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Home decorating
ideas, home improvements, DIY |
Learn how to make your house a home with lots of great
home interior decorating ideas and home improvement advice.
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"Our New Garden, Part 2" sent in
by Isobel Oulton
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This part of the garden faces more or less south, so gets the sun quite
a lot. However, it slopes towards the house so from the living room window
looks shorter than it is. I am told that this is a design problem! Here
is what we did.
We decided to make a crescent shaped terrace centered on the window, so
that there would be something to look at from the window. The terrace is
held up by a small retaining wall, which was constructed from stones found
during the initial double digging of the plot. It has a slight slope backwards
for stability. The wall was laid with the larger stones first, using soil
to fill the spaces. The stone paving was laid straight onto the earth. .
In front of the window is a small rectangular bed and a semi-circular area
paved with small stones to match the wall.
The major advantage of using these stones was that it was less expensive
than buying stone, and it also meant that there was less stone to cart away.
However, it meant that building the wall was more difficult than if we had
used more evenly shaped stones. I also think that if we did this again,
We would use granite setts for the pavement, as these would be more stable.
However, as the area is not going to be walked on much, We are hoping it
will be ok. The usual advice is to plant the wall as it is built. This we
did with what plants we had, sowing viola seeds in the remaining spaces.
View of the Rock Wall
The main flower bed
The bed is interspersed with paving slabs as stepping-stones. These are
spaced fairly widely so as to enable cultivation of the bed without stepping
on the soil. We also did not want too much concrete in the garden. Our intention
is that the planting will spread over the edges and make the slabs less
conspicuous. We also would like to do the same with the other expanses of
concrete - the path and steps to the front door.
The bed ready for sowing and planting
For this year, most of the bed will be filled with annuals, and we hope
to eventually have spreading shrubs and perennials such as Helianthemums,
Hebes and Dianthus.
The first annual to flower has been Cosmos 'Picotee'. This germinated overnight
in my propagator, and was ready to plant out in early April. It has already
been flowering for several weeks, and I have sown seeds between the plants
so hopefully I will get flowers right into the autumn.
Next to these I have planted pale blue Statice and tall white Antirrhinums
'Royal Bride'. I have not grown these before, but the catalogue says they
are scented, so I am looking forward to them flowering. Nearer the front
are marigold 'Striped Marvel'. I have also sown 'in situ' Nigella ' Persian
Jewels', Papaver somniferum (unknown variety given to me by a friend), Calendula
'Apricots and Oranges' and curled parsley.
This is both for ornamental and culinary use. I also sowed some 'Redbor'
kale that I thought would look ornamental and also could be used to eat,
but the snails got to them before me! I might get another packet and try
a late sowing.
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My half hardy annuals I brought on in the windowsills, and I did not have
enough for the whole bed so I have filled in the spaces with bought in bedding
plants - Nemesia, Petunia, Lobelia and silver Senecio cineraria. Next year
I hope to grow all my own bedding, as by then I should have a greenhouse.
As this is an account of all the pitfalls we encounter I shall endeavour
to relate each problem we encounter as we come upon them. This time the
problem is...
Cats!
Having joined forum discussions on gardening topics for several years now,
it is obvious that cats are a problem for most town gardeners. I love our
cat, Arnie, but I must admit it can be very frustrating to see your pet
scratching up your seedbeds and newly planted bedding. I have not found
any real solution, but there are some things that can help. Barriers are
probably the best - save prunings of shrubs, (thorny things like roses are
best, but anything will do), and lay them over your seedbeds and between
new plantings. Cats also hate water, so a squirt from a water pistol a few
times will often deter them. There are also automatic devices that squirt
water or produce ultrasound, but I haven't had to resort to these yet.
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