Eglu Cube, auto door, walk in run for sale South West London

[Olly]

Why not go for a walk around your area and look at other people's front gardens, and note down any shrubs/plants you like the look of - ok, you may not know what they are but you can come back and try and identify them, or even knock on the door and ask. Most people would be flattered that someone was asking! That way you can be sure of getting things that will survive in your part of the world, and are suited to the local conditions.

[Old Speckled Hen]

Oh, I absolutely agree with Olly here. That's just what I did when we moved here, took a look at what actually grew well on this type of soil. It saved a few silly mistakes.

[Ain't Nobody Here]

I've already bought all my plants so will have to miss out on that piece of advice . I did get them from a very knowledgeable and nice nursery owner who only lives about 3 miles away so knows the local conditions. I'm hoping most of them will be happy in their new home .

 

One thing that's concerning me though (as a novice!) is that I think my soil is acid (very soft water area) but half a dozen plants I've got prefer alkali conditions. Is that a problem or will they be fine but just not perform at their best?

[Old Speckled Hen]

Re alkaline loving plants.

They will not be at their best but they may also not do well at all.

Two suggestions. Make a raised bed and make the soil there alkaline or plant in deep pots either free standing or sunk a little into the garden.

Both have worked for me.

My soil is neutralish and my camellias have done wonderfully in huge pots partly sunk into the beds and surround planted with smaller stuff to hide the pots. The one left in the garden is a pale shadow of its mates.

[Valkyrie]

You could always get a little soil testing kit from the garden centre - that will tell you whether your soil is neutral or acidic. Apart from that if heathers and azaleas grow really well in your area, chances are it is acidic.

We have funny ground here - on the London clay shelf yet next door is all chalk - we have a fair few lumps of chalk and loads of flint but also big lumps of gooey clay.

[Happy chickens!]

I have planted in buried bin bags of ericaceous compost and it seems to work ok - just remember to feed regularly and puncture bags for drainage.

 

I would dig in copious quantities of manure - chicken if you have any as there probably won't be much nutrition left after having such heavy planting for a number of years before planting. You may want to leave a week or two to see what weeds spring to life after lying dormant for years too.

[Ain't Nobody Here]

That's a great tip, thanks .

 

It's been cleared for a week or two already and I can see little shoots of things coming up . I'm hoping that'll all go along with the lawn.

 

He's putting down a good quality weed supressant membrane over the whole garden so hopefully weeds won't stand a chance .

[Ain't Nobody Here]

Work starts Monday .

 

Stage One

 

[Christian]

So you've decided to s"Ooops, word censored!" the garden and build an extension instead?

[Ain't Nobody Here]

I know, it looks like that doesn't it . I have to wonder how they're going to fit all that stuff in that tiny space .

 

(You can see the portaloo at the house over the road - they ARE getting an extension .)

[Snowy]

My goodness, thats a lot of stuff for a little garden isn't it!! Do they think they are doing the back garden as well ANH?

Bet it's exciting though, can't wait to see the finished article!

[Plum]

Wow ANH how exciting. Think they must be concreting the whole garden with that lot Look forward to seeing your design but did like the bushes you had in before *ducks*

[Shirl]

You are very brave clearing your garden like that but I'm sure it will look great when finished. I think our garden has gone down hill since we moved in and we've only been here a year.

[Happy chickens!]

That's a more 'modern' installation than I thought you were going for! I always forget to take before and after shots and love to see it when people do.

[Ain't Nobody Here]

All done .

 

There's a lot of soil showing - lots of winter pansies etc required in the short term, methinks . It'll take a while for the plants to become established so I didn't want to cram too much in straight away (cost enough, the plants I did put in ).

 

 

 

[Plum]

looks really good. So is it done to your design?

[Couperwife]

Wow, that looks amazing

 

Cathy

X

[Olly]

wow, that looks wonderful! Well done ANH, you really get on with things, don't you.

 

What a contrast to the 'before'. Looks great, and those plants will soon grow to fill the spaces.

[chickencam]

Looking good

 

Now if it was me I would be filling those gaps with spring bulbs, but I do have a bit a daffodil obsession

[Happy chickens!]

That looks fab! Love the curvy central bed. If you've any spare pennies, maybe a bit of mulching to suppress the weeds until things spread a bit?

[Lewis]

Looks great ANH

[Patricia W]

It's inspiring!

 

Tricia

[Ain't Nobody Here]

Thanks, folks . Plum, yes, I did do the design (which was a bit nerve-wracking as I've never done anything like that before ). Quite pleased with the outcome, though .

 

I spent today putting loads of bedding plants in. I've also sprayed "Get Lost Cat" (or something like that ) right round the wall as I had to remove some cat diarrhoea from my lovely new flowerbed before planting and don't fancy doing that again .

 

If you can be bothered looking, there are some more up to date photos here:

 

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=242777&id=610449661&l=11e5c5236f

[Snowy]

Wow, that looks great!

[Lesley]

Great photos! - it will look even better once the plants have filled out