The Garden Update...

 Your probably bored of the garden posts by now, but I'm not, so get used to it. Here is just a bunch of photos, everyone loves a before and after shot.  Oh and i ramble on about the garden.  I basically want to be monty don on gardeners world.  Americans will have no idea what i am talking about.  Nothing new there....:-)

The most recent image of the garden and fence, its funny to think non of this was here 6 months ago

This was a really wild friday night updating my gardening book.  I keep all the tags and then can write alongside them any notes i have such as when they should be trimmed, or if i want to move them before next spring.  Its riveting stuff i know. What can i say it makes me happy.  The hydrangea trees are some of my favorite things i planted, filling out above the fence and giving some great structure to the garden.  The plan was for this to be the white garden and to provide a barrier between the house and then the road. 

Here i planted two "harry lauders walking stick" also know as corkscrew hazelnut.  It was discovered in 1800 in (of course) the english hedgerow.  Its branches are contorted and provide great winter interest.  The plan is to have a few more box woods around them.  All in time...

Here is the new gate and arch way that i put in a few weeks back.  It opens on to a little wild area, that next spring will be full of wild flowers, a little meadow of sorts.  I have this idea of a path mowed through it leading up int the woods.  Also in the picture is my first peach that grew on the tree.  It promptly fell off after i took this picture, so no peach pies at Jordan cottage this season :-)

A cute view looking at the back of the house.  This is the little field that is also part of the property and is divided by the stream from the main house. I have some amazing hard wood trees.

Here is a mid progress shot.  Cant believe what mother nature can do in a few months, with the right soil, food and water.  

Here is is today about 4 months later. The willow has grown in amazingly, and the hydrangea trees are in full force. You can barely see the stone bench or fence.  I cant wait to see it next spring.  There is wisteria growing along the fence with lots of raspberry and other brables intertwing along it.  Ideally it will be a great habitat to attract birds and also create a great frame work for more plants to grow over.  I have recently added it some very young ivy plants that will then cover the fence even more.  Willow (supposedly per mum) is very easy to root, so currently i have cuttings that we will see if they take root.  The idea is to keep adding in more plants so that the hedge next spring is really dense.

This is the master plan, the main house with the tree that is giving the symmetry to the garden with the fence running down the left side.  That is the white garden area.  So far there is hydrangea trees (3), white engilsh old style roses (3) annabell hydrangea (3), bobo hydrangea (1) he will probably move as he shades into a pale green.  Oak leaf hydranges (3), ornamentl thistle, bugbane, culvert root (my favorite) and many more...all in white.

progress shot

Obsessed with my double balled box wood.  Arne Maynard is a constant reference point. He obviously has an endless budget but i have to start somewhere.  Large topiaries everywhere is what i want, but slowly and surely i will get them.  Seriously take the time to look at his work, simple, edited and beautiful. Gardening with restraint is key and i love all his projects.  

Arne Maynard....dream garden .  Anybody want to give me a 100 boxwoods??

More garden inspiration, oh Arne...

Exciting! My tomatoes are coming on like crazy.  Never really planned on having any veg this year, but just planted them and they are pretty self sufficient ! Now the big decision is where to put the veg garden permanently.

I have jabbered on about all my fruit trees, and here are the apples starting to come in.  Planting trees is one of my favorite things to do, yes I'm that exciting.  For the same price as lunch you can put something in the ground, and with a little care and attention it can live on for years and years.  Its pretty amazing.  This past weekend i put in a new maple and really want more!!

I lost my shirt again.... its in the bush somewhere.....but here is a great shot of the hydrangea tree.  

My essential cuppa always with me...

Isn't this what we should all be waking up to everyday.  The fog and dew, its literally like being at home in England, but then it gets hot, unlike England.  The best of both worlds..kinda of...I just need a beautiful topiary emerging from the woods...that would be perfect...

Close up of my weird twig fence.  Thats the raspberry plant starting to take over.  Next year this will be covered with fruits.  

I loved seeing this guy but he needs to stay off the hydrangea's

This is not actually my rose, but it will look like this next year, i promise...

This is my rose, its a terrible photo but i love them.  This is a David Austin (this didnt' mean anything to me, but it was my mothers first question "is this a David Austin" apparently a good grower, and apparently as the nursery told me not very appreciated in the states, so i obviously then bought them all).  Anyway they are British roses, old style, full flowing and smell beautiful. I planted one but quickly realized soon as you start to cut flowers then you are left with an empty garden, so then i planted two more.  This way I can cut a few from each bush and not really notice.  They need attention.  Im all about gardening that needs attention.  Thats the therapy of it.  The Japanese beetle love a munch on them, so you need to spray, you need to dead head to encourage more blooms.  There is something rather lovely about looking after something and seeing it flourish.

always make sure to measure your balls correctly 

I WANT YOU ALL FOR MYSELF!!!

Bug bane and culvert root add great height to a border and they are beautiful old plants.  Look at Sissinghurst, and Vita she loved these plants.  In the below photo you can see them reaching for the sky and I just can't wait for them to spring to life next year.

At Sissinghurst the white garden is absolutely stunning.  Im just finishing reading a book written by the wife of Vita Sachville-West's grandson which takes you through the creation of the garden, with the life that was lived there intertwined in the story.  A great read.  It stresses the importance of getting the foundations in sooner rather than later.  Big shrubs, roses, box, all need years to grow and this is what rings through my head as a rush to use the last few planting months of this year.  

My essentials...

Thats Annabelle on the left.  She was discovered by Harriet Kirkpatrick in 1910 when she was out riding in the country side in Ann, Illinois. She and her sister then obviously dug it up from the wild, as we all would have done, and then started sharing it wit there friends.  Basically this means when i am pulling up a plant in your front garden you should encourage me....

Look at these little box woods in the bed in front of the house.  They are perfect.  I want to eventually move them out further into the lawn so that the bed sort of over flows into the grass.  Next spring it will develop more.  Also here is lambs ear, lavender, russian sage, the irises that weirdly re bloomed this year. At the back is a plant very similar to buddleia but less invasive.  Its a haven for bees and i have so many frogs.  Also i did have a gardner snake in here but i relocated him to the field.  They are good for the yard but they still give me the willies so he was outta there....

What a shot.   Thats me from my best angle.  This is a little nursery in Patterson, NY.  Its not fancy, but the plants are so healthy.  They are not overly preened or made to look good.  They just grow.  Put them in good soil and watch them go for it.  This is my kind of perfect day.

This is my mums first visit....

....and this was a few weeks back with my niece. The front flower beds have really filled in.  Here its all green and purple and blue.  Im all about a color story and it works with the grey of the house so well.  New lights either side of the kitchen door have gone in.  Solar so I'm being green and top tip here.  Solar light can be so harsh sometimes so i took the lights apart and added a lighting gel, so that they give off more of the Edison glow.  It actually works...

There you go, no nasty white light here, a nice orange glow.  Whats great is that they come on at night and turn themselves off and don't need wiring.  Basically the easiest thing to do.  The hardest part was sinking the pole in the ground.  I was thinking about wall mounting but i wanted to get ivy going up the house and this is a great way to get that going.  I found at another nursery some pre grown lengths, so they are wrapped around the poles and are already arching off to grown over the house. I know people freak about climbers on the house, but as long as you watch it and again trim it all will be fine.  Ivy does not grow as fast as people think.  

If you want to know the cheapest places to get boxwood in a 1 hour drive of my house, then I'm your man.  Just saying....