I'd love to have an acre. I wanted to do Horticulture when I was 14. I was persuaded to do something else for money and keep plant growing as a hobby. However as I get older, my first love keeps drawing me back.
I cut back my pyracantha last year... by the end of the day my clothes wre ripped beyond further use and my arms and legs were very badly scratched and punctured and stayed that way for weeks. This year I chickened out. Still not sure what to do with them in the longer term.
Ah but I have a plan, yes amongst all the others!!! I have access to plenty of pyrocanta cuttings, what I shall probably try is the pencil thick 12 " heel in to a nursery bed method. (Similar to roses) For a hedge I'm thinking 10-12 " spacing, with a second row behind spaced inbetween. The plants will be cut every month, shears or trimmer to ensure the hedge becomes very tight and thick. After that it's a question of cutting the soft growth every 6 weeks or so. Not so much different from the privet. Hoping the hedge provides shelter and nest sites for birds, also deters people trying to come through or over. Bear in mind this hedge will be starting basically 6 ft above pavement height, so even a couple of foot will stop anybody 'climbing' :P
You might think I'm mad, but I've just taken a load of Berberis cuttings, to line the trellis fence I put up between myself and the neighbours. It's 4ft high, but because of all the steps, all the pizza and taxi junkmail people vault the fence and it will fall down eventually. Lets see how they like a handful of berberis.. (I'm tempted to setup a camera just so I can laugh)
oh, and regards to the cuttings, nursery bed with good soil/watered etc, using pencil thickness, should be established by autumn, then by next summer easily viable for hedging. I will when I rip the current hedge out, obviously dig a good 18 inch - 2 foot down, clear any bricks stones etc then stick a good foot of manure/organic, then compost/soil mix on top to plant in. Keep it watered and they should get me easy a foot in the first year, and that will be with cutting every 3-4 weeks to maintain density and thickness.
I'm not sure how I would describe my garden, other than small and compact and full of pots. I reckon it's only around 8m x 5m, but i have it jam packed with plants. I also have a drive incorporated into that space.
It's took me a while to get it the way I wanted and I also like the idea of moving the pots around when I feel like a change or if a plant isnt doing so well in a certain place. I have a particular addiction to Japan Maples, most of which are kept quite small.
I would love more space, but I think I'm happy with the way it is (for now!!) and I love sitting in it when we get good weather here in the North-East. In time I would love to create a japanese style garden with flowing water (I might have to get rid of the drive to do that!). Here's a few pictures from different angles.
Multi-functional, I guess would be my description. It's L-shaped, and leading out from the house is an 'outdoor room' areathat's paved with seating, table and chairs, and outdoor kitchen with BBQ and pizza oven. Then there's four beds with a path through the middle and a seat to sit and look at it all and as you turn the corner you see the veg patch, greenhouse, she'd and small grass area for the dog.
Lots of different angles to look at it from and see different things!
Osakazuki - that is a beautiful garden! What a great use of space to create an oasis of calm . I also love japanese maples, and just have two right now...but I'm planning on expanding my collection!
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I'd love to have an acre. I wanted to do Horticulture when I was 14. I was persuaded to do something else for money and keep plant growing as a hobby. However as I get older, my first love keeps drawing me back.
I cut back my pyracantha last year... by the end of the day my clothes wre ripped beyond further use and my arms and legs were very badly scratched and punctured and stayed that way for weeks. This year I chickened out. Still not sure what to do with them in the longer term.
Ah but I have a plan, yes amongst all the others!!! I have access to plenty of pyrocanta cuttings, what I shall probably try is the pencil thick 12 " heel in to a nursery bed method. (Similar to roses) For a hedge I'm thinking 10-12 " spacing, with a second row behind spaced inbetween. The plants will be cut every month, shears or trimmer to ensure the hedge becomes very tight and thick. After that it's a question of cutting the soft growth every 6 weeks or so. Not so much different from the privet. Hoping the hedge provides shelter and nest sites for birds, also deters people trying to come through or over. Bear in mind this hedge will be starting basically 6 ft above pavement height, so even a couple of foot will stop anybody 'climbing' :P
You might think I'm mad, but I've just taken a load of Berberis cuttings, to line the trellis fence I put up between myself and the neighbours. It's 4ft high, but because of all the steps, all the pizza and taxi junkmail people vault the fence and it will fall down eventually. Lets see how they like a handful of berberis.. (I'm tempted to setup a camera just so I can laugh)
oh, and regards to the cuttings, nursery bed with good soil/watered etc, using pencil thickness, should be established by autumn, then by next summer easily viable for hedging. I will when I rip the current hedge out, obviously dig a good 18 inch - 2 foot down, clear any bricks stones etc then stick a good foot of manure/organic, then compost/soil mix on top to plant in. Keep it watered and they should get me easy a foot in the first year, and that will be with cutting every 3-4 weeks to maintain density and thickness.
I'm not sure how I would describe my garden, other than small and compact and full of pots. I reckon it's only around 8m x 5m, but i have it jam packed with plants. I also have a drive incorporated into that space.
It's took me a while to get it the way I wanted and I also like the idea of moving the pots around when I feel like a change or if a plant isnt doing so well in a certain place. I have a particular addiction to Japan Maples, most of which are kept quite small.
I would love more space, but I think I'm happy with the way it is (for now!!) and I love sitting in it when we get good weather here in the North-East. In time I would love to create a japanese style garden with flowing water (I might have to get rid of the drive to do that!). Here's a few pictures from different angles.
Multi-functional, I guess would be my description. It's L-shaped, and leading out from the house is an 'outdoor room' areathat's paved with seating, table and chairs, and outdoor kitchen with BBQ and pizza oven. Then there's four beds with a path through the middle and a seat to sit and look at it all and as you turn the corner you see the veg patch, greenhouse, she'd and small grass area for the dog.
Lots of different angles to look at it from and see different things!
Osakazuki - that is a beautiful garden! What a great use of space to create an oasis of calm
. I also love japanese maples, and just have two right now...but I'm planning on expanding my collection!
Osakazuki, could you squeeze just one more plant in there? It's really impressive.
B-L your garden always looks so romantic
In the sticks near Peterborough
Osakazuki lovely garden just sorry I can't enlarge the pics.
Jonty your garden sounds good, would love to see some pics.
Ben- remind me not to get on the wrong side of you