March 23, 2010

Daffodils

Posted by Barhi under Gardeners Diary
[2] Comments 

The daffodils are finally out :).  I love them, despite the fact that I normally don’t like yellow in my garden.  Somehow daffodils are so cheerful.  They bring so much promise with them.

Years ago, I used to see daffs as the first flowers of spring.  Now I know better and have been enjoying cyclamen and hellebores for weeks, but still the daffodils hold a special place in my heart. 

Initially I planted the usual ones that you buy in florists, but I got so disheartened when they got blown over by strong winds (or maybe dogs), that I decided to move to the minature ones.   They may be small, but they are so robust and delicate at the same time.

I should have had more daffs this year.  I bought a load of bulbs last autumn, but the weather was so wet and the winter came so late that I never got round to planting them.  What a waste :(.  I am tempted to plant some bulbs now.  I know it is not the right time of year, but I can actually see where they need to be planted now.  It will be interesting to see if any of them actually come up next year.

 

March 21, 2010

Fan Pruned Hydrangea

Posted by Barhi under Gardeners Diary
[2] Comments 

Have you ever thought about fan pruning a hydrangea?

Fan pruned Hydrangea

Some years ago, I worked for a few months at a company that had a number of small buildings and between the walls of the buildings and the paths, they had some narrow beds.  There I first saw a fan pruned hydrangea.  I was fascinated by it.  It was winter / spring when I was there and so I never saw the plant in flower, but I felt that the structure of the plant gave it interest throughout the year.

When I came to plant my garden, I realised that we had created exactly the same situation in the pond garden and decided that I wanted my own fan pruned hydrangea.  The garden designer thought I was absolutely mad as he had never seen this done.  I didn’t want a big and blousy mop headed plant as that would have been out of place in the pond garden.  Instead I went for a pale lilac lacecap called Silver Slipper which has fitted into the location beautifully.

So, a few years on and I now have my own version of a fan pruned hydrangea.  What do you think of it?

 

March 19, 2010

Biodiversity

Posted by Barhi under Other
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This is the International Year of Biodiversity, designed to focus us on the decline that is currently being seen and as a spur to get us to do something about it.  The RHS is currently promoting this campaign.  So what can you do to help?

Having a nice garden isn’t just about making life pleasant for your and your dogs, we all have a role to play in the biodiversity of our planet. As we increasingly use land for housing rather than agriculture, wildlife is depending more and more on our gardens for survival. There are many forms of wildlife that your gardening efforts can benefit.

Lichen on York stone

When people talk about wildlife, we all naturally think of insects and birds, but let’s start a little lower down the food chain. I am lucky enough to have lichen in the garden. It loves my York stone paving. I used to worry that my pressure washing would remove it, but no, the lichen survives it just fine and continues to thrive. It is interesting to see that the lichen doesn’t seem to like the man-made paving that I have.

The more variety you have in your garden, the more forms of wildlife you can help and the more interesting your garden will be to look at.  For an idea of the sort of plants you might want to grow, take a look at some recommended plants.  You may also want to take a look at the RHS Plant Selector.

Ladybird Box

We are all used to the concept of nesting boxes, but have you thought about a ladybird box?  Not only are ladybirds very pretty, but they also love to eat aphids, so encouraging them into your garden can reduce any aphid problem too.

If you do choose to have nesting boxes, then make sure they are in out of the way areas of your garden.  I have a couple of nesting boxes.  One is outside our kitchen window, which looks out onto a corner of the front garden.  That part of the garden is little used, but very easy to see, so it is an absolutely perfect location.  One benefit of having dogs is that you are unlikely to see cats in your garden, so the birds are free from that danger at least.  Larger birds like to nest in large shrubs.  A couple of weeks ago, I saw blackbirds building their nest somewhere in my Bay.

There are so many things that you can do to help improve biodiversity.  Just having a garden is a great start, but how about thinking what you can do in your garden to help improve things just a little?

 

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