Complementary Views

Complementary meaning 'completing a set/making up a whole' really expresses the way the Handyman and I use and work in the garden.

We are very occasionally seen working together, sometimes seen working side by side and most often found to be working on different projects in different spaces around our plot.  This works well for us and we come together for conversation, advice, comment, tea, coffee, sandwiches.

All of this was pulled into focus for me last weekend when we had some gloriously sunny and very warm weather, in the high 20s.  The Handyman spent most of his time out in the open cutting the grass on the grand lawn, netting the fruit cage (another post on this later) and generally topping up his vitamin D levels.  When time came for a little respite he could be found here...

steamer chair in full sun

with views of the sunny borders...

the grand lawn

sunny borders

I, on the other hand, spent most of my hours weeding in the woodland borders, creating hanging baskets in the shade and watering and feeding the mobile garden at the back of the house.  When my coffee time arrived I spent it here...

comfy rocker in the shade

and my views looked like this...

woodland border

mobile garden

These thoughts make me realise that a garden is many things to many people and where time and space permit it's good to be able to accommodate as many of these different aspects as possible.  For shade lovers like me there are hostas, ferns, bluebells, aquilegia, acers...the list goes on.  And for sunworshippers, like the Handyman: poppies, roses, peonies, pelargoniums etc, etc.

So, complemetary views indeed!

Wild About Gardening

The Handyman has recently taken an interest in cultivating plants for the garden - don't get me wrong, he's always appreciated the lovely borders and garden views but his gardening focus has been on the grass, lawns and hedgerows. The planting of the borders, pots, baskets and the kitchen garden has for the most part been left to me; no hardship there!

beginnings of the wild garden 2010 on the right hand side of the arbour

Just over a year ago he expressed an interest in creating a more wild aspect to the garden and purchased some meadow mix and wildflower seed. I think it's fair to say that minimum preparation was made to an area of grassy weeds/weedy grass alongside a hedgerow and the seed scattered, the results were pretty poor, so a second attempt was made by sowing the mix in one of the raised beds in the kitchen garden which produced a weed-free seedling mini meadow. The Handyman then transplanted this in clumps to a more weeded and de-grassed hedgerow border. Last year we had quite a few flowers; this year the area has provided some lovely colour and contrast in style to the nearby cultivated borders. So far we've had red and white campion, lots of ox-eye daisies, field and opium poppies, buttercups, a few dandelions and the odd thistle amongst some lovely light and flowing grasses – oh and the odd potato plant from a seed potato or two transported with the soil from another part of the garden.

ox-eye daisies and red campion 2011

by Valentine's gate lovely grasses and the occasional poppy

Inspired by this success the Handyman has freed up another weedy area leading from the current 'meadow' patch to Valentine's Gate and has sown several packets of wild flowers mixed with some columbine (aquilegia) and foxglove seedlings taken from the woodland garden. Some nasturtium and California poppy seedlings from the hot border have also been incorporated…so we have our fingers crossed and are hopeful of a bit more wild garden.

view from Valentine's gate with wild border on the left

Although I have to admit that I wasn't too keen on the 'wild' idea at first I now think that it adds a lovely dimension to Holly Grove. We love to sit in the little arbour at Valentine's Gate and enjoy the view through the wild flowers and grasses to the lawns, trees, shrubs, and perennial borders beyond. As a further incentive for the Handyman I've bought him (us) a copy of William Robinson's Wild Garden to provide inspiration…more on William Robinson in a later post when I've read a bit more of the book.  For now I'm enjoying sharing with the Handyman the joys of seeing your planted seeds sprouting into small plants!

To Stake or Not to Stake

I'm sooo pleased with our large stand of oriental poppies this year and the reason is...I've been a good girl and properly supported them with a combination of twist easy and arc shaped metal supports.

Last year the poppies were looking really beautiful and then the winds came!  We're pretty exposed to wind here sweeping down off the north Shropshire plain and, as the garden is still in its infancy, the shrubs and trees we have planted are just beginning to provide some shelter.  So our lovely poppies were swept over.  They still managed to bloom but had to be cut back before they finished flowering as they fell over on to the grass paths.

June 2010 - damaged by the winds

This year is a different story...still blooming beautifully but standing up straight and proud.  I've put three twist easy supports in the centre of the poppies and the arc supports around the edges.  I did this at the beginning of the season as the poppy foliage was starting to appear and now, just a few weeks on, there are no signs of the metal supports just lots of lovely straight poppies.

May 2011 - well supported

So a successful lesson learned and now I'll be investing in more plant supports for other vulnerable plants in the garden and taking the time in early spring to put them in place.

Poppy Power

It's a fantastic month for poppies in all their guises. They love the soil here at Holly Grove, light and free-draining and seem happy to settle in any position from full sun to partial shade. Some I have grown from seed, others have been bought as plants, however the majority have blown in on the wind and self-seeded.










The Oriental poppies were for the most part raised from seed, though a couple of plants were bought in and what a show they put on...


Not all success though, one of the purchased plants was Patty's Plum and this has been the least successful to date. Last year only one flower was carried and this year the plant produced a few buds and then promptly dried up and died - it was watered with the rest of the border and still failed. I've cut it back and fed and watered it and now we'll wait and see what happens.

Next up are all the gifted plants, some are large, almost succulent, glaucious leaved plants with bright red flowers whilst others hold tissue paper flowers on wiry stems in pastel shades. The wiry plants are covering a neglected piece of rough gravel and provide a welcome touch of colour. The red petalled poppies are to be found standing erect in any bare soil in the flower border on the edge of the large lawn, they are rather majestic and stand very straight and proud.










A short burst of flower from the poppy but always beautiful and surprising, and all those seeds to gather or allow to self-seed for next year's surprise plants.

Bank Holiday Fun?

Yesterday I continued with the greenhouse construction even though I should have put it off due to the very windy conditions. I really just want to get it finished, rehouse the peppers, cucumbers and tomatoes and get back to some gardening.

Fixing the polycarbonate panels is enough to try the patience of a saint and after spending about 6 hours on the remaining construction and glazing I still have 2-3 panels on the bottom and all of the roof panels to fit - so very slow progress.

I'm determined to get it finished today as quickly as possible and with the wind factor much reduced perhaps I'll have more luck with the panels today.

On the garden front, the wind has blown one of the stands of oriental poppies about, due to lack of plant supports and the number of full blooms balanced on long stems. One day I'll learn that time spent fixing supports in the early spring pays dividends. I did add supports to the poppies in the circle beds and they seem to have done the job. These have yet to produce their lovely blowsy flowers but there are plenty of buds.

And a poppy I had forgotten is blooming under the small and ancient apple tree in the swingseat garden, a lovely pale pink confection, it's name long forgotten, but delicious none the less.

I've quite a few recent purchases awaiting planting, so my incentive to finish the greenhouse is redoubled as the reward of planting awaits...hiho, hiho it's off to work I go...

Solitary Poppy

This solitary oriental poppy popped up in the border yesterday. The poppies were stunning earlier in the year but they finished flowering several weeks ago and the foliage has been dying back, but then, oh joy, this pretty madam raised her head for a final flourish...how exciting!