Such a lovely brick wall and lush green lawn! I love the flower beds, too. England is noted for its cottage gardens - chock full of flowers. Are there native plantings you can use that can handle the underground river area? If I had that, I'd put in buttonbush, which likes wet areas, and is a wonderful pollinator native to the South. Not sure what you have similar there. My soil is clay like yours, too - nasty stuff when wet and hard as a rock when dry. The native orchids are wonderful! Glad your neighbor is helping keep them alive. Is there a Native Plant Society there that can give recommendations? I wonder if you can transplant them by digging a large piece of sod with them and setting the whole thing in a more suitable area. That way the roots won't be disturbed and the soil biome is intact. As for non-native ornamentals, I can easily see geraniums, nasturtiums, and some sort of cascading flowering plant spilling out of your planter boxes on top of the fence. You could also do some trellis plantings alongside the fence and walls - climbing roses for instance. I had those in Maine - previously planted there and required very little care. You were fortunate to have a garden expert friend who helped plan this for you. I look forward to more garden posts as it evolves.
Monday you'll see what happened to the grass when the weather got too dry. It wasn't going to come back from that on its own.
So much water flows through our property, plants can't take it all. We truly had to divert some of it into the storm sewer pipes earlier than it would otherwise reach them. Even Sue didn't see a way to deal with our situation simply through plantings.
Sue's knowledge about gardening here is encyclopedic. When Sue says the orchids won't tolerate being moved, I believe her. The neighbors are willing to put up with leaving that strip unmowed all summer so we're just doing that. Sue will know what organization to turn to if we have to start keeping that strip mowed and have to take desperate steps to save the orchids. We are very lucky to know her.
One of my later posts will show some of the balcony boxes at full throttle. We've changed how we put them up, too.
I'm trying to go through this story a step at a time. It's hard at this time of year. I want to get ahead of myself, kind of like the daffodils are a month ahead of themselves (climate change in action).
Wow, that's quite a project! It'll be wonderful once you get it sorted, though.
You mentioned asking Sue for advice and she gave you a treasure of a book! I'd love to see some of her paintings and ideas, if you're comfortable sharing some of it. I admire watercolor artists.
Will the gabion wall be covered in moss or some stabilizing plants? I'm currently imagining an unsightly metal cage smack in the middle of the garden, but I can't think you'd leave it like that.
Such a lovely brick wall and lush green lawn! I love the flower beds, too. England is noted for its cottage gardens - chock full of flowers. Are there native plantings you can use that can handle the underground river area? If I had that, I'd put in buttonbush, which likes wet areas, and is a wonderful pollinator native to the South. Not sure what you have similar there. My soil is clay like yours, too - nasty stuff when wet and hard as a rock when dry. The native orchids are wonderful! Glad your neighbor is helping keep them alive. Is there a Native Plant Society there that can give recommendations? I wonder if you can transplant them by digging a large piece of sod with them and setting the whole thing in a more suitable area. That way the roots won't be disturbed and the soil biome is intact. As for non-native ornamentals, I can easily see geraniums, nasturtiums, and some sort of cascading flowering plant spilling out of your planter boxes on top of the fence. You could also do some trellis plantings alongside the fence and walls - climbing roses for instance. I had those in Maine - previously planted there and required very little care. You were fortunate to have a garden expert friend who helped plan this for you. I look forward to more garden posts as it evolves.
Monday you'll see what happened to the grass when the weather got too dry. It wasn't going to come back from that on its own.
So much water flows through our property, plants can't take it all. We truly had to divert some of it into the storm sewer pipes earlier than it would otherwise reach them. Even Sue didn't see a way to deal with our situation simply through plantings.
Sue's knowledge about gardening here is encyclopedic. When Sue says the orchids won't tolerate being moved, I believe her. The neighbors are willing to put up with leaving that strip unmowed all summer so we're just doing that. Sue will know what organization to turn to if we have to start keeping that strip mowed and have to take desperate steps to save the orchids. We are very lucky to know her.
One of my later posts will show some of the balcony boxes at full throttle. We've changed how we put them up, too.
I'm trying to go through this story a step at a time. It's hard at this time of year. I want to get ahead of myself, kind of like the daffodils are a month ahead of themselves (climate change in action).
Wow, that's quite a project! It'll be wonderful once you get it sorted, though.
You mentioned asking Sue for advice and she gave you a treasure of a book! I'd love to see some of her paintings and ideas, if you're comfortable sharing some of it. I admire watercolor artists.
Will the gabion wall be covered in moss or some stabilizing plants? I'm currently imagining an unsightly metal cage smack in the middle of the garden, but I can't think you'd leave it like that.
I'm not sure where we've put Sue's booklet. If I can find it, I'll scan in the main illustration.
You'll have to wait to see what happened with the unsightly metal cage full of rocks...
"Patience, grasshopper." 😅 Ok, I'll wait with semi-bated breath for an update on the wall.