My Garden

what is a garden for

Last post 02-07-2009 11:30 PM by richardpeeej. 25 replies.

• 27/06/2008 10:34 PM
  garry Location: heighington Joined on: 27 Jun 2008 Posts: 1	Reply | Contact It is quite simply what you want it to be - personally I like to sit in it and relax subject to the weather ie not raining Also i enjoy just pottering away ie pruning/dead heading Having a conservatory I like to look out on the garden so its important to me to keep it tidy

• 01/07/2008 11:33 PM

  In reply to

  Foxnfirefly Location: Virginia,USA Joined on: 01 Jul 2008 Posts: 165

  Reply | Contact I think we all get into gardening for a reason, but mostly it is because of the joy of being surrounded by natural beauty and the refreshing outdoors......My garden is an outlet and a way I can express myself....it is where I can reflect and dream.  Certain plants catch my fancy and I like to find those that can enchant me with their scent or exquisite form or color.....Of course,my little garden  is not anywhere near where I want it at this time, but is, as the adventurous say, "it's not the destination but the  journey there."   My garden is  a meeting place of new plant characters and scenarios, sensations and furry nature.  I dream and play with ideas there.........In one word--my fiefdom.

• 02/07/2008 03:10 PM	In reply to
  Digger Location: Northern UK Joined on: 18 Jul 2005 Posts: 4,743	Reply | Contact Hello Foxnfirefly, It's sounds like you have a lovely nice garden, what sort of climate do you have? digger

• 03/07/2008 12:53 AM

  In reply to

  Foxnfirefly Location: Virginia,USA Joined on: 01 Jul 2008 Posts: 165

  Reply | Contact My area is in the Mid-Atlantic seaboard of the USA, a very temporate climate.  We can have bitter cold and nasty winters and very hot, humid summers.  It's USDA zone 7b.  But the good news is that a large number of varieties of plants grow here, including types of fruits and trees.  We have lots of trees!!  I grow roses, herbs, berries, and some flowering perennials and bulbs.  I try new things, but because the weather is rough at times, natives work best here.  I like to design different types of gardens for things, or just for color shows.  Besides the roses and herbs, you'd notice that I have a lot of columbines and lilies.......and butterfly plants.

• 03/07/2008 10:42 AM

  In reply to

  Digger Location: Northern UK Joined on: 18 Jul 2005 Posts: 4,743

  Reply | Contact Hi Foxnfirefly, It sounds really nice my friend, I like to grow lots of plants for colour (color) columbines are nice I have lots of them, I live on the West side of the pennine hills, about 1000ft above sea level we get lots of rain through the year and very strong winds, everything above 3ft tall has to be staked really well. Do you have a big garden? we have a small (ish) garden and I am always looking for ways to get more plants in, when some things have done flowering, especially in the front garden I cut them right back and bring in some more plants that are ready to flower, this is work but it keeps the garden flowering for longer. Do you live in a town a big city or out in the countryside? digger

• 06/07/2008 06:42 PM

  In reply to

  Foxnfirefly Location: Virginia,USA Joined on: 01 Jul 2008 Posts: 165

  Reply | Contact Digger,  The property is almost 1 full acre (.9 to be exact), but 1/4 or so in back is woodland and I have areas in the open backyard for the berries, roses, and herb, bulbs, butterfly  gardens.  There are all scaped areas for easy management, and connected by  paths going all around the yard.  Later on, I want to build more paths through the wooded part and build borders along the perimeter of the yard.  Since we have a lot of large oak trees, it is shady and finding plants is a challenge.  My house is situated in what we call the suburbs (sub-urban area).  It is in a small town outside of several larger cities.  It feels like the country because of the large and tree-shaded properties, but we're in city limits.  Because of the wild green spaces, there are foxes and rabbits in abundance; squirrels and chipmunks play on the rock wall and fence and tease my dog to bonkers.  , Nneighbors have seen deer, but so far they haven't hit my yard!  With all the attractive plants, the bunnies are on the rise this year, and birds got the blueberries again.  Every now and then, I'll see a fox.  Too bad there aren't more of them.......  Interesting that you have columbines, too.  We'll have to compare.  They bloom from April to early June here.  When it gets warm, they'll recede and the foilage browns a bit.    That's great that you can keep your garden going with replacement plants.  I haven't quite mastered that, yet.  It is near impossible to get things going when the summer heat is on, so that means I have to start all plants as early in the season as possible, and  find plants that bloom successively,  combining perennials and annuals so that there is something going on every day of the growing season.

• 06/07/2008 07:26 PM

  In reply to

  Digger Location: Northern UK Joined on: 18 Jul 2005 Posts: 4,743

  Reply | Contact Hi foxnfirefly, Your garden sounds really nice and it's a very generous sized plot indeed. I have two greenhouses at home one is heated and has lights etc.. and the other is just heated in winter with a paraffin heater ( I think you may call paraffin kerosene?) that's how i can manage to have plants on the go for most of the year. The columbines I have are also called aquilegias and right about now they are done with flowering and are busy making seed, I let them self seed where ever they like and if i need the space I lift them and re plant them, or give them to friends. How warm does it get for you inhigh summer? I think the warmest we have had it in Lancashire was about 26 degrees celsius, which is 78 degrees Fahrenheit, that is really the exception here and the average temperature is much lower than that for the summer months, at the moment we are getting lots of rain and it's predicted to rain all week. digger

• 08/07/2008 04:01 AM

  In reply to

  Foxnfirefly Location: Virginia,USA Joined on: 01 Jul 2008 Posts: 165

  Reply | Contact Yes, we have kerosene stoves here and parafin candles.....Wow, I am learning some new words here!!  If you are a weather enthusiast, here's The Weather Channel's details for my area: http://www.weather.com/weather/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/USVA0265 As you can see, the hottest averages are in July.  But mind you, those are just averages!!   We go up to 100 degrees at times, and already did in June for a few days!!   Add the high humidity, too, and you have hell on Earth.  As you can see on the chart, the lows are also jaw-dropping.  I envy you for those  even temps in the 70's!!.  That sounds like heaven.  No wonder the Brits have such lovely gardens--it is always like springtime there!!

• 08/07/2008 02:29 PM

  In reply to

  Susiq Location: Northumberland Joined on: 16 Feb 2008 Posts: 1,104

  Reply | Contact "No wonder the Btis have such lovely gardens--it is always like springtime there!!" -   er not quite - we can sometimes have winter in the mid-summer, as Digger will testify from his hailstones the other day! - Your garden sounds lovely Foxnfirefly, The Chipmunks sound great, but you can keep the foxes, I've got my chickens to worry about!!! Do Chipmunks do any damage in the garden?

• 09/07/2008 04:48 AM

  In reply to

  Foxnfirefly Location: Virginia,USA Joined on: 01 Jul 2008 Posts: 165

  Reply | Contact Hi, Susiq--I know you guys have your weird weather,too, but it seems to be much more favorable than we have in the long haul......The chipmunks are cute but are petty nuisances.  They steal the stawberries, eat dahlia bulbs, raid the blueberries and raspberries and blackberries....and pull out tender seedlings, for whatever business they have for doing so.  I think it is to taste and toss.   They like to bury seeds in my plant pots and near other plants in the garden.  Before I know it, I have raspberry or tomato plants growing in my mint pots!!  The squirrels can take some credit for these crimes, also.   I have tried growing lobelia several times, but the plants disappear.  I think it was the chipmunks who got them because that was before all the rabbits started showing up.  I had grown several scented geraniums before without losing a leaf.  But this year, the rabbits axed two of my new plants clean to the soil level and took them with them.  The third one has been leaf-stripped only and left tattered.  I suppose the rabbits have gourmet tastebuds...the ones they took were the rose and lemon meringue, while the eucalyptus scented geranium was somewhat spared.  Great that you have chickens!!  You must live in the country?  We can't have them here, but I would if I could, and ducks, too!!

• 09/07/2008 07:33 PM

  In reply to

  Susiq Location: Northumberland Joined on: 16 Feb 2008 Posts: 1,104

  Reply | Contact Oh dear - it seems your cute sounding chipmunks are not so cute after all! I'd be gutted if my dhalia bulbs went walkabout! Rabbits are the bain of our lives here too - yes, I live in the countryside after 30 odd years of living in London. It really is a BIG change for me, we are trying to be self-sufficient in veggies this year, but it really is a learning curve of trial and error! I would like ducks or geese too, but as we have a large (half-acre) heavily planted pond, they would do too much damage to the marginals! We did have a duck land last year on the island in the middle of the pond, she hatched 12 chicks - they were so, so cute, but unfortunately our Airedale who kept running round and round the pond desperately trying to get to them scared her off - she took her chicks away off down the lane next to us, only to return a few days later alone, it was heartbreaking, I guess a fox/feral cat or larger bird must have got her chicks!

• 09/07/2008 07:54 PM	In reply to
  Digger Location: Northern UK Joined on: 18 Jul 2005 Posts: 4,743	Reply | Contact Hey susiq, embden geese are really good for keeping townies out! my OH is scared of our geese and we only have two. digger

• 10/07/2008 10:58 AM	In reply to
  Susiq Location: Northumberland Joined on: 16 Feb 2008 Posts: 1,104	Reply | Contact Ha ha, yes, I've heard they make really good watch dogs

• 20/07/2008 08:15 PM	In reply to
  Foxnfirefly Location: Virginia,USA Joined on: 01 Jul 2008 Posts: 165	Reply | Contact Hmmm.  Homeland security geese??  Who would have thought geese had any clout or were protective other than of their young??

• 20/07/2008 08:58 PM	In reply to
  Digger Location: Northern UK Joined on: 18 Jul 2005 Posts: 4,743	Reply | Contact It's usually the gander that gets excited, they are quite fearless. digger