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stone · 23-02-2009, 03:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spider

"stone" wrote in message
...

Hi

This seems like a nice place to land from what I read your all very
helpfull and knowledgable !!

Welcome to the ng. .... flattery will get you everywhere :~)

I have a garden 6m wide 8m long which has a path running the length
3.5m in from the right boundary.

Left side[

The left side has a small pond at the nearest end the rest is quite
rough covered in grass.

I want to make this wild with flowers etc for birds butterflies,
already get dragonflies over pond planting area around 4.5m x 2.8m this
area is flat topped and sloped towards the path

What would your advice be for this side ??

My first thought is that you'd do better with an evergreen hedge/planting
near the pond, so that you don't have a problem with leaf litter fouling the
water. Yew, privet, holly, cotoneaster lacteus, pyracantha, buckthorn,
evergreen berberis, some ceanothus, for tallish hedging. If you want
something around the 4-5 ft mark, then hypericum (sometimes semi-evergreen
in colder areas), dwarf berberis, some hebes, viburnum tinus, gorse (ulex)
if you're brave! For hedging away from the pond, which can be deciduous,
you could use/mix: hawthorn, blackthorn, potentilla fruticosa, wilder rose
types. You could drop in a small tree for occasion height, such as birch,
rowan, crab apple or cherries. You could also intertwine honeysuckle and,
perhaps, ivy. Ivy is great for wildlife, but can become a bit thuggish.

Right side

This has a 4ft pannel fence as a boundry I would like to put a hedge
along this side which could be kept to 4ft ish and be wild life
friendly.

Any suggestions as to hedge ??

Ideas for hedging here could come from my original list above, or you could
use beech or hornbeam. The prunus laurels (as opposed to Laurus nobils,
culinary bay tree) also make solid evergreen hedges, but can outgrow their
space if not watched.
You do not say where you are, or suggest the orientation of the fences (with
regard to sun, shade). Your soil type could also have a bearing on what you
plant, so you need to do some research, and we really need more information
from you.

The main area I want to put raised beds on for some veg etc.
Given the size 3,5m x 8m what size beds would you recomend ??

Veg growing is not my strong suit, but this is one area where you will need
to know your soil ph and condition. You will need sunshine or good light
levels. You will manage your raised beds more easily if they are roughly
4ft wide (length is up to you), so that you can cultivate them from a
pathway each side, to avoid treading on and compacting the soil. The deeper
the beds are, the better drainage will be, and the soil will tend to warm up
quicker. You could even use different depths for different crops, although
this may restrict your crop rotation. Bed depths can be anything from 4" to
12" (or deeper). The depth of one's pocket often has a bearing :~). You
will no doubt get advice from some of the *real* veg growers here.

Looking forward to your ideas

Thank you
stone

Hope this has been of some help.
Spider

Well thats great thank you gives me some hedging options which I wanted initialy.

Will try to up a plan so its easier for people (cant for some reason saying upload failed)

Cheers

Stone