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Underplanting a Trampoline(!) Project
david25:17
Posts: 31
Sharing this for any comments or ideas the more experiences gardeners might have, and also as I've seen other questions on what to try and do with the space. Hopefully this is the right section.
So yes, the dreaded trampoline. Every time I cut the grass I'd move the trampoline to trim the straggly bits of grass and weeds underneath. I decided I'd had enough, and as we've been trying over the years to provide more for nature I started to think what I could do with the space. The trampoline isn't completely opaque, and other than a small section next to the fence, it does get some light every day.
Long story short (too late?), the plan was to plant bulbs and shade tolerant plants under the trampoline and mulch with bark in the hope that will suppress the weeds but also let the bulbs get through. I set to and dug over the topsoil, riddling any areas that had a fair amount of weeds and roots.
Then the wife got involved! A two hour visit to the garden centre had us stocked up with, in addition to bags of bark, Snowdrops, Dwarf daffodil, Crocus, Hyacinth and a couple of dwarf ferns (two hostas already waiting at home).
A mild domestic on where and how to plant everything ensued, which of course I lost, but plant everything out we did. Exit the wife once it was time for lugging and raking of the bark, which even after three days still doesn't smell great.
We'll see how well it works in the spring, but hopefully there'll be bees and other insects getting some early nourishment from it. Once the bulbs die back, the intention is to plant up with some low lying, shade tolerant summer plants, and the hostas and ferns will give greenery all year. Long term, when the trampoline has run (or bounced) it's course, we want to put a tree in that spot. It all made sense in my head.
Any comments or suggestions welcome!
David
Any comments or suggestions welcome!
David
0
Posts
The bulbs are all within the outer eighteen inches or so, and there shouldn't be anything tall that grows from them so fingers crossed, they should be OK, I hope.
Spring was a good result. Plenty of bulbs came through and just added a bit of colour under there. @Biglad in answer to your comment, we did accidentally put a couple of 'regular' daffs in, which must have had quite a headache from the bouncing! The mesh was put up while the spaniel pups learned not to venture under!
For summer we added a few annuals. Trailing and bush lobelia, some dwarf cosmos, blaze of fire salvia and a few others. The hostas also flowered nicely.
It's still a bit work in progress, lots of potential, but it's so much nicer to look at and better for the bees than long, straggly grass. Also less maintenance, only needing moving a couple of times for a bit of weeding and bark top-up, rather than every fortnight to mow it. Hopefully with a few more shade loving additions for the middle and a year to bed in, next year will look better.
Sadly yes, there has been some of that found under there when I was weeding, thankfully not too much though. Gloves are essential!