THE Gardening Thread

[neko]

Seee how i'm using capitals and everything - this is a serious thread.

 

Admittedly, this is not going to be a thread with mass appeal. It seems most forumites still haven't left home (or school) yet, let alone want to spend money and time on plants. For them this thread will be for future reference only.

 

Gardening is definitely a big hobby of mine, but I'm no expert - don't know half the names of the plants. I'm also lucky to have a considerable amount of spare time in the summer months to indulge in it, and enough space to keep me busy. I can't fathom how most people with real jobs get anything accomplished with just weekends and evenings available. I'd love to see how other forumites have made out because I have a lot of time (and rep) for people who like gardening.

 

Last week I sifted through literally hundreds of images before the wife went back to London for a visit. She wanted to show all her friends and family where we live. It took me days to organize all the pictures, so now i'm going to share some with you, whether you like it or not....

 

This is one half of the front garden we inherited six years ago - pretty, but kind of boring. It has nice 'bones' with some nice maples and flowering shrubs. It is on a busy street however, so you can't really sit out there. There is a massive 12' hedge so you can't see the cars, but you can definitely hear it.

 

Oh, and one other thing - I hate grass. Love water though.

 

 

To me, it cried out for a sunken pond, so over the first winter I dug out a two tiered pond with waterfall and designed some cedar decks as 'pads' to add focal points and definition to the yard. I did all this by hand, by myself over a few months.

 

 

 

here are the fruits of all this labour. The pond is quite magical and the waterfall does mask some of the street noise. The green floating stuff is not algae, but a fast growing aquatic moss that purifies the water and helps keep it crystal clear. The decks are a good place for a rest or suntan, and the cats like to hang out and drink from the pond. There is no fish or animal life unfortunately - the raccoons would make short work of any tasty fish treats.

 

 

 

coco drinking in middle

[neko]

From front door

 

 

[neko]

THis is what the house looked like coming through the hedge from the street...

 

 

And this is what it looks like now, walking past the pond on your left...

 

[SpeedyG]

I spent years trying to create a Japanese water garden in Orlando but alas the climate wouldn't play fair. I fully intend on moving somewhere with a better climate just so I can have one.

 

I had plenty of fish in mine, but we dug it deep, 8ft, so they could stay out of harms way. We had Koi, Golden Orfe, it was a delight.

[AVEEZ]

Wow thats lovely - I have a very small garden but I love it - I have vegs growing in it and plants but everything is minature due to the space - I have a minaure weeping willow and a minature Japanese Red Leaf Maple..

 

cherry tomatos, potatoes, garlic and many other herbs, lettuces and cabbages - all growing in harmony side by side with regular garden plants.. I have lovely little fairy lights and a chiminea for cooler summer evenings..

 

I too live near a main road and although the Clemetis growing uop the side of the shed blocks out the sight of the cars you can as you s ay still hear them.. but hey ho its mine and I love it..

 

I dont actually have any pictures of it but I may take some this evening.. its no where near as grand as your, nor does it have the potential to be but again I love it.

[neko]

Thanks for the compliments - look forward to seeing what others have done in different places.

 

Here is a similar situation in the side garden. Originally it was just a thin wasteland to dump shit and go from front to back through a horrible gate past the (nice) neighbours house. No screening, no privacy, nothing to look at...

 

 

Couple of years ago I decided to basically link up all the gardens with this network of cedar decks (all on 2'-0"/4'-0"/8'-0" modules). The side garden was the 'last spike' and now you can walk completely around the house without touching grass or dirt. I like how these decks frame garden spaces and cover up concrete paths or poor growing areas. Hard surfaces are great for arranging pots - I have over sixty of the same colour/glaze throughout the property....you can never have too many pots.

 

This is the 'zen' garden with black bamboo and three large stone representing three wise men from ancient japanese tradition. The stones (or wisemen) are supposed to be placed near the entry or path to guard the house from evil spirits, but they should be discreet, not obvious.

 

[Jennings]

Fancy doing mine. I hate gardening. I will let you have a can of my Special Brew.

[neko]

three wise men

 

 

looking towards the back yard (south) - cedar lattice screen to block view of neighbours on right...

 

[Stouffer]

Damn fine that Neko.

 

I'm still waiting for my frigging greenhouse and shed to arrrive.

 

Booerns.

[neko]

This is the original other half of the front garden from the front door...

 

 

Last year I ripped out the lawn and built the boardwalk around the perimeter that now links the front pond to the side zen garden. It is still a young garden, so the planting needs to mature a bit. I actually like sitting out here, since it has loads of shade and privacy and a good view of pond.

 

 

link from side garden...

 

distorted panorama showing pond (left) and side garden (right)

[neko]

front gate from garden path (pond on right / boardwalk left)

 

[neko]

I'll save the back garden for tomorrow, I think...got to leave something in reserve.

[Original202]

Good work neko. And not a cunting dandelion in sight, do you have them over there?

[sir roger]

Thats an excellent use of the space Neko & looks a beautifully peaceful area.

 

We moved into our house 5 years ago , and inherited a jungle of a back garden about

150 feet long. We have gradually transformed it area by area & it is now the most beautiful place to sit when the weather is clement.

 

My wife knows all of the plant names ( in English & latin ) , I tend to describe them along the lines of ' the red one that looks like a bell '. I had no interest in the garden before , but have come round.

 

Look forward to the back garden tomorrow.

[TheBitch]

Thats all well and nice Neko. Have some rep in fact, but its no comparison to TheBitches.

 

Heres the garden shed stuck in the corner, look how nature is at one with it, long 'grass' type stuff, a bird table and bird bath. I love birds me. All the branches from the trees are supposed to overhang and take any sunlight from me.

 

 

This here is where I have my nettles and thats a real dandelion right there.

 

 

These next two pictures are my art deco corner. If you look closely you can see laminate flooring, pipework, an extractor and some scaffold!!

 

 

Finally I have the piece de resistance. Sticky bud. Like from when you were a kid. All retro and that.

[neko]

Good work neko. And not a cunting dandelion in sight, do you have them over there?

 

weeding is an ongoing event (of which i should be doing now).

 

i used to have a pet lizard that grazed on dandelions - they were his favorite food, so i used to keep some around for feed stock.

 

here are a couple of details of sunflowers that used to grow wild from scattered bird seed from the bird feeders....

 

i used to like how they would dominate the garden. really easy to grow and amazing to look at in bunches.

 

nine headed one

 

driveway !

 

[Flying Pig]

It's like trying to compare a vintage French white with the best German beer money can buy. Both are truly excellent and should be enjoyed on their own merit. Running one of them down whilst lauding the other is a bit shit.

[neko]

bitchy - the lawn needs mowing.

 

personally, i despise grass - total waste of space, money and time (unless you have kids or a dog).

 

it's funny how much effort people put into a beautiful green carpet of lawn over here, and then do nothing with it. right now there is a beetle (chafer beetle) infestation that is turning everyones lawn into something that resembles the western front 1917.

 

all the raccoons, skunks and birds rip up the grass looking for the grubs feeding on the roots of the grass...it's hilarious to see people crying over their precious lawns.

[Paulie Dangerously]

bitchy - the lawn needs mowing.

 

personally, i despise grass - total waste of space, money and time (unless you have kids or a dog).

 

it's funny how much effort people put into a beautiful green carpet of lawn over here, and then do nothing with it. right now there is a beetle (chafer beetle) infestation that is turning everyones lawn into something that resembles the western front 1917.

 

all the raccoons, skunks and birds rip up the grass looking for the grubs feeding on the roots of the grass...it's hilarious to see people crying over their precious lawns.

 

Are those them fucking annoying little brown/black mottled beetles that are EVERYWHERE at the minute?

[neko]

Thats an excellent use of the space Neko & looks a beautifully peaceful area.

 

We moved into our house 5 years ago , and inherited a jungle of a back garden about

150 feet long. We have gradually transformed it area by area & it is now the most beautiful place to sit when the weather is clement.

 

My wife knows all of the plant names ( in English & latin ) , I tend to describe them along the lines of ' the red one that looks like a bell '. I had no interest in the garden before , but have come round.

 

Look forward to the back garden tomorrow.

 

long narrow english gardens really appeal to me - i'd try and turn it into a sequence of distinct spaces with different planting/personalities - with a nice secret shed at the very back.

[Guest ShoePiss]

looks great Neko, those stones you have down in between the cedar decking. What do you have to put down underneath them? Just gravel and sand?

[neko]

Are those them fucking annoying little brown/black mottled beetles that are EVERYWHERE at the minute?

 

bastards can fly too - thankfully they only live a few weeks....

 

[neko]

looks great Neko, those stones you have down in between the cedar decking. What do you have to put down underneath them? Just gravel and sand?

 

good eye stumpy - just a bed of sand and landscape mat.

 

i did it in a hurry last fall and kind of regret it - they do move a bit because they aren't that thick/heavy.

 

might do that over again next year.

[Paulie Dangerously]

bastards can fly too - thankfully they only live a few weeks....

 

 

They're the littler fuckers

[Paulie Dangerously]

This is my front garden:

 

 

It's usually maintained but as our landlord is being a bit of a twat we're refusing to do any standard maintaining of it. You'll note that there are three main sections:

 

The orangey weeds on the left, the green weeds in the middle, and the purple weeds on the right