New house, established garden, clueless owner.....
Hi,
I moved into a new house back in September and have some very ‘non gardener’ questions! The house was previously owned by a keen gardener, but one of the reasons he moved was that he was no longer able to maintain the garden to his standards, as he was into his 90s.
I am keen to maintain the garden to a good standard and willing to put a bit of time into it, but also need to make it easy for myself. These pics are now 2 weeks old, hope the links work ok!
Wisteria – does it need pruning?
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v314/milesearl/Mobile%20Uploads/20180311_151445_zpsmxv2oihc.jpg
Giant roses – do they need pruning?
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v314/milesearl/Mobile%20Uploads/20180311_151445_zpsmxv2oihc.jpg
Anything else in front garden that requires some attention?
I trimmed the hedge in around October, removing lots of thin lanky bits. If I cut it right back to the base, is there much hope of it coming back with more condensed growth? It was very see through last year. If it cant be improved then it will need to be replaced for privacy.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v314/milesearl/Mobile%20Uploads/20180311_1517120_zpskueziiul.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v314/milesearl/Mobile%20Uploads/20180311_151700_zps2qcfnioh.jpg
This was beautiful with lots of small blue flowers. I think I need to cut it back to the base, and it will grow back this year?
http://smg.photobucket.com/user/milesearl/media/Mobile%20Uploads/20180311_151627_zpsvt988edo.jpg
I’d quite like to plant some tall thin bushes in the soil between the path and the fence. Something that will grow as tall as the fence and quite thick but not so wide that it encroaches on the path, so something that will get to around 6’ tall and about 2’ wide?
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v314/milesearl/Mobile%20Uploads/20180311_151746_zpstisqtrwf.jpg
Thanks for all of your help!
Posts
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v314/milesearl/Mobile%20Uploads/20180311_151417_zpsvywmt0xt.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v314/milesearl/Mobile%20Uploads/20180311_151445_zpsmxv2oihc.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v314/milesearl/Mobile%20Uploads/20180311_151700_zps2qcfnioh.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v314/milesearl/Mobile%20Uploads/20180311_151739_zpsbf1xei7e.jpg
The Wisteria can do with some shortening of stray growth but it all depends on how you want this shrub to grow. If you want to train it to go over the roof, then you need to start training it. You can wait until after flowering and start pruning and shortening the branches around mid July to August time.
The roses, taken so close, I can't work out whether it's a climber or just a bush rose. If a climber, you will need to prune off stray growth that are thin and weak. Start to tie in the thicker stems so that there is a main frame for the rose to start growing from. If a bush type rose, prune the branches down to around 2 ft. No need to worry about the specifics, just make it a priority to prune away weak and crossing stems and then prune down stronger stems down to just before a bud.
The other shrub/tree that forms a barrier, too early to know what they are, but I would leave that for now since they look like they've been severely cut down recently.
There are plenty of plants you can plant to 6 ft tall, it's all about whether you are looking for evergreen shrubs/ deciduous shrubs. Do you know which way your back garden faces out to? What type of soil do you have in your garden. This helps to narrow down choices, and also find the right plant that would thrive in your conditions.