Does anyone know anything about gardening?

We've been buying a lot of big ones recently, I've felt the opposite to what you're saying - feels like there's always BOGOF and 50-75% discounts at the garden centers I visit

Found a picture on my phone from mid-April when we planted the beds. A lot has grown over the past 5 months, particularly the tomatoes (will definitely do fewer next year). The lawn is better but I think next spring I'll take it all up, level it with some new topsoil and re-turf.

2 Attachments

It's funny, the massive ballache of the prep made me disillusioned and assume it would be pointless. However, now I'm glad I put the work in. Especially when seeing how bad the UV damage is on patches of the spares - I think the whole thing would look a lot more like council concrete pavers without it.

Plus I think resealing it will be easier as I'm hoping the prep will just be cleaning and drying as I've done the work of removing the grout and cement stains.

When you apply you can see the areas with excess sealer sort of sit on the surface. So I'm hoping that I'll be able to gauge how to apply to the higher/lower wear areas.

The edges are already getting softened with the plants I've moved, but I'm really looking forward to next spring when I'll put some work in.

Does anyone know if hellebores will survive under a fur tree? I've been really impressed with a hellebore I've got in a pot out the front, so keen to use the a bit more. They're a great bang for the huck across the year.

What kind of fir tree?

Not many things like growing under conifers due to the soil being dry and acidic. So at a guess, I'd say no.

Hellebores don't mind an acidic soil, don't mind the shade or a bit of dry. It's worth a shot, but I'd expect to have to give them a supplemental water them all year round, and especially in summer. Depends on how much light they're going to get under there too - if it's basically a cave then they're not going to do well.

Not sure on the type - the tips of the fronds(?) turn red in spring - almost like flowers.

It also must be some kind of dwarf one as it hasn't grown in 5yrs. Although I did nip the top out of the middle - but I now realise this was probably a bad idea.

Photo?

Non-gardening garden post:

Does anyone have these sort of jazzy tiles in their garden?
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CwzNFAPqGh4/

Would they look nice in a normal garden or only for professional gardeners with obscenely beautiful spaces?

Here is the tree, including the bit underneath. I've got these ferns which don't love their current position, so they'll get moved near the fushas (but not under the fir). There are also some nice rocks and old logs currently burried under the rampant strawberries.

So the idea would be hellebores, chives and the stones/log under the tree. The on the left maybe another hellebore with a Japanese quince trained along the fence. On the right/going forward, the ferns, chives and fushas.

5 Attachments

I don't have experience of them.

However, imo you don't need some sort of pro space, but I do think they lend themselves to smaller gardens terraced houses with rich foliage.

I think the main consideration is a making sure they don't crack - suitable base, correct tiles, not too cold a location, etc.

We have some Hellibore in a fairly dry bed under a laburnum tree.

Give a really great display early on in the year (float flowers in a bowl of water indoors if there are loads). Then just foliage for a long time. Maybe plant with something that flowers later?

Lawson cypress maybe?

I don't see it as being an ideal spot but could be wrong. I guess all you can do is give it a go and see what happens.

I think I'll give it a crack.

Not something I need to worry about right now - just feeds into what goes into the rest of the left bed and whether I try and take cuttings of the one out the front.

Those tiles are beautiful and perfect for a smallish space. They are a complete bastard to lay, they have to go onto a glassily smooth concrete base with a flexible adhesive or they'll crack. Forget the already expensive cost per metre of the tiles, it's the prep that costs the real money and the adhesive isn't inexpensive (you'll need twice the manufacturer's claimed coverage).

But, they are gorgeous.

I know what I’d do with that tree…

Hmmm they are not soo expensive for the tiles themselves, as I have a very small space
https://www.besttile.co.uk/product/moroccan-encaustic-cement-16a3-daisy/

But your advice plus the lengthy instructions from the seller do indeed make them sound incredibly fussy
https://www.besttile.co.uk/cement-tile-advice/

No way I could do this myself and the chances of finding a pro to do it who is sufficiently fastidious seems small (I know you would do it perfectly but you're too far away)

Yes, same here.

I know what I’d do with that tree…

I know exactly what you mean, and we'd planned to remove it when we did the patio - not least to give us another 75-100cm for bench seating on the left. However, we thought about it and realised a few things;

1. it's a nice looking established tree that hasn't grown
   
2. It frames the view down the garden on the left - without it, you'd go straight to beds
   
3. It helps to give some shade
   
4. we have lights in it at xmas
   
5. Our predecessors planted it right on the boarder - I wouldn't do that, so then the replacement moves further out
   
6. Removing to the point that you can plant a replacement is a lot of work.
   
   

Replacing it is tricky....

... what do you replace it with?

• The area gets waterlogged in winter, so it has to be evergreen.
  
• It has to be drought resistant because climate change.
  
• It can't have too wide a canopy otherwise it shades out the beds.
  
• It can't drop too much shit, because our hibiscus already does that.
  

2 Attachments

Just to play devil's advocate; why not get a mini digger in, dig a new hole and replant the original tree with rootball?

It will take a year to establish again and probably will look a bit sorry for itself during that year.

dig a new hole and replant the original tree with rootball?

in someone else's garden.

First up, I think you've outlined the reasons why I wouldn't bother.

But in any event, I'm ok with it's location. Pt. 5, related to the fact that it was an inconsiderate move by the last owners - I've always been conscious of boundary distances when planting trees. I know most people just bang whatever they want as close to their neighbour as possible without thinking.

Much like the location of our amazing hibiscus, or taking up the sunny side of the garden with sheds - they are choices I wouldn't have made. But as they've already been made it's best to live with them.

they have to go onto a glassily smooth concrete base

For some reason this is stuck in my head.

Why do they need such a smooth concrete base?

Cheers.

I'd leave it for now, like you said, it's not about to sprout 10ft of growth and fulfils a purpose. I must admit it wouldn't be my first choice to plant but it definitely adds more than it detracts.

It raises a question I've been meaning to posit here - what plants do you guys benefit/suffer from your neighbouring gardens? On our easterly boundary (so no shade issue) we have neighbours cherry tree which I like, and their clematis have climbed over the fence to mingle with our crab apple.
At the far end they’ve let an elder grow which whilst I think brings aphid and pests has the absolute net win of blocking their windows from our kitchen so I’m perfectly happy with it, more so if the slightly sick looking wisteria bullies it.
On the other side we benefit from a decent budlia which flowers superbly but a rather unruly philadelphus which sits squarely on the boundary and covers my garage/garden/waterbutt in all manner of debris. It's the go to place for the birds to hang out though so it has a reprieve... for now!

4 Attachments

The one corner of the garden that seems to be flourishing, the rest...not so much

1 Attachment