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#1
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trees and bushes
Hi there, I'm looking for some good advice for a small piece of ground
I have at the very back of my back garden. The part is around 10ft long and 5ft wide and would like to plant some nice shurbs/trees at the back, but ones that have all year long colour, I particularyl like Laburnium, although I know it is decidous and maybe a rhododendron for all year leave colour. These are only a few things I have thought of. At the front some good ongoing colour from a variety of flowers, I particularly like wild flowers. At the moment I have some lavender,lavatera and a buttelfy bush. Any suggestions for various plants and shurbs would be appreciated, to give all year round interest. I particularly like flowers that would be found in the wild poppies, foxgloves etc. thanks Margaret |
#3
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trees and bushes
In addition to Sue's very pertinent comments, 10'x5' is not very much room for
"some shrubs and trees". Do you already have the lavatera, butterfly bush and lavender planted in this area? If so, you are not going to have too much more room for anything other than some flowering perennials. pam - gardengal SugarChile wrote: Hi Margaret, We need to know where you live and what the climate is like in order to give good recommendations. Is the area in full sun, or is it shady? What is your soil like (clay, sandy?) and do you get adequate rainfall, or are you willing to supplement the water? Sue -- Zone 6, Southcentral PA "margaret" wrote in message om... Hi there, I'm looking for some good advice for a small piece of ground I have at the very back of my back garden. The part is around 10ft long and 5ft wide and would like to plant some nice shurbs/trees at the back, but ones that have all year long colour, I particularyl like Laburnium, although I know it is decidous and maybe a rhododendron for all year leave colour. These are only a few things I have thought of. At the front some good ongoing colour from a variety of flowers, I particularly like wild flowers. At the moment I have some lavender,lavatera and a buttelfy bush. Any suggestions for various plants and shurbs would be appreciated, to give all year round interest. I particularly like flowers that would be found in the wild poppies, foxgloves etc. thanks Margaret |
#4
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trees and bushes
Pam wrote in message ...
In addition to Sue's very pertinent comments, 10'x5' is not very much room for "some shrubs and trees". Do you already have the lavatera, butterfly bush and lavender planted in this area? If so, you are not going to have too much more room for anything other than some flowering perennials. pam - gardengal SugarChile wrote: Hi Margaret, We need to know where you live and what the climate is like in order to give good recommendations. Is the area in full sun, or is it shady? What is your soil like (clay, sandy?) and do you get adequate rainfall, or are you willing to supplement the water? Sue -- Zone 6, Southcentral PA "margaret" wrote in message om... Hi there, I'm looking for some good advice for a small piece of ground I have at the very back of my back garden. The part is around 10ft long and 5ft wide and would like to plant some nice shurbs/trees at the back, but ones that have all year long colour, I particularyl like Laburnium, although I know it is decidous and maybe a for rhododendron all year leave colour. These are only a few things I have thought of. At the front some good ongoing colour from a variety of flowers, I particularly like wild flowers. At the moment I have some lavender,lavatera and a buttelfy bush. Any suggestions for various plants and shurbs would be appreciated, to give all year round interest. I particularly like flowers that would be found in the wild poppies, foxgloves etc. thanks Margaret Hi there I just went out and measured the area and its 12.5ft long and 7 ft wide, so a bit bigger than I thought. I live in Scotland, so the climate can be really cold in winter and is now starting to get warmer with reaonally climbing temperatures from now to august int the region of 19oC - 24oC. THere hasn't been much rain in March, really nice actually, but sometimes there can be a lot for and can go on for days. The area that I want to plant faces west, so gets the most sunshine in the afternoon. The soil is quite moist and defiantely not sandy, so maybe more clay, but not totally. I do have the butterfly bush and lavatera, but they are just small, I only planted them last year. I'm just learning about gardening, and find part of the problem is there is so much to pick from. Basically I maybe want a coupld of evergreen shrubs/bushes like rhododendron and something else and a tree like Laburnium (I have always liked this tree), and so that something is always flowereing from spring to winter. So any good advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks margaret |
#5
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trees and bushes
I just went out and measured the area and its 12.5ft long and 7 ft
wide, so a bit bigger than I thought. I live in Scotland, so the climate can be really cold in winter and is now starting to get warmer with reaonally climbing temperatures from now to august int the region of 19oC - 24oC. THere hasn't been much rain in March, really nice actually, but sometimes there can be a lot for and can go on for days. The area that I want to plant faces west, so gets the most sunshine in the afternoon. The soil is quite moist and defiantely not sandy, so maybe more clay, but not totally. I do have the butterfly bush and lavatera, but they are just small, I only planted them last year. I'm just learning about gardening, and find part of the problem is there is so much to pick from. Basically I maybe want a coupld of evergreen shrubs/bushes like rhododendron and something else and a tree like Laburnium (I have always liked this tree), and so that something is always flowereing from spring to winter. Well, Rhododendrons are out -- too much sun and wrong soil pH (Rhodies typically like it a bit more acidic and it sounds like yours is more neutral). I'd also wonder about the drainage in this area -- if there's a great deal of rainfall and the area is primarily clay that would not bode well. You also do not define what "really cold in winter" means -- for example, do you spend much time below 0 degrees C or do you tend to stay above 5 degrees C? 24 degree C is not terribly bad (about 75 degrees F to us on the standard system) so if that's your idea of summer heat.... The size of the planting plot is fairly small, so you don't have too much room with which to work. How much room do you have to plant this tree and/or shrubs? (That is, how much space will the new plants occupy all to themselves and without competing with existing plants.) Note that Butterfly Bush can grow quite large quite quickly. Bear in mind also that most evergreen varieties grow slowly and take a long time to get to the size you likely want. The variety selected will also have to be able to handle the afternoon sun and possibly some poor winter weather conditions. Rhododendrons, as well as Azaleas, have nice floral sense, year round foliage depending upon climate and heights vary from about a meter and up. They also prefer more shade however, and well-drained, acidic soil and a North or East facing. These do not match your description well. Mountain Laurel is another option that hits as much as 2-3 meters in height, does well in sun to light shade but again prefers acidic soil that is well drained. These also tend to prefer North or East facing, but may do ok otherwise depending on the microclime. Some others on the newsgroup may have had better luck with these under conditions similar to yours so I won't naysay too much. James |
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