My Paved Garden - One year growing...

[spindrift]

In my thread 'How I designed my paved garden' I posted pictures showing the gradual transformation of the garden from wilderness to paved order.

Eighteen months ago my garden looked like this:



A picture taken this week shows just how much it has grown

[spindrift]

Here is a list of everything I've planted.

Buxus sempervirens (many - most as hedging, one as a pyramid, some as round balls to add structure to 'difficult' areas in the shade.

Bay tree (laurus nobilis), standard in a large pot.

Acer palmatum dissectum (green)
Camellias x 3 (pink, scarlet, pale pink)
Scarlet = Kramer's Beauty
Fatsia japonica (2)...one is a rare variety with white markings on leaves
Cotoneaster lacteus x 2
Hedera - Clotted cream + Gloire de Marengo-canariensis
Hydrangea - white - bush
Hydrangea petiolaris (white, climbing)
Pyracantha coccinea. Red Column- red berries
Lathyrus latifolius alba...everlasting pea
Lonicera similis variety Delavayi
Golden hop (Humula lupulus Aureus)
Apple tree - half standard
Solanum album
Rosa:
Glauca
St. Swithun's Clmbg
Sister Elizabeth
William Shakespeare -Clmbg
Falstaff - Clmbg
(all roses are from David Austen growers, variety English roses, special breed)
(old roses have only one flowering and I wanted repeat varieties).
Alchemillia mollis
Digitalis (white)
Iris (purple, white)
Peonies (pink, deep red)
Osmanthus delavayi (small white flowers)
Clematis cirrhosa Ourika Valley (white flowers, evergreen)
Japanese Holly fern (for underplanting in the shade)
Hosta sieboldiana var. elegans

Wow! that seems a lot. I have overplanted!

I change the contents of the pots and tubs according to the seasons...tulips for spring, geraniums and pelargoniums for summer along with trailing lobelias (white).

I went to a lot of trouble to select the right apple tree for my situation. I've mislaid it's name. It is a recent variety, bred specially for the english climate to resist disease/rust/canker. It is self-fertile, will have red apples, crisp and early (September). As I wish to sit under its branches, it is a half-standard. I forget the rootstock. Must find the details.

[Deleted]

That does seem like a lot -- especially at the checkout stand at the garden shop! It will be interesting to know what flourishes and what refuses to adapt. (From the very nice photographs, it looks like everything is flourishing.)

At least you can move pots and tubs around if something is getting too much sun or not enough of it.

[spindrift]

Yes...it was VERY expensive. I put all my spare money into the garden during its first year. I thought this was a good investment.

At some stage I'd like to have a grape vine growing over a structure over the seat (yet to be constructed). It's difficult to find anyone to do carpentry tasks. A friend with an artistic eye has told me the area would benefit from the addition of two panels of trellis...both set at angles to hide the little shed from view. If I pursue this idea I'll have to find someone able to insert wooden posts in the paving stones. I'm also in pursuit of the 'right' trellis, something that is different yet subtle.

[pookie]

Lovely garden , I would love to see you peonies when they flower. I never have any luck planting them, I think it is too hot here . Last year I tried the shade house, foliage grew about 6 inches then died. What am I doing wrong?

[spindrift]

I didn't actually plant the peonies in this garden! I've treated them so badly. They were happily growing in my old garden which we dug up and paved over. When I was preparing the new beds in this garden I found some old tubers (I didn't know what they were). I left some in situ and I bunged others into terracotta pots! they are now coming up as peonies and I'm so surprised! Perhaps the answer is to ill-treat them...some of the tubers are in a pot that was waterlogged last summer (drainage blocked)...I didn't have the energy to empty the pot and start again and when I put a fork in, I can feel the tubers are many and so well-rooted I can't move them! I'll need a strong man in the autumn to force them out. But at the moment they're growing happily and I think there are going to be flowers (they're not growing blind..... strange.

What part of Australia do you live in? Perhaps it is too hot.

[bjd]

Peonies tend to like clay soil and half-shade. They don't last long anyway, so full sun tends to make them last even less time. They also don't like to be moved, so take time to bloom if you do move them. Once they are settled they last for years.

Nice garden, Spindrift. I have always liked the idea of walled gardens -- unfortunately I don't have one.

[bixaorellana]

Applause, Spindrift! I've been eagerly awaiting this chapter of your garden's development, and am rocked back by the flowering of your vision.
Having lived in a very moist climate, I well appreciate why you wanted a paved garden. And I admire so much how you've made it "soft" and welcoming. What you and Jazz have shown of your gardens are excellent illustrations of how much of gardening is problem solving, patience, and mood setting. A well-designed garden always looks to the visitor like "the end result" -- whereas the gardener knows there is no such thing.
Even your first picture, with few and immature plants, already has the rightness of good design and the assurance that there is more to come.

Is that the apple tree on the far left against the trellis in photo #2? What are the pale purple flowers between it & the table, please? The acer palmatum is already magnificent with that incredible chartreuse color and bound to be more beautiful with each passing year. With the pleasant weathering of the shed, I'm not at all convinced it needs a trellis to hide it, although perhaps something vertical there would be nice.

I have gardened extensively with pots in the past because of space & dirt restraints, and it's quite fun in its own way. It's not just the ability to move something to a better aspect for it, but the opportunities to create different "feels" for the garden at whim.

Your garden is beautiful and welcoming and already has a timeless feel to it. Thanks so much for this viewing.

[bjd]

The pale purple flowers look like irises to me, but I may be wrong.

[spindrift]

Bixa - thank you for your praise. The flowers in the picture are tulips. They are not purple...some are pink and some are white. I planted several different types of tulips - some being 'parrot' and others - I can't remember. I do have a few iris but they are only coming into flower now and wouldn't have been in the picture. I must say that I do love tulips; they are such great value lending colour and interest and can be staggered to flower from the end of March until well into May.

I pondered on the design for my garden for several years...and was helped in the final stages by a couple of books, one by Anthony Jones (a garden designer) who uses buxus sempervirens to great advantage. I notice he doesn't mix colours when planting in terracotta pots...and although I will follow his lead for some pots, I will mix others. The English summers can be so grey they are greatly helped by having bright garden colours.

Thanks, bjd....

[bixaorellana]

Yeah, they looked like irises to me, too, but too tall.

Hmmm -- cropped & blew up pic, & they look even more like irises!

[spindrift]

Well of course they do look like irises...they ARE irises. Sorry about that. They must have come and gone and returned un-noticed by me! How clever you are!

[spindrift]

Mrs Baz have given me a couple of her iris tubers. They've been planted and are doing their best to settle in. They'll come out next year!

[bixaorellana]

They are real beauties, Spindrift, and the color and texture combine beautifully with the tulips.

I am wondering if you can grow Louisiana irises where you are. I'd think they'd love it there with all the rainfall, plus they don't have to have full sun.

Here is much more on the subject, and just look at the color range.

[bjd]

Those Louisiana irises are really nice, Bixa. I have never seen any like that here.

When I first planted irises in my garden, I bought some fancy ones (not the usual purple ones) at a nursery. The guy told me they needed good soil. Well, they didn't do anything -- hardly any leaves, no blooms. Then one day a neighbour was passing and told me irises liked lousy conditions -- bad soil, rocks, not much water. So I moved what remained to a place with some crumbling concrete beside the driveway and they started to do really well. They became so huge and spectacular that 2 years ago I had to move them and divide them up because they were taking over.

[Deleted]

May 12, 2009 22:24:02 GMT spindrift said:

Well of course they do look like irises...they ARE irises. Sorry about that. They must have come and gone and returned un-noticed by me! How clever you are!

I think that there are some people stalking your garden, spindrift.

[spindrift]

K - ;D

Bixa - I've never heard of Louisiana Irises...and they are so beautiful that I want some immediately! I'm sure they'd grow in the UK. Aren't the colours pretty?

Have you other suggestions for me?

_{I'm hoping you'll see my garden yourself one day}

[bixaorellana]

I've looked online for you, Spindrift, and it's rather frustrating. So far, I've found one (1) La. iris for sale in the UK: . Do look through this listing of vendors. The above photo is offered by The Iris Garden. I have not carefully checked all the other listings.

Bjd ~~ here are the hits from searching for iris nurseries in France. You might have better luck searching in French. I note on the hits page that there are a couple of Australian nurseries offering the louisianas -- not useful for you, but maybe someone reading this would be interested. I searched the Cayeux Iris site & found none.

Spindrift, if I had to suggest anything for your beautiful garden, I'd say that some deeper blues (perhaps delphinium?) and some acidy tang of yellow would enrich the whole. Perhaps once the golden hop gets going, it will provide enough yellow. You might also like dietes -- they're very tough and their foliage is stiff and narrow. They'll give you pleasant sparks of yellow without being overwhelming. They also come in other colors.
Here is a clump of them, and a close-up of some nice yellow ones

Have you thought about a small water feature? By "small" I mean bowl-sized -- something just big enough to hold a couple of water hyacinth , some water lettuce , and trailing parrot feather .

Look ~~ tiny but lovely:                

[Jazz]

Lovely, Spindrift. It's exciting to watch a garden 'grow' online! There has been quite a bit of growth in this short time and I love your choice of plants. The beauty of the potted plant is that it can be moved for just the perfect amount of light and 'sense' that you want to create. The nursery must love you

I like the areas that you have created and the beautiful selection of pots. If you dislike the look of the small shed, have you considered a basic lattice and growing the grape vine on the roof and side of the shed? (killing two birds with one stone). You could still have the assymetrical lattice pieces to create more of an indirect 'corner look'...a lattice 'corner cabinet ' with lush grape vines? The tree seems to be already providing shade over the bench. You seem to be enjoying this and it is worth the money and the work.

[spindrift]

Bixa - I like your idea of a small bowl water-feature. I am also considering having a Lion Head water feature fixed onto the back wall....but I'm waiting to find the Right One! This might take time.

I am very restricted about how many plants I can grow in the two small beds in my little garden. They are more or less filled up now. Most of the colour will come from the pots which I'll be planting up this weekend.

Jazz...thank you.. yes I have spent a fortune at various nurseries and also on-line where I ordered specialist roses and that rare variegated fatsia. A couple of days ago I fell in love with a species of Montana clematis that 'does well' on a north wall...so now I have yet one more climber to plant!

I will indeed follow your suggestion and fix a trellis to shield the shed and either put a grapevine there or let the new cotoneaster trail over it.

I recently spent some time scrubbing pigeon poo off the paving...I find there's quite a lot of maintenance necessary. I was delighted this morning when a baby robin flew to the bird table as I was putting seeds on it, followed by 2 blackbirds who know and trust me! Baby Robin is totally unafraid of me and I think the blackbirds will soon feed out of my hand (as they do with an elderly neighbour who whistles them up for food)....

[bjd]

Thanks, Bixa for the search. I had a look in French and it seems those irises are hard to obtain here. I'm not keen on ordering plants online anyway because many of the big nurseries are in the north, where growing conditions are quite different. We usually have hot, dry summers and many plants don't survive. On the other hand, we have colder winters than those on the south coast, so plants have to be hardier.

So I end up buying locally or else getting cuttings or plants from friends' gardens.

My garden is full anyway, because the things that do grow well, like [these anémones de japon|http://photossupl.free.fr/anemone%20du%20japon.jpg] or gaillarda or nigella or escholtzia tend to take over and reseed or reroot all over the place.

[bjd]

photossupl.free.fr/anemone%20du%20japon.jpg

Sorry, I screwed up the link

[bixaorellana]

Ahhhhh, Bjd, those anenomes are beyond lovely! Yeah, I also have a fondness for the tough, messy plants that try to take over. Gaillardia are easy to pot up and give away. Most people are delighted by how well they do. I'd love to have drifts of nigella all over the place!

I know what you mean about mail-order suppliers. I've lived in the deep south US & companies further north that wouldn't ship until their springtime, didn't do me any good. And I can't get named varieties of anything around here. Usually, if I see an iris in bloom that I like, I buy it. And if I see a non-blooming iris for sale at a good price, I'm likely to buy that, too. I've had some very nice surprises that way. They're really tough & will grow in pots, so if you're offered any, take them & tuck them around your garden.

[bjd]

Nigella is really easy -- just throw in the seeds and before you know it, they are everywhere. I originally sowed them because I like blue flowers, but many seem to become white after a while. They reseed easily, but don't look nice when they dry up.

[spindrift]

Another self-seeding wonder is Aquilegia.....grows everywhere....

[bazfaz]

Has the ophiopogon nigrescens fadd away?

[spindrift]

No, Baz, it is still with me. It hasn't done much but it is alive! Soldiering on ;D You can see it in a terracotta pot on the step next to the white tulips. It has been a disappointment

[bazfaz]

Strange. You've seen the black grass in a poy by the front door and it fourishes. Give it a chemical high N feed.

[Deleted]

A chemical high? Have you never seen what happens in The Little Shop of Horrors?

[spindrift]

Oh! in POTTTTT
I reckon it just doesn't like the conditions in my garden (cold, wet, grey, monotonous).