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Not so distant future - walled garden

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  • Gers
    Gers Posts: 13,334 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    Sit, SIT? You won't have time to sit! :-)


    I fully expect to.... however I may be an optimist!
  • RAS
    RAS Posts: 36,136 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    edited 18 June 2013 at 12:32PM
    Gers wrote: »
    Meant to add that there is a patch of land fenced off within the facing field which is 'attached' to the house and looks to have been a garden in the past. If that is facing slightly west of south then I have another wonderful challenge there. A bench on a lawn so I can sit and watch the sea??

    Checked a bit more; you have nearly a metre in front of the house that is currently "garden" with a cotoneaster and some daffs. You could make quite a lot of that little sun trap.

    The patch of land has low walls on the west and north sides which is good and someone has planted a bush (possibly flowering currant?) in the south west corner which will reduce the wind.

    Pity the gate is in the far north east corner; I would be tempted to plant a hedge or similiar along that east boundary as that is where the coldest winds will come from in the spring. Also it has the least interesting view IMO.

    Depending on whether there are any height limits on the boundaries because of highways considerations, that patch could be a real sun-trap.

    An awful lot depends on how much shelter you can get in there. Check Lea Gardens in Shetland http://!!!!!!/m8G9w
    If you've have not made a mistake, you've made nothing
  • You should get yourself a Pinterest account and start storing away ideas for the house and garden. It sounds so exciting! Where in Scotland? :)
  • Gers
    Gers Posts: 13,334 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    RAS wrote: »
    Checked a bit more; you have nearly a metre in front of the house that is currently "garden" with a cotoneaster and some daffs. You could make quite a lot of that little sun trap.

    The patch of land has low walls on the west and north sides which is good and someone has planted a bush (possibly flowering currant?) in the south west corner which will reduce the wind.

    Pity the gate is in the far north east corner; I would be tempted to plant a hedge or similiar along that east boundary as that is where the coldest winds will come from in the spring. Also it has the least interesting view IMO.

    Depending on whether there are any height limits on the boundaries because of highways considerations, that patch could be a real sun-trap.

    An awful lot depends on how much shelter you can get in there. Check Lea Gardens in Shetland http://!!!!!!/m8G9w

    Thanks for all that info, it's impressive that you identified all that from google maps! I'm away from home just now but will reply properly when I get back.

    :beer:
  • Gers
    Gers Posts: 13,334 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    Place is on the west coast - remote without being isolated.

    Thanks for the advice so far, I really appreciate the efforts that have been put in to help me.

    I know that planting has to come way behind kitchens, bathrooms and so on, however somehow the garden is more exciting.

    :)
  • fawd1
    fawd1 Posts: 715 Forumite
    Gers wrote: »
    I know that planting has to come way behind kitchens, bathrooms and so on, however somehow the garden is more exciting.

    :)


    True, but some pruning/planting might only take up one weekend at most and sets the scene for the following year. Climbing plants especially will need time to set down decent roots before they really do anything (or anything pretty at least). I planted climbing roses last year and the first year they climbed beautifully but produced one solitary rose bud. This year however, they are covered in blooms. Taking into account these are the cheapest plants I could find (poundland bareroot plants for my sins), I think patience has paid off. So, it might be worth planting some stuff this year so that next year, when you finally have time to go into the garden, there's something decent to look at.

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  • phoebe1989seb
    phoebe1989seb Posts: 4,452 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    fawd1 wrote: »
    True, but some pruning/planting might only take up one weekend at most and sets the scene for the following year. Climbing plants especially will need time to set down decent roots before they really do anything (or anything pretty at least). I planted climbing roses last year and the first year they climbed beautifully but produced one solitary rose bud. This year however, they are covered in blooms. Taking into account these are the cheapest plants I could find (poundland bareroot plants for my sins), I think patience has paid off. So, it might be worth planting some stuff this year so that next year, when you finally have time to go into the garden, there's something decent to look at.

    GetAttachment.aspx?tnail=0&messageId=3fa5c981-daa9-11e2-894d-00215ad7feac&Aux=4%7C0%7C8D03CCD2FB89C70%7C%7C0%7C0%7C0%7C0%7C%7C&cid=15e15c66838a6292&maxwidth=220&maxheight=160&size=Att&blob=MHwyMDEzLTA2LTIwIDIwLjE0LjU2LmpwZ3xpbWFnZS9qcGVn

    I agree that it's often worth taking time to at least get started in the garden even though other (indoor) jobs seem to take precedence......

    We moved into our Georgian project house two years ago - it was a *real* project with no kitchen, bare stone walls in need of re-plastering, collapsing bits, basic electrics et al - and the one beacon of light was the beautiful lawned garden with a stream running through it.

    The terrace adjoining the house was another story, having been Tarmac-ed over and turned into a parking area for eight cars compete with corrugated plastic carport......and all this in an AONB :o Despite having far better things to do, early this Spring we decided to take a short break from internal renovations and tackle the terrace so that if we get a good Summer we have somewhere pleasant to sit with a G&T ;)

    So far it's taken us almost four months and we're still a long way to go - it's a big terrace, LOL - and it's primarily an ornamental kitchen garden, but some of the plants we've added to give structure and colour will hopefully be well established by the time we've finished restoring the house. If we'd put it off till that was done, we'd have to wait another few years for things to mature.......

    OP - your walled garden sounds like it will be wonderful, in an amazing location! We had one in a previous house and I miss it loads :o GL with it :)
    Mortgage-free for fourteen years!

    Over £40,000 mis-sold PPI reclaimed
  • Gers
    Gers Posts: 13,334 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    Well, things are now progressing well so here's an update.

    The move back north happened rather more swiftly than anticipated :j and I can now see myself in the cottage before the end of March.

    I have been able to get into the walled space and much of the jungle has been cleared. I will post photos when I get them onto photobucket.

    Currently the ground is rather sodden, a mixture of bad drainage and heavy rainfall. The surrounding landscape is mostly boggy with lots of volcanic and unforgiving rock underneath. I have walked around and found a couple of forlorn rose bushes, a large spruce tree in one corner, a raised bed against the most northerly wall and a couple of straggly unknown bushes. There's also a compost bin, a small paved area and some overgrown brambles.

    Am thinking of borrowing a goat from a local farmer to munch around and do more clearing.
  • I shall watch this with interest...as I have a combination of bad drainage and heavy rainfall (made worse by wind and clay soil:().

    Open to nicking (errr...borrowing;)) all good ideas....
  • I_have_spoken
    I_have_spoken Posts: 5,051 Forumite
    edited 5 January 2014 at 1:56PM
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