For me it's the addition of a Greenhouse, never owned one before so very excited to say the least
The Greenhouse doesn't turn up until the end of July, but I'm not sure I can wait that long because I want it now, so I might bring the order forward and try and have it in place by May, not sure if that will be too late for any growing this year, but if so, then that should give me plenty of time to read up on how to go about the growing of veg.
This is our second Spring in this house. We're in Central Texas and have already hit 70's - even 82º one day last week. This begs me to get out and plant things! It appears we passed Spring and went right into Summer!
I have a Big Garden (that's what I call it) on the West side of this house. We don't actually have a grassy back yard, just a very long narrow driveway we use at a patio. Our true "yard" is in the front of the house and along the east side of the house Here's a photo of the back drive and the Big Garden as I inherited it:
The former owner, a Master Gardener, they tell me, planted mostly bamboo Nandinas (I hate how invasive they are) and giant Liriope in the Big Garden. The pathway makes a complete circuit through the garden, tying in to the driveway at two places. All we did this past year was add the two limestone benches and cobalt blue birdbath we brought from our last house and we paved the mud/sand/gravel path with pebble cement so I would quit slipping and breaking wrists out there. We also buried in the ground some ugly white PVC drain pipes that fed away from the house that now feed into a main line that feeds out to the front yard (lower part of the yard). I've cut the Nandinas way back in height and cleaned a very overgrown garden of many weeds. The house was empty for 7 months before we bought it and the gardens suffered greatly during our drought-like summers.
I have begun planting a few colorful things this year: A clump of daffodils, Lamb's Ear just so I can touch it , and some violet Pericallis, I planted two gardenias l last spring and they were blooming for me (love that scent) but they appear to have frozen off beyond salvaging in our very cold temps (teens for an entire week!). I plan to add a couple of Morionga trees in the sunniest center of "the center island" when they get a little size on them. They're still babies in pots. I'm planning on sticking to flowers in the purple, pink blue spectrum with some white thrown in. Am entertaining the notion of a white Forsythia in "the island" sunniest spot.
As far as trees, There are two huge Red Oaks providing most of the shade on the left side where you see the new fencing. There is also a pink antique rose bush and a large red Knock Out rose bush in the center of the central island. There is also a very young Red Bud tree to the left of the grey (non-functioning) fountain "planter" in the photo. I have planted a Loropetalum (Fringe Trees) in another alcove and one along the new fencing. They are not the dwarf variety and should get big one day, reaching out above my cedar fencing. Both are in pretty sunny spots and blooming already in their first year. Still only 1½' tall though.
I would love any and all suggestions from you folks for color splashes to tuck into the various bare spots in this garden that would look good in a field of so many Nandinas.
We rent our property and our main boundary line backs onto horse paddocks which our landlord also own - they have just sold the paddocks off for development and as part of the deal we will loose half our back garden! There goes the pond we put in, my rose arches, greenhouse, veg patches and apple trees!!
So, we have an enormous task of relocating the pond (complete with all our awesome pond life!) greenhouse, roses and veg patches! On the plus side we get away with doing more or less what we want with the garden so although it's disappointing it's also kind of exciting (and a little daunting!) Because of all this I've decided to copy Alys Flowers example on her BBC Edible Garden show and grow our veggies in amongst our existing flower borders! It's going to be a challenge and I'm working hard on straightening out the borders so we can begin planting in them soon!
One of the biggest change is that due to the moving of the boundary our beautful hawthorn hedge will be taken away - poor nesting birds, insects, mice etc. etc! This part of the deal breaks my heart the most! They are putting up a normal wooden fence in its place... It will be south-east facing - any idea what we could use as a quick to establish climbing plant that will be good for insects, bees etc?
My garden is still very much a 'work in progress' too. It was stripped off virtually everything 4 years ago, and we are slowly replanting. Next project is sorting out a couple of large raised beds. I put a couple of hebes in each one as a stop gap the year they were built and they have totally taken over. In 4 years they have grown to about 4 foot across. I need to find a new home for them and then plan to plant at least one of them with acid loving plants.
Peggy, what a lovely garden. Nice to see the pictures thank you for sharing. I love that pink rose! The colour pallet you have chosen sounds gorgeous with pinks and purples and blues I think it will look very restful and romantic.
Its so nice to have people on here from different parts of the world. We can so much about the environments that different plants like as well as the wildlife that lives there. Please keep up the pictures, we love to see the journey of a garden in progress.
Missy Krissy, so sad to loose some of your garden after all your hard work! I rent our property too. Long term rental so I don't mind making the place a home as we have already been here 18 years. I'm on a budget so I tend to upcycle a lot of things. Pallet planters, homemade firepits and pergolas etc. Think if I had to sacrifice some of my garden I'd negotiate a rent reduction! I'd probably be laughed at tho I hope you have fun planning your garden renovations, keep us posted please
Missy Krissy - How tall will the wooden fence be? You could try growing pyracantha which is evergreen, produces white blossom in spring so nectar for insects then berries in autumn giving food for birds and when it gets thicker, birds can nest in it. It also has thorns to deter cats and trespassers. You can train it along a fence by judicious pruning. It is sturdy enough not to need supports but some judicious wires stretched across the fence will help you tie stems in to cover the fence less randomly. The berries can be yellow, orange or red according to variety. Birds will go for the red ones first.
Peggy - how about some cannas? They'll love the heat of summer and will provide strong foliage and bright flowers but you'll need to protect them from those freezing winter temps. Ditto dahlias which come with either green or bronze or deep purple foliage and a wide range of flower shapes and colours.
Last edited: 02 March 2017 08:55:51
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 have given in with the lawn and are having artificial lawn laid not my first choice but seems our only viable option with not enough light , and 2 kids and a trampoline...on the bright side I get to make my borders 50cm wider! that's a few more plants I can squeeze in! I did plan to really limit my plants this year...but I'm too excited and will be growing sweet peas, delphiniums, stocks, lupins, sweet rocket, campanula, erigeron, hardy geraniums,peonies, poppies,honesty, tomatoes, courgettes, salad leaves,, cornflowers, nigfht scented stocks, sweet williams, wallflowers, tulips, hellebores ,cosmos, aubretia scabious, and obviously my beloved roses., oh, and new apple, plum and cherry trees... you can see how I have a problem limiting myself....my resolution this year is to really keep on top of slugs and ensure we have little to no bare soil!
Posts
Fairy/Baldrick...Looking forward to seeing what this cunning plan is!
and I agree...orange and purple is a fab combo!
DHR those Lillie's are fantastic! I can't grow them as I have my cats frolic in the garden but love them all the same.
Hosta...thats unlike you!!
we want pictures of the lake makeover please!
DHR, thanks for the info. I could be tempted to try them.
For me it's the addition of a Greenhouse, never owned one before so very excited to say the least
The Greenhouse doesn't turn up until the end of July, but I'm not sure I can wait that long because I want it now, so I might bring the order forward and try and have it in place by May, not sure if that will be too late for any growing this year, but if so, then that should give me plenty of time to read up on how to go about the growing of veg.
Sheps...
This is our second Spring in this house. We're in Central Texas and have already hit 70's - even 82º one day last week. This begs me to get out and plant things! It appears we passed Spring and went right into Summer!
I have a Big Garden (that's what I call it) on the West side of this house. We don't actually have a grassy back yard, just a very long narrow driveway we use at a patio. Our true "yard" is in the front of the house and along the east side of the house Here's a photo of the back drive and the Big Garden as I inherited it:
The former owner, a Master Gardener, they tell me, planted mostly bamboo Nandinas (I hate how invasive they are) and giant Liriope in the Big Garden. The pathway makes a complete circuit through the garden, tying in to the driveway at two places. All we did this past year was add the two limestone benches and cobalt blue birdbath we brought from our last house and we paved the mud/sand/gravel path with pebble cement so I would quit slipping and breaking wrists out there.
We also buried in the ground some ugly white PVC drain pipes that fed away from the house that now feed into a main line that feeds out to the front yard (lower part of the yard). I've cut the Nandinas way back in height and cleaned a very overgrown garden of many weeds. The house was empty for 7 months before we bought it and the gardens suffered greatly during our drought-like summers.
I have begun planting a few colorful things this year: A clump of daffodils, Lamb's Ear just so I can touch it
, and some violet Pericallis, I planted two gardenias l last spring and they were blooming for me (love that scent) but they appear to have frozen off beyond salvaging in our very cold temps (teens for an entire week!). I plan to add a couple of Morionga trees in the sunniest center of "the center island" when they get a little size on them. They're still babies in pots.

I'm planning on sticking to flowers in the purple, pink blue spectrum with some white thrown in. Am entertaining the notion of a white Forsythia in "the island" sunniest spot.
As far as trees, There are two huge Red Oaks providing most of the shade on the left side where you see the new fencing. There is also a pink antique rose bush and a large red Knock Out rose bush in the center of the
central island. There is also a very young Red Bud tree to the left of the grey (non-functioning) fountain "planter" in the photo. I have planted a Loropetalum (Fringe Trees) in another alcove and one along the new fencing. They are not the dwarf variety and should get big one day, reaching out above my cedar fencing. Both are in pretty sunny spots and blooming already in their first year. Still only 1½' tall though.
I would love any and all suggestions from you folks for color splashes to tuck into the various bare spots in this garden that would look good in a field of so many Nandinas.
Last edited: 02 March 2017 02:47:22
Beautiful pictures Peggy!
We rent our property and our main boundary line backs onto horse paddocks which our landlord also own - they have just sold the paddocks off for development and as part of the deal we will loose half our back garden! There goes the pond we put in, my rose arches, greenhouse, veg patches and apple trees!!
So, we have an enormous task of relocating the pond (complete with all our awesome pond life!) greenhouse, roses and veg patches! On the plus side we get away with doing more or less what we want with the garden so although it's disappointing it's also kind of exciting (and a little daunting!) Because of all this I've decided to copy Alys Flowers example on her BBC Edible Garden show and grow our veggies in amongst our existing flower borders! It's going to be a challenge and I'm working hard on straightening out the borders so we can begin planting in them soon!
One of the biggest change is that due to the moving of the boundary our beautful hawthorn hedge will be taken away - poor nesting birds, insects, mice etc. etc! This part of the deal breaks my heart the most! They are putting up a normal wooden fence in its place... It will be south-east facing - any idea what we could use as a quick to establish climbing plant that will be good for insects, bees etc?
My garden is still very much a 'work in progress' too. It was stripped off virtually everything 4 years ago, and we are slowly replanting. Next project is sorting out a couple of large raised beds. I put a couple of hebes in each one as a stop gap the year they were built and they have totally taken over. In 4 years they have grown to about 4 foot across. I need to find a new home for them and then plan to plant at least one of them with acid loving plants.
Peggy, what a lovely garden. Nice to see the pictures thank you for sharing. I love that pink rose! The colour pallet you have chosen sounds gorgeous with pinks and purples and blues I think it will look very restful and romantic.
Its so nice to have people on here from different parts of the world. We can so much about the environments that different plants like as well as the wildlife that lives there. Please keep up the pictures, we love to see the journey of a garden in progress.
Missy Krissy, so sad to loose some of your garden after all your hard work! I rent our property too. Long term rental so I don't mind making the place a home as we have already been here 18 years. I'm on a budget so I tend to upcycle a lot of things. Pallet planters, homemade firepits and pergolas etc. Think if I had to sacrifice some of my garden I'd negotiate a rent reduction!
I'd probably be laughed at tho
I hope you have fun planning your garden renovations, keep us posted please 
Missy Krissy - How tall will the wooden fence be? You could try growing pyracantha which is evergreen, produces white blossom in spring so nectar for insects then berries in autumn giving food for birds and when it gets thicker, birds can nest in it. It also has thorns to deter cats and trespassers. You can train it along a fence by judicious pruning. It is sturdy enough not to need supports but some judicious wires stretched across the fence will help you tie stems in to cover the fence less randomly. The berries can be yellow, orange or red according to variety. Birds will go for the red ones first.
Peggy - how about some cannas? They'll love the heat of summer and will provide strong foliage and bright flowers but you'll need to protect them from those freezing winter temps. Ditto dahlias which come with either green or bronze or deep purple foliage and a wide range of flower shapes and colours.
Last edited: 02 March 2017 08:55:51
we have given in with the lawn and are having artificial lawn laid
not my first choice but seems our only viable option with not enough light , and 2 kids and a trampoline...on the bright side I get to make my borders 50cm wider! that's a few more plants I can squeeze in! I did plan to really limit my plants this year...but I'm too excited and will be growing sweet peas, delphiniums, stocks, lupins, sweet rocket, campanula, erigeron, hardy geraniums,peonies, poppies,honesty, tomatoes, courgettes, salad leaves,, cornflowers, nigfht scented stocks, sweet williams, wallflowers, tulips, hellebores ,cosmos, aubretia scabious, and obviously my beloved roses., oh, and new apple, plum and cherry trees... you can see how I have a problem limiting myself....my resolution this year is to really keep on top of slugs and ensure we have little to no bare soil!