The juniper in the fire bucket - has the bucket got drainage holes? It must have, or the plant will get soggy and die.
The grey rosetted plant with the 'weird' extension is an echeveria and the extension is pribably coming up to flower bud. Pretty salmony orange flowers. It may be too late for the flowers to from, though.
The hydrangea - yes, you can trim off the flower heads, if they annoy you, but there is an argument that the old heads will protect the plant through the winter and you can cut them off in mid- to late March next year, which is normal for pruning that sort of hydrangea. Up close to the wall there it'll be alright to tidy it now.
Generally the planting is too dense and one or two of the plants will grow to large for the site, but that can be tackled next spring. The green brittle plant will spread as it has down, but if bis break offlike that it's easily kept small, isn't it?!
Yes so we drilled some holes in the fire bucket before planting. That Juniper you say? Makes me very itchy!!! I try not to have too much to do with it, my bf has to tackle that one.
So I shall leave the grey Echeveria as is and hope for a flower next year? The pot that is in does not have drainage holes, is that an issue?
Hydrangea - Yeah I read to leave the heads on to prevent from frost damage etc but then other people say you can cut them off. We actually have 2x hydrangeas, one was here when we moved in. I moved it to the other bed and it's no where near as puff ball as this one. Also it is blue and this one turned from white to pink!?
I am worried I might forget to cut the heads off/miss the right time too do it. What would happen if it was just left like it is? Do they rot off???
Hhhmmmm shall I just stop buying plants now then and wait till next year to see how big everything has got then make a plan? Maybe pot some etc I have the whole other wall against the house to put pots another bed etc.
Yes it's a total sun trap. The soil is kinda grey and claggy? So I bought some multipurpose compost and whacked that on top to help...well I hope it will help!
The wall you can see is retaining the graveyard behind (we are in an old school conversion that backs onto the church/graveyard) so the garden is very sheltered as the graveyard is at the height of the wall. Hope that makes sense? Basically the garden is sunken
I agree with everything that's been said, so I won't repeat - but just a thought to add - if you want the bed to look more 'complete' while waiting for the plants to grow and occupy more space, you could top dress the soil surface with some small grade bark chippings from the garden centre - just to make it look more finished - but you don't have to - only if your fingers are itching to 'do something'
There was actually bark on top when we moved in. Someone told me that was good to add to keep the moisture in, but then I worry about some of the plants in that bed that said on the label they liked 'well drained soil'
In particular the sort of splattered effect leaved shrub thingy at the far end that when originally planted we gave a good watering then black spots appeared on the leaves!!! So we changed tact and didn't water it (only rainfall) and now it seems better.
The weird Echeveria is a variety called E. gibbiflora culebra. It is slightly tender, needs to be kept above freezing. It does need good drainage, like most succulents, so a drainage hole would be a good idea. Let it flower if it wants to!
clemmyx760: "The wall you can see is retaining the graveyard behind (we are in an old school conversion that backs onto the church/graveyard) so the garden is very sheltered as the graveyard is at the height of the wall."
A miniature garden sited next to a graveyard... at least the neighbours will keep very quiet.
Yes, the echevaria's "extension" is indeed a flower.
Mine has flowered this summer and another "extension" about to flower. Mine is outside but will be moved .......or, simply covered with a sheet of glass as last year. It is sharp drainage. Yes, it is "an issue" if there are no drainage holes. Not a "good idea" to make a drainage hole....it is ESSENTIAL
clemmyx760: "The wall you can see is retaining the graveyard behind (we are in an old school conversion that backs onto the church/graveyard) so the garden is very sheltered as the graveyard is at the height of the wall."
A miniature garden sited next to a graveyard... at least the neighbours will keep very quiet.
HAHAHAHAHAA yeah you'd think but actually the graveyard is pretty busy! There's a footpath through the middle of it so it gets a lot of footfall through the village.
I actually like backing onto a graveyard because it's peaceful and we're guaranteed never to be overlooked by new building etc. I'm not very superstitious though so it doesn't bother me like it might others.
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Yes so we drilled some holes in the fire bucket before planting. That Juniper you say? Makes me very itchy!!! I try not to have too much to do with it, my bf has to tackle that one.
So I shall leave the grey Echeveria as is and hope for a flower next year? The pot that is in does not have drainage holes, is that an issue?
Hydrangea - Yeah I read to leave the heads on to prevent from frost damage etc but then other people say you can cut them off. We actually have 2x hydrangeas, one was here when we moved in. I moved it to the other bed and it's no where near as puff ball as this one. Also it is blue and this one turned from white to pink!?
I am worried I might forget to cut the heads off/miss the right time too do it. What would happen if it was just left like it is? Do they rot off???
Hhhmmmm shall I just stop buying plants now then and wait till next year to see how big everything has got then make a plan? Maybe pot some etc I have the whole other wall against the house to put pots another bed etc.
Yes it's a total sun trap. The soil is kinda grey and claggy? So I bought some multipurpose compost and whacked that on top to help...well I hope it will help!
The wall you can see is retaining the graveyard behind (we are in an old school conversion that backs onto the church/graveyard) so the garden is very sheltered as the graveyard is at the height of the wall. Hope that makes sense? Basically the garden is sunken
There was actually bark on top when we moved in. Someone told me that was good to add to keep the moisture in, but then I worry about some of the plants in that bed that said on the label they liked 'well drained soil'
In particular the sort of splattered effect leaved shrub thingy at the far end that when originally planted we gave a good watering then black spots appeared on the leaves!!! So we changed tact and didn't water it (only rainfall) and now it seems better.
The weird Echeveria is a variety called E. gibbiflora culebra. It is slightly tender, needs to be kept above freezing. It does need good drainage, like most succulents, so a drainage hole would be a good idea. Let it flower if it wants to!
Last edited: 26 September 2016 10:50:26
Herbs don't usually need pruning - the idea is that you snip bits off to use when cooking, so they never get too big
clemmyx760: "The wall you can see is retaining the graveyard behind (we are in an old school conversion that backs onto the church/graveyard) so the garden is very sheltered as the graveyard is at the height of the wall."
A miniature garden sited next to a graveyard... at least the neighbours will keep very quiet.
Ok I will replant that then into a proper plant pot as I don't want to make a hole in that red pot.
Can I bring it indoors in winter?
Hmmm the issue is I'm not much of a gardener and even less of a cook! I'll give them a few snips and see if that keeps them in check
HAHAHAHAHAA yeah you'd think but actually the graveyard is pretty busy! There's a footpath through the middle of it so it gets a lot of footfall through the village.
I actually like backing onto a graveyard because it's peaceful and we're guaranteed never to be overlooked by new building etc. I'm not very superstitious though so it doesn't bother me like it might others.