How Does Your Garden Grow!? - Garden Pics Thread

redser7

Very nice, food for thought. Good width for sitting on too

Sonnenblumen

Thanks Redser, optimum height 450mm/18" with 300mm/12" cap finish makes for a very good height for sitting etc.:)

wreckless

very nice job indeed.

heres a few of the fruit pickings yesterday

actaully got a plastic bag full of jalapenos off 2 plants in my dads greenhouse.!!1 :eek:

HardyEustace

Sonnenblumen wrote: »

An attaractive Raised Bed/Planter with Drystone finish, features double wall construction: Donegal Quartz (Outer leaf) and 4" Concrete Solid Blocks (Inner leaf). The wall capping is Sandstone (mint).

The plants include Himalayan Birch (tree), Libertia Gold Leaf, Stipa Gigantica and Euonymus Blondii.

Love the Himalayan Birch. I've been reading up a bit about it and it seems perfect for small gardens. I'm a bit worried about it's height thought.

Is there a smaller version of this?

HardyEustace

redser7 wrote: »

Thanks a million for the detailed answer! And the reality check :-)

Actually one more thing I forgot to mention is that I had ties that drilled into the block walls and then were buried in the mortar.

At intervals along the wall I also had flat metal ties that were buried in the mortar to give it greater strength.

From chatting to people with experience for the wall foundation - width is just as important as depth as is the base for the foundation so that it can float well and avoid major stresses.

One last unexpected bonus was that you really get to know your neighbours. I was outside the house for about eight hours straight when we barrowed everything in and it was a great opportunity to chat to people.

Sonnenblumen

HardyEustace wrote: »

Love the Himalayan Birch. I've been reading up a bit about it and it seems perfect for small gardens. I'm a bit worried about it's height thought.

Is there a smaller version of this?

The Himalayan Birch (Betula Jacqmontii) is very attractive and a hugely popular choice, the snow white paper like peeling bark, a very attractive feature during the winter months. Himalayan's growth can be restricted when planted in pits/planters/raised beds but also if planted in the ground, can be easily pruned to preferred height.

Multi-stem versions are also available but tend to be very expensive in comparison to the single stems.

Sonnenblumen

wreckless - beautiful photographs with striking colourful composition. Well done.;)

SoupyNorman

Grown on my balcony

vixdname

Hi All,
See below a photo I took of my biggest potatoe dug up this year so far.
It a "Sarpo Mira" variety and weighs just under 2.5 lbs.
I have plenty of more potatoes growning so hopefully I might have a bigger monster yet to be dug up !!!! If i do I'll post it up.

casey junior

It looks like Damian without his glasses!

Sonnenblumen

Sometimes if at first it doesn't fit, try going over the top!:D

Dublinstiofán

I think its a Cowan Spud

vixdname

Sonnenblumen wrote: »

Sometimes if at first it doesn't fit, try going over the top!:D

A lot of work but really worth it in the end - its a beautiful tree and suits its environs so well - well done its a credit to you

jezko

Sonnenblumen wrote: »

Sometimes if at first it doesn't fit, try going over the top!:D

What is the Tree Sonnenblumen?

Sonnenblumen

It's a beautiful old Olive tree imported from Italy.

jezko

Sonnenblumen wrote: »

It's a beautiful old Olive tree imported from Italy.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=68200267

How well do they Grow over here??? Will it Fruit as well?with a Sunny / Sheltered Position??
It is a medium size evergreenTree right? (Never seen one in all honesty (Just on tv add's olive oil with the old folk jumping about)) :-)
I would have thought it quite close to the house..
Are you restricting it's Root system to restrict it's over all Size??
Did you Pick this for the Garden or your Client?

Sonnenblumen

The answer to your various Q's is Yes. I have no concerns regarding proximity to House, the tree does bear fruit but because of lower temps in Irl never ripens. We've been planting Olives for many years and never had any problems so long as they are planted in sheltered environments.

Sonnenblumen

Posters frequently seek advice/tips on suitable plants for screening. An ideal plant for screening an unwanted view or improve privacy or even a buffer against intrusive noise (traffic) is of course Bamboo. Many types of Bamboo from which to choose, but if space is limited do pick one of the clumping varieties, eg Phyllostachys etc. Bamboos do not require too much attention (important to water new plants regularly during warm spells for first 3 months) otherwise these quick growing plants are very independent and produce a beautiful lush screen.

casey junior

Sonnenblumen wrote: »

Posters frequently seek advice/tips on suitable plants for screening. An ideal plant for screening an unwanted view or improve privacy or even a buffer against intrusive noise (traffic) is of course Bamboo. Many types of Bamboo from which to choose, but if space is limited do pick one of the clumping varieties, eg Phyllostachys etc. Bamboos do not require too much attention (important to water new plants regularly during warm spells for first 3 months) otherwise these quick growing plants are very independent and produce a beautiful lush screen.

How do you get your bamboos down to clumps of 3 or 4 big thick canes?

Sonnenblumen

casey junior wrote: »

How do you get your bamboos down to clumps of 3 or 4 big thick canes?

CJ

rather straight forward: first we select plants with mature canes and secondly we repeatedly remove any narrow or new canes and also any unwanted side shoots.

casey junior

Thanks for that Sonnenblumen.
If I thin out my black bamboo and strip down whats left, will I finish up with one like post no. 53?

Sonnenblumen

CJ

the black stemmed bamboos are somewhat slower than the green/yellow stemmed varieties, but with patience, remove any new shoots and regular pruning the canes should thicken. It's essential to force the plant's growth energy into selected canes.

Black canes are also very striking.

Good Luck

igorbiscan

Looks good,
How tall will the bamboo grow??

Sonnenblumen

with lots of tlc in Irish conditions 5m +

kindredspirit

Our back garden with NO grass and NO veggies. :eek: :eek:

Can't stand grass and gave up growing vegetables years ago. Cheaper and easier to buy in a shop.

casey junior

Awwwww! that's effin gorgeous, you lucky basket!

Alun

We recently had our overgrown jungle of a garden completely ripped out and redesigned from scratch. The previous owners had seemingly gone on a random planting spree with no regard to the eventual size of the plants, and we were continually discovering plants we never knew we had lurking between huge shrubs and the garden fence. We also had a pretty bad drainage problem, with the excuse for a lawn turning into a swamp when it rained hard. Combine that with some rather shabby looking cement paving with no grouting such that we were constantly weeding, and the time was ripe for some serious remodelling.

The grass area was done away with and together with the existing patio area replaced by a pair of intersecting circular paved areas with some gravel to break it up and give some contrast. The existing planting beds were more or less retained, with the addition of two raised beds for veggie growing. Underneath it all there was some serious drainage work done, and cabling installed for some LED lighting, and an optional water feature some time in the future.

Now, if it's OK with the mods here, I'm going to give a shameless plug for Sonnenblumen (and his team) here, who did all the work to a very high standard and to the agreed budget. I can heartily recommend his work, and you can see some pictures of the before and after here on his blog ...

http://www.owenchubblandscapers.com/news/entry/garden-paving-ideas/
http://www.owenchubblandscapers.com/news/entry/led-garden-lighting-ideas/

Note that the photos were taken before any planting was done, so here's a couple of the finished result. It'll take a time for everything to mature, and there's nothing in the veg beds yet, although that will change today if the rain holds off!

deisemum

kindredspirit wrote: »

Our back garden with NO grass and NO veggies. :eek: :eek:

Can't stand grass and gave up growing vegetables years ago. Cheaper and easier to buy in a shop.

That's not a garden, that's a park you lucky thing, it's beautiful

deisemum

Alun wrote: »

We recently had our overgrown jungle of a garden completely ripped out and redesigned from scratch. The previous owners had seemingly gone on a random planting spree with no regard to the eventual size of the plants, and we were continually discovering plants we never knew we had lurking between huge shrubs and the garden fence. We also had a pretty bad drainage problem, with the excuse for a lawn turning into a swamp when it rained hard. Combine that with some rather shabby looking cement paving with no grouting such that we were constantly weeding, and the time was ripe for some serious remodelling.

The grass area was done away with and together with the existing patio area replaced by a pair of intersecting circular paved areas with some gravel to break it up and give some contrast. The existing planting beds were more or less retained, with the addition of two raised beds for veggie growing. Underneath it all there was some serious drainage work done, and cabling installed for some LED lighting, and an optional water feature some time in the future.

Now, if it's OK with the mods here, I'm going to give a shameless plug for Sonnenblumen (and his team) here, who did all the work to a very high standard and to the agreed budget. I can heartily recommend his work, and you can see some pictures of the before and after here on his blog ...

http://www.owenchubblandscapers.com/news/entry/garden-paving-ideas/
http://www.owenchubblandscapers.com/news/entry/led-garden-lighting-ideas/

Note that the photos were taken before any planting was done, so here's a couple of the finished result. It'll take a time for everything to mature, and there's nothing in the veg beds yet, although that will change today if the rain holds off!

That's gorgeous, good workmanship

kindredspirit

deisemum wrote: »

That's not a garden, that's a park you lucky thing, it's beautiful

This was it in November 2008 after I turfed the lawn out. (Excuse the pun!)

It's work in progress. The frost earlier this year knocked everything back for a good while. (It decimated a few plants and I had to start again.)

I'm open to any suggestions for improving it. However, I'm delighted that I've no grass to mow. I've also turfed the lawn out in the front garden but that's a different style to the back.