden in June

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date June 13, 2012

We can start the second part of our wander by looking again at the front garden. Buds give us hints of blooms to come in midsummer, Phlomis, Oriental Poppies, Erygiums and Echinops. Promises of yellows, reds and steely blues.

Foliage colour and texture can be as striking as the most colourful of flowers.

Our collection of Clematis are beginning to flower and others are covered in robust buds.

Flower colours have been so important during the first few weeks of this month simply as an antidote to dull days and dark skies. It matters not whether it is a gaudy cerise beauty or a subtle green or white.

Blue on blue.

Another view of our Freda Border.

Our mini-meadows in their pots are developing well. We think we may be onto a winner.

The Shed Bed created on the site of an old shed which we demolished when we moved in, is really pleasing as below the shed we found just rubble, gravel, broken pots and sand. We added wheelbarrows of compost to improve it and now every little flower is a true gem.

A vine grows over one end of the greenhouse acting as a natural shading agent as well as feeding the gardeners. The startlingly red flowering currant has hitched a lift along it so the vine drips with red droplets.

We enjoy these irises as cut flowers but bees take advantage of them before we pick them. This clump is growing through our stepover apples. Double harvesting – cut flowers followed by apples.

The planting around the pool has closed in and made it an intimate area. Nearby the Prairie Garden is bursting with fresh blooms.

In the Secret Garden Aquilegias and Alliums look good alongside the purple foliage of Pentstemon Huskers Red.

These aeonium enjoy the hottest part of the garden, the Rill Garden.

To one side of the rill we grow a snake bark maple, with silver and green striped bark, cream and red seed capsules and in autumn it has amazing rich red foliage. A wonderful specimen tree to finish this garden wander underneath.

garden design garden photography gardening photography succulents

Superstore Succulents

More impulse buying! Plants again but not from our usual places of temptation, nurseries and garden centres. On recent visit to Ikea to buy curtains and cushions we discovered some succulents being sold as house plants. As we already have a selection of Aeoniums and Echeveria which we grow outside in pots in “The Rill Garden” in the warmer months and overwinter them in the cool end of the greenhouse, we imagined a couple of these would be useful and colourful additions. So we bought seven! Typical gardeners’ impulse buying!

They make a pretty colourful bunch!