January 5th, 2012
Suggested plants for rockery wall
CAMPANULA cochleariifolia Elizabeth Oliver
PRIMULA auricula Late Romantic
SEDUM brevifolium var.quinquefolium X2
SISYRINCHIUM E.K.Balls
ARABIS Douler Angevine
ANTENNARIA dioca Rubra
AQUILEGIA canadensis Little Lanterns X3
ARMERIA caespitosa
AUBRIETA Gloria
PHLOX douglasii Crackerjack X2
ZAUCHNERIA californica Dublin
SISYRINCHIUM E.K.Balls
POTENTILLA eriocarpa X2
PRIMULA auricula (Yellow self)
PHLOX subulata Bonita
THYMUS Bressingham Pink X2
DODECATHEON Pulchellum
DRACOCEPHALUM arguense Fuji Blue
SEMPERVIVUM Lavender and Old Lace
VERONICA armena
HELIANTHEMUM Ben Mohr X2
PRIMULA auricula Beatrice X2
Posted in Gardening Notes | Comments Off
October 24th, 2011
Basic planting ideas for garden development on chalky soils. Mainly focus on spring and summer flowering addition to the existing structure of plants mainly shrubs. Some of the plants are a bit risky on a chalky soil but as your soil will be improved we feel its a risk worth taking. To download pdf plan click planting-ideas
Plant List
Verbena bonariensis
Stipa gigantea golden oats
Centranthus ruber red valerian
Cistus × argenteus ‘Silver Pink’ rock rose
Hypericum hidcote
Astrantia major ‘White Giant’ ®
Nepeta × faassenii
Verbascum ’Pink Domino’
Bergenia cordifolia ‘Purpurea’
Hebe ‘Red Edge’
Daphne odora ‘Aureomarginata’
Scabiosa caucasica ‘Clive Greaves’
Rudbeckia fulgida var. sullivantii ‘Goldsturm’ black-eyed susan
Agapanthus
Ribes
Hosta Blue Cadet
Dryopteris cycadina
Aquligea
Hebe ‘Red Edge’
Leycesteria
Sedum autumn glory
Achillia Anthea
Alchemilla
Artemisia
Campanula
Kent Belle
clematis jackmanii
Clematis armandii
crocosmia spitfire
Dianthus Devon Dove
Eurphorbia subsp wulfenii
Helleborus
Allium schoenoprasum Forescate
Posted in Gardening Notes | No Comments »
October 24th, 2011
To create low easy to maintain alpine rock wall. First install the rocks into the soil along in the required wall shape. Once the rocks are bedded into the soil cut the shade of the bed around the rocks as required then remove the rocks 3 at a line from the wall line and place some light weed sheeting mating down under the rocks. Next cut the weed sheeting matting to shape and cover with horticultural grit or 10 mm golden gravel.
The weed sheet can also be replaced with a 25 mm deep covering of 10 parts sand and one part cement to form a crust over the soil before adding the gravel or horticultural grit more details can be found by clicking here
To plant simply scrape back the gravel and make a small hole in the sand and cement dry mix or cut a cross in the weed sheeting. Once the plant is planted you can push the gravel back around the plant.
Alpine plants for chalky soil
saxifraga
Cyclamen coum
Poppy
Campanula
iberis
Aquligea
sisrinchium
Posted in Gardening Notes | No Comments »
October 21st, 2011
Garden report from the GardenAdvisor visit detailing the tasks that need to be carried out before xmas Garden-Report
Posted in Gardening Notes | No Comments »
October 21st, 2011
Ideas for building structure in right hand corner of the garden on the new paving. A simple structure created from three old wooden post ideally old oak posts. On top of which is a thatched or single roof. The back would be willow hurdles to cover the old posts and to create a rear wall but leaving a gap at the top for light
Download the sketches Garden-structure1 and another sketch garden-structure2
Posted in Gardening Notes | No Comments »
October 21st, 2011
Pruning Hydrangeas – most species do not require regular pruning other than the removal of last seasons flower heads. Resist the temptation to do this until after the risk of Spring frosts has passed. Remove any dead, damaged or weak wood as found.
The exceptions are; Hydrangea arborescens and H. paniculata, cut back last seasons flowering shoots by half in March.
H. macrophylla, thin out to ground level 2 – 3yr flower shoots in March.
If overgrown then wait until the buds start to open in the spring and then cut back the stems to the lower buds and and feed with a liquid plant feed not to high in nitrates.
Posted in Gardening Notes | No Comments »
October 21st, 2011
Sweet peas from seed – Chit the seeds by nicking the seed coat with a knife or soak in water for 12hrs, this will speed germination.
Sow in boxes or pans approx twice the size of the seed deep, in seed compost Sept or March, at temp of 16 degrees C (61 deg F). Pot on the seedlings into 3″ pots with potting compost. Grow on, pinching out the growing tip when approx 4″ high.
Harden off Sept sown plants in a cold frame in April, March sown plants in a frame, May.
Posted in Gardening Notes | No Comments »
October 20th, 2011
Prune back Forsythia and Prunus Cerasifera / Purple Leaf Plum
Many plants such as Forsythia and Prunus Cerasifera can be cut back hard and will regenerate from dormant buds in the stems. This is often useful to regenerate plants that have become overgrown.
This method does not work with all plants and if you are not sure you should ask you gardenadvice garden advisor.
Once the plants have been cut back they will become dormant for some time and then start to produce a large amount of shoots that will need to be thinned out by about 40 percent or removing 4 new shoots from every 10 shoots produced.
Weed Killer for nettles
The nettles at the rear of the fence need to be treated with round up weed killer available from most garden centres applied from a watering can in a strip about 0.5 metres wide along the side of the fence. This treatment will need to be repeated in the spring as the nettles start to reshoot
Remove and kill the ivy
Remove the ivy from the fence and treat the stumps with round up weedkiller as the ivy re shoots again treating in the spring.
Rose pruning
Remove the dead and any diseased stems. Then it could be pruned now or in the spring. The object is to create a framework of branches that extend laterally from the main stems, lateral stems will produce and carry more flowers. The objective is to remove old roses stems over 3 or 4 years to allow new ones to grow and take there place
Pot plants feed with potash feed liquid tomato feed
All the pot plants need to be feed with a high potash feed. Liquid tomato feed is a good feed for this purpose feed now and again in the spring
Soil improvement and general feeding
The most important element is to apply a mulch of well rotted farmyard manure or horse manure. It needs to be applied so it is about 50mm deep spread over the borders
around the existing plants. This will help the soil by creating more humists in the soil slightly raise the soil pH and create better growing conditions.
The soil should also be checked for earth or lob worms ideally they should be more than 2 in a square metre digging down to about 10cm deep. If they are not you need to add some more.
The worms help turn the manure into humists and generally improve the soil structure.
Posted in Gardening Notes | No Comments »
October 20th, 2011
Plants that have grown well in surrounding gardens on the same chalk soil
Euonymus alatus
Potentilla fruticosa species
Ribes sanguineum
Sedum – ‘Autumn Joy’
Agapanthus species
Astrantia major ‘Venice’
Spirea
Mock orange. Philadelphus ‘Virginal’
Lysimachia
Echinops ‘Globe Thistle’
Leycesteria
Posted in Gardening Notes | No Comments »
September 6th, 2011
Often new gardeners that find themselves with a garden on chalky soil realize that they cannot grow the plants that they may wish such as Rhododendrons and Camellias. Consquently, you will have to reduce the soil pH by using nitrate feeds and farmyard manure both of which are acid and it counteracts with chalky soil to a lower the soil pH. Moreover, the well rotted farmyard manure would also be good to use to create a soil with a more normal pH over the top of the existing chalky soil. If you do not have access to any farmyard or horse manure, there is an alternative product called 6X. You can use the compost that many councils produce as this type of compost often has a low acid
Posted in Gardening Notes | No Comments »
