Thursday 3 September 2009

First Steps - at the bottom of the garden

The new garden is about 165 feet long and slopes considerably. It is surrounded with mature shrubs and trees which are partly overgrown, and I really need to know what I've got before much can be done.
Yesterday I started to clear the far end area and here is a brief list of what I think I have in the small area to the right of the pergola :

Tree 1 :- an Alnus Glutinosa Imperialis, probably about 16 feet tall.
The hanging / dangling tree is a willow and Paul from Preston Bissett nurseries recommends removal.
Tree 2 :- on the right of the small patio is a Catalpa Bignonioides, Indian Bean Tree. This is the same variety of tree that was given by my grandfather, Leonard, to Spalding Parish Church. His remains, those of my grandmother, Jenny, and both my parents, Norman and Rosamund have their remains interred under this tree. The specimen in my garden is about 25 feet tall and very full.

In the border behind I have several dwarf conifers which have been all but smothered by the shrubbery, and they are in a poor state. Paul recommends their removal.

There are several foliage shrubs / trees also, including.
- A Cornus, probably Controversa Variegata.
- A Portuguese Maple in the back right corner
- An Eliagnus - to be identified.

There is also a large conifer / juniper growing directly under the Alder and into its lower branches.

...and some others??

I started to hack and clear yesterday and tried to separate out some of what I have and I am about to continue the same today.

I went to a talk by Paul of PB nurseries yesterday and noted down a few plants I may be interested in:

Heuchera - various shades and good for ground cover in clumps. I bought one of these as they are happy to grow in dappled shade.

Wygelia (?) Monet - changing foliage through the seasons.
Coriopsis (?) - small bushy plants
Hypericum (?) - low shrub, giving flowers then berries
Berberis - like moist areas and they are hardy
Scymia (?) - low foliage, compact and needing acid soil
Carioptris (?) - late flowering shrub

I also noted down that I should buy some "border booster" which is a composted bark to mix in with our clay soil.

I toyed with the idea of an Olive, Walnut or Apricot tree in the centre of the lower stone terrace.