# Garden Shots (Pic Heavy)



## Rotundus (May 7, 2012)

faffing about again but thought some poor lonely bored sod might like a look at me gardening efforts.

the back got hit hard this winter but seems to have recovered fairly well.

quite a few bits and bobs had to go but its not looking too bad.

back garden










one of many pots and boxes about the gaff










firethorn in flower just now










new growth on the christmas tree (hence the pot)










dunno what this is called but it climbs and spreads like crazy.










roses showing potential ths year, but seem late compared to neighbours.










anyone else got dirty fingernails?


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## Guest (May 20, 2011)

That climber you've got could be a Lonicera (Honeysuckle). Here's some piccies of mine, mainly from last year as not everything is in flower at the mo'...





































My herbs that I planted last year (sowed the previous year) in a planter I made out of a doorframe and architrave...










This year...


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## Guest (May 20, 2011)

Last one...










When some of my friends come around they wonder why an 6ft ex bouncer is gardening, well when you sit down on those long summer evenings having a drink and reading a book you look around the garden and get a great amount of satisfaction.


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## ian1 (May 14, 2011)

Nice pics, I love the christmas tree, did you have it indoors last christmas? It's a good idea, it saves buying another next christmas


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## Krispy (Nov 7, 2010)

avidfan said:


> That climber you've got could be a Lonicera (Honeysuckle). Here's some piccies of mine, mainly from last year as not everything is in flower at the mo'...
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Now this just isn't adding up to me....?!

http://www.thewatchforum.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=19752&view=findpost&p=656426


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## Rotundus (May 7, 2012)

ian1 said:


> Nice pics, I love the christmas tree, did you have it indoors last christmas? It's a good idea, it saves buying another next christmas


last year was its 3rd christmas, it was pretty small on its first outing (ining ?).

anyway the trick seems to be to put it in the garage for a week, after its work is done, before putting it back outside in the new year.

even then it gets a nice sheltered spot to ease it back to outdoor life. that said this year we were not too sure given the winter we just had.

we now have one, if not two, fake trees somewhere in the rafters of the garage.









edited for even worserer spelling than usual


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## ian1 (May 14, 2011)

I cant have a real one, the cats climb up it and pull it over hehe


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## tall_tim (Jul 29, 2009)

I love having the garden, there are always things to do in it, but such a sense of satisfaction to sit down in the evening and just relax. We've the added benefit of absolutely no neighbours either. Here's a few pics of ours.

Front garden - the red flowers in front of the window are large poppies, just coming into flower now.










This part I do very little to. The pond has frogs, newts and various bugs and beasties who love the overgrown mess of shrubs and wild flowers behind. The shed like thing is the kids play house with sand pit. They have their own small veg patch but prefer digging up my borders! Behind the playhouse we have about an acre of 10 year birch trees which we plan start using as fuel for the stove in a year or so. I plan to replant two for every one I cut down.










This is my herb garden. A lot of north east cottages had these block structures, used for kitchen waste, ash from the fire and so on years ago. I cleaned ours out and filled with soil, the mint and chives love it.










Shed and greenhouse, I lost a couple of panes in the winter which I've still not replaced, but the tomatoes don't seem to mind.










My favourite spot, the seats under the trees - great for morning coffee and newspaper.


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## Roger the Dodger (Oct 5, 2009)

Mine's been developed over the years to be very low maintenance...

The 710's 'pub'at the bottom of the garden...









Some box topiary (these were grown from cuttings 15 years ago!)










Fernery surrounding the raised deck.










BBQ area.










At night..










It was all made low maintenance because this is what I have to look after at work! (next post)


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## Roger the Dodger (Oct 5, 2009)

Sorry the pics are a big big...taken before I'd discovered the Forum setting on my camera. This is where I spend most of my days, looking after this place! That's why mine's low maintenance!

The front lawn...it takes a whole day just to cut the grass and paddocks here!










The Rose arch.










The new duck house I made to go on the pond.










What it's all ultimately about...the flowers.


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## tall_tim (Jul 29, 2009)

Very nice Roger, was the duck house claimed on mp expenses?


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## Roger the Dodger (Oct 5, 2009)

LOL!....me and the Guv'nor had a laugh about that at the time I made it!


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## Guest (May 22, 2011)

That Box topiary is lovely Roger, the 710 loves it but I just haven't got the patience! I bet there are loads of slugs and snails under your decking munching on those Hostas in the night too!


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## mel (Dec 6, 2006)

Roger, how did you do the box cuttings? I've a tubbed box I've been thinking of trying cuttings from, wondered if it was worthwhile?

Got some "hormone rooting compound" available, commercial stuff - should help - I'd really like a low box hedge along the front if I could, but the plants can be bl88dy expensive. :0

:weed:


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## ian1 (May 14, 2011)

Roger the Dodger said:


> Mine's been developed over the years to be very low maintenance...
> 
> The 710's 'pub'at the bottom of the garden...
> 
> ...


Gorgous lights I love them!!


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## ian1 (May 14, 2011)

tall_tim said:


> I love having the garden, there are always things to do in it, but such a sense of satisfaction to sit down in the evening and just relax. We've the added benefit of absolutely no neighbours either. Here's a few pics of ours.
> 
> Front garden - the red flowers in front of the window are large poppies, just coming into flower now.
> 
> ...


Youre house looks beautiful!! i love the countryside


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## Roger the Dodger (Oct 5, 2009)

Box cuttings are easy, Mel, but you will have to patient! It will be 3-4 years before they reach a useable size. Select 5" cuttings from this years growth, strip the leaves off the bottom inch and a half, dip in your rooting powder/gel and place in a seed tray of compost in the cold frame. (now is a good time to do this) You should get about 70 in a standard seed tray. Keep moist and out of strong sun. When you see new growth, you will know they've rooted...give them some very dilute feed (Phostrogen, Miracle-Gro etc). At the same time, pinch out the tips to encourage side shooting and thus bushiness. You will lose some...maybe a third...but as the cuttings are so plentiful you can do a couple of trays! Once well established, pot up individually and grow on till about 6" tall. To create a low hedge, plant 6-9" apart. If you have any left over, use them for topiary. Those trees in my garden were left over plants from making these two hedges out the front of my place.

The browning on the top and sides is due to a late frost scorching the new growth a couple of weeks ago, but it will grow back...Buxus (Box) is very hardy










Yew (Taxus baccata) is another very good subject for topiary.


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## Roger the Dodger (Oct 5, 2009)

avidfan said:


> That Box topiary is lovely Roger, the 710 loves it but I just haven't got the patience! I bet there are loads of slugs and snails under your decking munching on those Hostas in the night too!


No slugs or snails due to prolific use of animal friendly slug pellets at the first sign of attack (Eraza...I think)!


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## Roger the Dodger (Oct 5, 2009)

Tim, your place looks stunning...what a beautiful setting...and no neighbours either! I love the 'cottage garden' effect, and use the same concept at work, though the effect sometimes seems harder to produce than you would think...


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## Rotundus (May 7, 2012)

while not quite up to roger's standard me roses are sort of coming on - getting a bit blown about though.



















and some other misc. flowery things


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## mel (Dec 6, 2006)

Ta muchly for the info on taking cuttings, I think I'll give it a go and see how I get on!!


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## Roger the Dodger (Oct 5, 2009)

Actually, Mel, I missed out an important piece of info in that cutting post...so I took some pics to show how to do it...you need to take pieces of this years growth and pull them away from the older stem to include a small piece of said stem at the bottom...a heel cutting. The sliver of old wood helps the cutting to root better. Then carry on as before...the cuttings will take the rest of the summer to root and you will see new growth next year. This may sound involved, but at 6 plants to the metre and approx Â£4.50 per plant in the Garden Centre, it can work out expensive if you have a lot to do.

Older stems with newer growth for cutting material.










Tear a side shoot off downwards...










...to leave a 'heel' of the old stem at the bottom.










Strip the leaves off the bottom inch and a half...










...and plant in a tray of compost.










Good luck!


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## Roger the Dodger (Oct 5, 2009)

Very nice, Des...the lime green shrub with the pink flowers is a Spirea, and the shrub with the white flowers is a Philadelphus, or 'Mock Orange' to give it its common name.


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## lewjamben (Dec 4, 2007)

Here are some of the plants in our garden. We only moved in a month ago and I know little of the horticultural world so feel free to fill me in as to what is what :lol: apart from the obvious!

1.










2.










3.










4.










5.


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## lewjamben (Dec 4, 2007)

6.










7.










8.










9.










10.


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## lewjamben (Dec 4, 2007)

11.










12.


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## Roger the Dodger (Oct 5, 2009)

OK, Lewis...lets see if we can ID some of these...

1. Geranium...the 'cranes bill' type, not the Pelargonium type. There are lots of blue cultivars, but the most common is 'Johnson's Blue'...this could well be that.

2. Geranium...as above, with a bee in it.

3. Geranium...a pink cultivar (cultivar = cultivated variety), possibly 'Wargrave Pink'.

4. Lysimachia punctata. (Yellow Loosestrife) This one spreads like buggery..I'm forever pulling

out runners of this at work.

5. Our common wild poppy...Papaver rhoeas. Usually found on recently disturbed ground,

new road verges and embankments. Thousands upon thousands grew after the ground was

disturbed by shelling in WW1...hence the reason it was adopted by the Royal British

Legion as a remembrance symbol.

6. Iris sp. not sure which. (sp. = species)

7. A rose...again could be one of hundreds.

8. Now this is the opium poppy, Papaver somniferum. This is the one our lads are busy

blowing up in Afghanistan. If you cut the seed pod, a white sap is released which can

be processed into the drug. Don't worry, the Flying squad won't descend on your garden,

they are very common in the UK.. (Plus you would need a whole field of them to go into

production!)

9. This is a Campanula, or 'bell flower'...see the connection...campanology = bells?

10. Looks like a member of the Allium (onion) family, but I really don't know.

11. A species of Peony. (main flowers)

12. A tortoise amongst some pansies!

Hope that's 'shed' a bit of light!


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## William_Wilson (May 21, 2007)

Roger the Dodger said:


> OK, Lewis...lets see if we can ID some of these...
> 
> 2. Geranium...as above, with a bee in it.


Don't leave us hanging... what type of bee?

Better yet, what's her name?

Personally, I think it might be Polly.

Polly Nation. :bag: :lol:

Later,

William


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## johnbaz (Jan 30, 2005)

Here's my garden, part of it is hidden under trees but here goes...










There's another, smaller greenhouse behind this one then a shed and about twenty feet of rough ground..










Some of my favourite plants...










I lost quite a few trees this winter due to this 'orrible stuff and the extended amount of time we had it for :thumbsdown:










I had to dig a few trees out, unfortunately this Japanese white pine (at left) grafted onto black pine rootstock succumbed to the lousy weather and is currently brown all over, It had potential 










Some Acers that survived the winter in the bottom unheated greenhouse...










Anyone else into Bonsai?

BTW, Excuse the uncut grass in some of the pics, I get behind with gardening duties occasionally due to working permenant twelve hour shifts :thumbsdown:

John


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## lewjamben (Dec 4, 2007)

Roger the Dodger said:


> OK, Lewis...lets see if we can ID some of these...
> 
> 1. Geranium...the 'cranes bill' type, not the Pelargonium type. There are lots of blue cultivars, but the most common is 'Johnson's Blue'...this could well be that.
> 
> ...


Wow! That's a great reply! Thanks!


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## AbingtonLad (Sep 8, 2008)

I will finish the garden, I will finish the garden, I will finish the garden, I will finish the garden, I will finish the garden, I will finish the garden, I will finish the garden, I will finish the garden, I will finish the garden, I will finish the garden, I will finish the garden, I will finish the garden, I will finish the garden, I will finish the garden...

Please let me finish the garden


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## Roger the Dodger (Oct 5, 2009)

You're seriously into Bonsai, eh John? Some beautiful specimens...those Acers are stunning. Did you grow them yourself?...from the thickness of the trunks, some of them look fairly old.


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## Guest (Jun 3, 2011)

I love Acers, I keep promising myself one but then I look at the price!


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## johnbaz (Jan 30, 2005)

Roger the Dodger said:


> You're seriously into Bonsai, eh John? Some beautiful specimens...those Acers are stunning. Did you grow them yourself?...from the thickness of the trunks, some of them look fairly old.


Hello Roger

I'm afraid I cheated and bought them :blush:

I've only been doing bonsai for about 10/11 years, as you said, it would take quite a few years (more) to get any thickness :thumbsup:

A few closer pics..























































John


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## a6cjn (Oct 29, 2009)

johnbaz said:


> I lost quite a few trees this winter due to this 'orrible stuff and the extended amount of time we had it for :thumbsdown:
> 
> John


You have some lovely plants there John

I'm afraid we lost quite a few specimens as well this winter, heart breaking

We're keeping our fingers crossed for two olive trees which we've had for 20 years but I think the tree fern is a gonna, despite being encased in its wigwam of straw and fleece

PS I think that's the first time I've seen pics of your garden John without a load of air rifles in it 

Chris


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## Roger the Dodger (Oct 5, 2009)

That cloud pruned Juniper(?) in the first pic is absolutely gorgeous, and the Hornbeam (no. 6) is stunning as well...in fact they're all beautiful. I have a pine that I grew from seed about 7-8 years ago...it's wired like yours, but gets neglected over the year due to other commitments in the garden where I work. This year, it seems to have put on a bit of a spurt! I'll get a pic next week, and perhaps you can give me some advice on how I should improve it!  Cheers, Rog.


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## minkle (Mar 17, 2008)

Its open gardens down in the village today and i've just got back, probably the only chance to have a good look behind some of those gates that i never see open.. 

Reminded me of this thread and my favourite bit of my own garden at the minute..










It looks rubbish in this pic! Much more interesting in real life, the poppies are the tallest we've had.



















The view is looking good too now, makes a change to oilseed rape.


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## minkle (Mar 17, 2008)

Lets see if i can kill this thread anymore 

Finally got round to sticking some glass in the garden, brought these reject vases from work today..


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## johnbaz (Jan 30, 2005)

a6cjn said:


> johnbaz said:
> 
> 
> > I lost quite a few trees this winter due to this 'orrible stuff and the extended amount of time we had it for :thumbsdown:
> ...


Ha Ha!!

Nope- no rifles in the pics Chris 

Here most of what didn't make it due to the severe winter, the list includes Cotoneaster, Beech, Yew, Juniper, Privet,Cryptomeria, Acer Campestre and Japanese White Pine 










Hope your Olives made it through OK :thumbsup:

John


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## a6cjn (Oct 29, 2009)

That's sad to see John, must be heartbreaking to lose that lot.

I'm pleased to say that our olive trees show signs of life and the tree fern has sprouted three large fronds, with more showing

Here's a pic SWMBO snapped earlier today of a quiet little corner, next to me workshop










Incidently, it looks like a bumper crop of grapes from the vine on the right

Chris


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## bsa (Dec 23, 2010)

Fantastic yards, thanks. Roger that BBQ looks ready to be fired up and enjoyed with some cold beers, thats right COLD.

John congratulations i do like the look of your yard does the sun stay in it for a while?


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## Guest (Jul 6, 2011)

a6cjn said:


> That's sad to see John, must be heartbreaking to lose that lot.
> 
> I'm pleased to say that our olive trees show signs of life and the tree fern has sprouted three large fronds, with more showing
> 
> ...


Love the Hostas, mine need splitting as they're taking over the corner where they are.


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## Rotundus (May 7, 2012)

a few more, looked better last week but i was a bit too under the weather to get any shots





































snapdragons!


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