RedClaire I saw you were interested in patio crab apples. You can grow one in a large pot, if you are worried about roots. Other small trees to replace the lime - rowan (mountain ash), amalanchier.
Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
if dense housing you will need a hedge you can keep trimmed easily and not come into conflict with other neighbours.A Hawthorn Hedge can be good if kept trimmed at a reasonable height ,any hedge will become a problem if not looked after ,but you need to consider containable varieties,privet can be smart and right but not if it gets out of control,look for small leaf shrubs .
Lavender Lady, your garden is stunning! It gives me hope to see what you have achieved. Like you, privacy is our biggest problem (along with being in deep shade most of the year!) but your fences and walls look amazing! Such a beautiful, lush garden, but with a strong structure too.
Can I ask how you keep your gravel clean? We have terrible trouble with ours in the winter - it's impossible to get all the soggy fallen leaves up, and by the time the debris from the bird feeders has fallen on it too, it's disgusting. Last week I tried to clean it with hot water (prefer wildlife-safe solutions), and it's still sitting on top of the soggy gravel in a big puddle! I think I'd like to get rid of the gravel, rip up the weed suppressing plastic altogether!
I was delighted to hear that you have a visiting hedgehog - that's so rare on new estates!
Busy Lizzie, thank you for your small tree suggestions. I didn't know rowan stayed small, so that's great - they're light and airy and good berries for birds too. We already have an amelanchier - beautiful blossom and amazing autumn colour, though it hasn't performed so well in the last few years, which I put down to the soggy summers. I'll have a look at crab apples too.
Nut cutlet - I had better heed your warning about willow. I'll just have to admire others from a distance!
Flowering Rose, thanks for suggesting a Hawthorn Hedge. I like that idea too, not least for the blossom and being good for wildlife.
By the way, is there always a correlation between the size / height of a tree or shrub and the potential problems with roots? Just wondering if there's an easy way to tell?
Big trees have big roots but some go deeper than other. Willows and poplars have a bad reputation which is deserved. Hawthorn is never a big tree, even when mature and unpruned.
My hawthorn hedge grows 6' a year so beware. It will want to take up a lot of width too if you can't keep it regularly trimmed and that means losing the berries for teh birds.
Given you want to maximise space I think a fence and trellis with climbers are going to be your best baet and will avoid problems with roots and neighbours. You can add one or two evergreen pyracantha to the mix of plants. They have blossom which provides nectar in spring and then berries for birds in autumn. Mix it up with roses and clematis and winter flowering jasmine and you'll have something of interest all year without taking up too much space.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
We do not have weed suppressing plastic underneath our gravel. We put down a good layer of hardcore and a thick layer of sand on top of that and then the gravel on top of that, we do not get a problem with weeds. This helps with the drainage (with the garden being clay) therefore any water just drains away. I rake up the leaves etc and it just keeps itself clean from rain etc.
I would think twice about pyracantha in a tight space unless you are really going to keep it under control. Birds love them but they are very very prickly. I let mine get too big, about 3 m in every direction and it was a nightmare to get back to a reasonable size.
Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
Pyracantha is thorny but is naturally upward in its growth and very easy to trim if it does send out horizontal shoots. It is a good foil for showier clematis. You need some horizontal stems for density but any that stick outwards can be safely removed without harming the plant or passers by.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
Posts
It's worked beautifully. I remember seeing it the first time. It's really lovely.
It's lovely LL. I hadn't seen it before.
In the sticks near Peterborough
RedClaire I saw you were interested in patio crab apples. You can grow one in a large pot, if you are worried about roots. Other small trees to replace the lime - rowan (mountain ash), amalanchier.
if dense housing you will need a hedge you can keep trimmed easily and not come into conflict with other neighbours.A Hawthorn Hedge can be good if kept trimmed at a reasonable height ,any hedge will become a problem if not looked after ,but you need to consider containable varieties,privet can be smart and right but not if it gets out of control,look for small leaf shrubs .
Lavender Lady, your garden is stunning! It gives me hope to see what you have achieved. Like you, privacy is our biggest problem (along with being in deep shade most of the year!) but your fences and walls look amazing! Such a beautiful, lush garden, but with a strong structure too.
Can I ask how you keep your gravel clean? We have terrible trouble with ours in the winter - it's impossible to get all the soggy fallen leaves up, and by the time the debris from the bird feeders has fallen on it too, it's disgusting. Last week I tried to clean it with hot water (prefer wildlife-safe solutions), and it's still sitting on top of the soggy gravel in a big puddle! I think I'd like to get rid of the gravel, rip up the weed suppressing plastic altogether!
I was delighted to hear that you have a visiting hedgehog - that's so rare on new estates!
Busy Lizzie, thank you for your small tree suggestions. I didn't know rowan stayed small, so that's great - they're light and airy and good berries for birds too. We already have an amelanchier - beautiful blossom and amazing autumn colour, though it hasn't performed so well in the last few years, which I put down to the soggy summers. I'll have a look at crab apples too.
Nut cutlet - I had better heed your warning about willow. I'll just have to admire others from a distance!
Flowering Rose, thanks for suggesting a Hawthorn Hedge. I like that idea too, not least for the blossom and being good for wildlife.
By the way, is there always a correlation between the size / height of a tree or shrub and the potential problems with roots? Just wondering if there's an easy way to tell?
Big trees have big roots but some go deeper than other. Willows and poplars have a bad reputation which is deserved. Hawthorn is never a big tree, even when mature and unpruned.
In the sticks near Peterborough
My hawthorn hedge grows 6' a year so beware. It will want to take up a lot of width too if you can't keep it regularly trimmed and that means losing the berries for teh birds.
Given you want to maximise space I think a fence and trellis with climbers are going to be your best baet and will avoid problems with roots and neighbours. You can add one or two evergreen pyracantha to the mix of plants. They have blossom which provides nectar in spring and then berries for birds in autumn. Mix it up with roses and clematis and winter flowering jasmine and you'll have something of interest all year without taking up too much space.
We do not have weed suppressing plastic underneath our gravel. We put down a good layer of hardcore and a thick layer of sand on top of that and then the gravel on top of that, we do not get a problem with weeds. This helps with the drainage (with the garden being clay) therefore any water just drains away. I rake up the leaves etc and it just keeps itself clean from rain etc.
I would think twice about pyracantha in a tight space unless you are really going to keep it under control. Birds love them but they are very very prickly. I let mine get too big, about 3 m in every direction and it was a nightmare to get back to a reasonable size.
Pyracantha is thorny but is naturally upward in its growth and very easy to trim if it does send out horizontal shoots. It is a good foil for showier clematis. You need some horizontal stems for density but any that stick outwards can be safely removed without harming the plant or passers by.