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Disheartened, just a moan.
MrsGarden
Posts: 3,951
The house is 50 odd years old and the garden was previously mainly lawn until I got my hands on it 16 years ago.
If I'd only known how difficult this was going to be I would have had a 'reverse (decontructed as they'd say in cookery terms) garden' with grass around the perimeter (and as far as pos under the conifers) then beds in the centre where light and rain can get.
Every time I try to plant something new or dig out a new area the ground is full of rocks, big rocks, builders rubbish as well. The soil is clay and should retain some moisture you'd think, but in places it's like sand. Even the shady areas don't get wet. The damn conifers don't let any rain through - and won't improve that much when pruned back, they are so large and will be bare brown if over pruned. I water and water and I'm off to buy some manure today.
I'm learning about dry gardens and plants but they're just not my style. I'm fed up of looking forward to autumn so I can actually do something in the garden.
Right, a coffee, give myself a shake and a talking to and get out there and enjoy what I can manage, even if it's only planning for autumn. Sorry for the moan and feel free to share your frustrations.
If I'd only known how difficult this was going to be I would have had a 'reverse (decontructed as they'd say in cookery terms) garden' with grass around the perimeter (and as far as pos under the conifers) then beds in the centre where light and rain can get.
Every time I try to plant something new or dig out a new area the ground is full of rocks, big rocks, builders rubbish as well. The soil is clay and should retain some moisture you'd think, but in places it's like sand. Even the shady areas don't get wet. The damn conifers don't let any rain through - and won't improve that much when pruned back, they are so large and will be bare brown if over pruned. I water and water and I'm off to buy some manure today.
I'm learning about dry gardens and plants but they're just not my style. I'm fed up of looking forward to autumn so I can actually do something in the garden.
Right, a coffee, give myself a shake and a talking to and get out there and enjoy what I can manage, even if it's only planning for autumn. Sorry for the moan and feel free to share your frustrations.
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I don't tackle the garden in the summer, the grounds too hard and far too hot for me. I get frustrated because what I like doing is gardening, not looking at pretty flowers in summer.
In the sticks near Peterborough
Similar frustrations here. We've bought a new house and garden to play with for our retirement. First 15 months here were drought so we couldn't get a fork in the soil and then we had 2 years' worth of rain in 6 months and it was too wet. Needless to say life and commitments then got in the way and now the ground is rock hard again after just 6 weeks of hot, dry weather.
I did get 2 small new beds made but when I asked OH to rotavate another to prepare it he found the site was a dumping ground for roof tiles of an old farm building our predecessors demolished. Now we need a man with a bulldozer and another with a truckload of topsoil. And so it goes on.
We'll get there and so will you. Just need patience and lots of lovely mulch.
Obelixx - I would love the conifers out but they provide so much privacy that I have to find a way to work with them, aka as tolerate them. A couple are quite nice actually, not the leylandii. A lot of the rocks are reusable and would make someone a nice rockery.
I've just potted on the plants for the japanese area instead of planting them out, at least I can control their environment better for now.
I suppose you have to decide if privacy with Conifers is more important than your gardening passion.
My neighbour and I were finding bushes and trees too much for us and replaced them with a fence. We still have privacy but best of all the plants seem to love it.
If I had known what my garden soil was I would probably not have bought the property. Being a life long avid gardener I have never met sloping, gritty soil with no nutrients, there is a very high rainfall year long and the top soil is barely a spade depth. I have to feed constantly through the growing season, plants die of too much wet or die because of lack of moisture. I have tried to boost the soil with compost because I cannot afford to buy in enough top soil. The PH is slightly acidic so lavenders and pinks etc. need to be dressed with lime while camellias, azaleas etc soon chlorose and die within a few years of planting etc. etc. I am on the edge of clay country so when the weather is dry there is a haze of clay dust in the air permanently.
Unfortunately soon after moving here I needed surgery on both knees and an ankle which has severely limited what I have been able to do. Not forgetting that I am surrounded by uncultivated, tended fields from which blow in weed seeds in abundance, rubble banks are a haven for brambles but too unstable to walk to strim.
Why on earth did I but this place? Because I love the solitude.
Am off to have a coffee and some freshly baked ginger and cinnamon biscuits. I will stare at the sodden mess outside, much has been flattened by the wind but my runner beans seem to be upright thanks to several tree stakes I managed to hammer in a couple of days ago, haven't ventured out there yet it is so wet and soggy. Then a walk on the beach with the dog, what better place to live? Ho Hum!
If I were you, I'd be tempted to share a few pictures on here, share your frustrations and list what you want from the garden, then see what ideas come out. The conifers might offer privacy, but there could be other options that work as well without affecting your soil.
Joyce - you must be as frustrated as me, perhaps even more so as my knees are ok!
Berghill, yes it's interesting and ever evolving. I constantly try to remember drough tolerant plants, and fail time and time again.
G,Noob - please dont encourage me towards another project..but then again..
Debs - a silver birch in a half barrel? now that's really interesting! do you have any photos of your container gardening?
I've had a fresh look and the ugliest row of leylandii will stay but may be able to do some interesting shaping, or cut back and grow an evergreen vigorous something up them. One of the prettier conifers has a double trunk so I will ask the tree surgeon his thoughts in feb, to remove one trunk from ground level. The lilac I'd forgotten about. Its having a complicated two year pruning scheme! So, the main bit hung over the back fence and has been removed, new growth is growing towards the back now, the trouble this year was it would have been too much stress on the tree to remove it all so the front overhangs the border too much and is stopping rainfall, this overhag is sheduled to be removed next year thus allowing the main bit towards the back to fill the space. That's hard to explain sorry!! Not sure it's worth taking photos though..
We’d have some lovely mature trees and plants by now. I’ve spent a year on it and it still feels empty with junk everywhere I have to keep shifting about.
Right, red wine in hand, time to do some more fiddling.