Outdoor planting

Phill Dyson

Western Thunderer
40126 said:
Thats what i want mine to be like. But my present garden is too small. I'm gonna start off in the garage (already had permission off the boss  :thumbs: :thumbs:), then maybe if we move house in the future, it has to have a railway friendly garden !!  :))

Steve  :thumbs:

Yes I must admit, when we moved about ten years ago, the wife was looking at houses while I was looking for gardens & garages/out buildings  ;D

Phill  :))
 

40126

Western Thunderer
Phill Dyson said:
Yes I must admit, when we moved about ten years ago, the wife was looking at houses while I was looking for gardens & garages/out buildings  ;D

Phill  :))

Ha Ha Ha Thats exactly what i was doing last year when we were looking at houses !!  :D

Steve  :thumbs:
 

Steve Cook

Flying Squad
A bit of an update on the Lonicera Nitida that I used at the shed end of the line, posted as an example of the growth rate of the stuff over time (might be useful for some of some of us garden chaps). For the record the soil is essentially clay, the border was dug over and mixed with compost. For the first year (2009) they were fed with Miricle Gro every three weeks or so, they had three feeds I think over 2010, for 2011 and 2012 they've been left to fend for themselves. They get the sun first thing and go into shadow early afternoon, say 14:00. They are watered during summer, especially if hot, but we often get enough rain to stop me bothering. I've shown the photos after they've been trimmed in 2011 to gauge the growth into 2012.The last photo shows current status after trimming today.

In the ground at the start of June 2009

Lonicera Nitida growth start June 2009.JPG

Growth through to end of May 2010, a good first year :)

Lonicera Nitida growth end May 2010.JPG

Is wasn't trimmed in 2010, apart from the odd straggly bit. Growth through to mid May 2011

Lonicera Nitida growth mid May 2011.JPG

Bit of shearing

Lonicera Nitida trim mid May 2011.JPG

Growth through to start of April 2012

Lonicera Nitida growth end March 2012.JPG

Post trim April 2012

Lonicera Nitida trim end Mar 2012.JPG

Its not so obvious from some of the photos, but each year the bush is getting denser and the angle of the embankment after trimming is getting towards being more suitably shallow, hopefully next year it will be spot on. Its also growing nicely behind the line and up the fence - the honeysuckles that used to be up against the fence came out last year so there is more space for the Lonicera and less competition for water and nutrients.
 

lancer1027

Western Thunderer
Hi Steve, that Lonicera is coming on a treat now:thumbs:. Is it just the original 5 plants or have you added more at a later date.

Rob
 

Steve Cook

Flying Squad
Looks like it's turning into a nice scenic break there Steve.:thumbs:
Cheers Scott, its getting there slowly :)

Hi Steve, that Lonicera is coming on a treat now:thumbs:. Is it just the original 5 plants or have you added more at a later date.
Hi Rob
I added another three plants to the right of the original five, all of them at the front edge of the border. If I knew then what I know now, I'd have pushed the boat out and added another 5 behind the line instead of the honeysuckles, as well as using the Lonicera rather than the box - that would have given a much nicer effect and have been more or less what I would like within a 3 year timescale. Mind you, at around £25 for four, it gets expensive quickly - thats why the other part of line was grown from cuttings with a couple of more mature plants thrown in for good measure - its much cheaper, it just takes a lot longer :)
Steve
 

Phill Dyson

Western Thunderer
Glad to see it's getting nicely established now Steve :).........it's dead easy to get cuttings going too isn't it ;)

BTW you can of course put a few cuttings quite close together if you want them to establish quicker :thumbs:

Phill
 

Steve Cook

Flying Squad
Getting cuttings going isn't too bad, think my success rate dropped to about 40% in the end though - wrong time of year to plant (August) and probably not enough water if I'm honest. Mind you, squashing the end of a cutting with pliers or hammer, soaking in water and sticking in a pot of rooting compound wasn't hard and quite enjoyable when some of them get going.

I'm just trying your tip on putting a couple close together to see if that helps, planting at the beginning of spring might work in my favour too. Got a long way to go to get the effect you have though :)
 

BrushType4

Western Thunderer
I have a box hedge and when I clip it, I put as many clippings as I can be bothered with, in any small gaps at the base of the existing plants. Trim, drip (in a hormone potting compund) and plant. Some live, some don't, but over time you soon get a thick hedge.

Box is very slow growing, but that's it's strength that though it takes an age to establish it will hardly need any trimming once it's at the size you want. More time running trains! :thumbs:
 

Phill Dyson

Western Thunderer
The only Box I have round my railway was a big mistake, I would never use it again as it is quite expensive & takes forever to get to track height, on the plus side though as Phil says when it does get to the required height it requires little or no trimming.

Begansens Gold on the other hand is cheaper, looks better IMO (as it has much smaller leaves) & will grow into a very good landscape for a railway quite quickly, it does require more trimming, but I find that's a small price to pay (I find it needs trimming 3 or 4 times a year once established)

Phill :)
 

iploffy

OC Blue Brigade
Any idea's on climbing plants guys, I would like to cover the rear of the boards facing the house allowing them to grow through the ornate garden fencing

Ian
 

BrushType4

Western Thunderer
Any idea's on climbing plants guys, I would like to cover the rear of the boards facing the house allowing them to grow through the ornate garden fencing

Ian

I'd go for Honeysuckle or Clematis. You could try a Clematis Montana which is a very vigorous climber, but there are loads to choose from. Clematis Lasurstern has blue and yellow flowers :thumbs:

Edit. My director of household finances suggests Clematis Perle d'Azur and that's blue too!
 

lancer1027

Western Thunderer
OK a question,
Is there much difference between Lonicera Nitida and Beggansens Gold. Which is the prefered option.
The reason behind this question is i will be buying some plants at the weekend and want to know the best one to get.

Rob
 

Steve Cook

Flying Squad
Hi Rob
As Phill mentioned above, its all basically the same species (Honeysuckle), there are just variations on a theme.

Lonicera Nitida seems to be the main species of honeysuckle bushes as opposed to climbers. Baggensens Gold is a bit like a sub-species of Lonicera Nitida ie same family, slightly different characteristics (more yellow than Lonicera Nitida). Either would do you I think, my recommendation would be to try and find Lonicera Nitida if you can as it settles to a nice green during late summer through to spring when it gains a yellow hint. I've planted some Lonicera Twiggy, a similar yellow colour to BG but it seems more reluctant to grow than the Nitida or BG.

Just be careful when you go to not buy a climber like Lonicera Japonica - easy to recognise by having larger leaves and being a flowering honeysuckle. These are often sold climbing up a couple of garden canes, great for attracting bees but not so good if you want to grow a bush.

Hope you like ladybirds by the way, my record this year is 23 of them within a 3 foot length of the Nitida, soaking up the morning sunshine :)

HTH
Steve
 

iploffy

OC Blue Brigade
S8300301.JPG

The fencing as shown above the cement mixer with the roots behind the wall leading to the garden. I want it to run through the fencing to create a green back drop to the railway
 

Steve Cook

Flying Squad
You could consider an English Ivy (Hedera Helix) as well Ian. Easy to grow, doesn't really care where you stick it in terms of sun or shade and can be trimmed at whatever point you want in the year. Its an evergreen which is a bonus, but it is considered an invasive plant - not a problem if you don't mind hacking it back regularly.
 

Phill Dyson

Western Thunderer
Dead easy to get cuttings going off both Rob, so you will not need too many, unless you are in a rush for really fast results :)
 
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