tell me your favourite garden things.................books, websites, plants, tools

[zippitippitoes]

..just thought it would be interesting to know what other people look at for inspiration

i'll put a pic of my "garden" on my profile and you will see why i ned inspiration

i am planning the garden for college assignment at the mo

[zippitippitoes]

go on i reuire distracting

[MaryAnnSingleton]

see my profile for what we did with old Victorian bath...

[zippitippitoes]

oh yes that is good just the sort of thing i am thinking of

i made a copper washbasin out of something i bought in an auction ofr bathroom and had a cast iron stand made for it

andf copper taps

but the whole thing was impractical so i am going to transfer it to the garden

not sure whether to make it into a planter or a water feature

[MaryAnnSingleton]

water feature sounds good ! our bath has grown,or rather the plants have grown a lot since March so it's looking even better. Rest of garden is kind of cottage-y...poppies,foxgloves etc - I love alliums too and lavender..

[zippitippitoes]

just us two lol

[MaryAnnSingleton]

have you built an extension there zippi ?

[zippitippitoes]

i built a house

[MaryAnnSingleton]

crikey !

[BettySpaghetti]

We've just had our garden landscaped as it was on quite a slope -its now got 2 grass tiers and a decking tier. Planting etc is taking place slowly so will look for inspiration here too if you don't mind.

My favourite bits of whats been done so far is the way we've re-used and re-cycled things. I like the fact that although its only just been done, it looks as though its been there for years.

The retaining walls for example are reclaimed bricks, most of which have come out of our house at various points. We've also used blue paviers (paviors?) some recycled and railway sleepers.

[zippitippitoes]

betty that is exactly what my plan is

i did have loads of wood but got rid of it in despair last summer

you can see my reclaimed bricks in the photos

no garden there tho lol

[MaryAnnSingleton]

ah someone else zippi - it sounds great Betty - any pictures ?

[MaryAnnSingleton]

I have lots of pots of things and jasmine twined up the pergola thing...

[RUMPEL]

A wee herb garden would be nice. I personally love peonies and I have a stunning laverteria (sp?) in the garden. Some buddhleia to attract butterflies? Hanging baskets for tomatoes and cranberries/blueberries? Evergreen clematis and jasmine for walls?

[Sunshinemummy]

Love getting things from Plant Stuff and Petersham Nurseries.

Our garden has a bit of a secret garde feel in that it narrows around an arch that has jasmine and something else (not sure what it is) climbing up it, and then when you come out the other side there is decking and the river at the end.

[zippitippitoes]

i have put a pic on of the view from my mums house which my sister now owns in wales much nicer than mine

I am planning herbs and sort of dig for victory nostalgic thing

i want an albertine rose as it flowers round my birthday

also i have a big bay tree my mum grew from a cutting which i will have in a container

also some cottagey plants

and some veg and radishes and decorative caulis and things

[zippitippitoes]

that sounds lovely sunshinemummy

[MaryAnnSingleton]

sunshine - do you live in Richmond /Twick ? does sound fab

[MaryAnnSingleton]

fab view zippi
bay tree - now I'd love one of those
I have a tamarisk in my front garden and that is lovely - frondy feathery pinky bits in the spring/summer

[BettySpaghetti]

MAS -I haven't yet sussed out putting pictures on here . May give it a go tomorrow.

Zippi -part of your garden might suit a sort of courtyard -maybe at one end? We have one bit at the side of the house which has house walls on 2 sides, stable wall on one side and garden wall on the fourth side. It sounds grim, being surrounded by walls, but its a real suntrap and is slowly becoming full of greenery and colour. Great place to sit and have lunch too.

On the main wall we've put lots of planters with bedding plants in (like Lobelias and Pansies) including an ancient cast iron toilet cistern that was in the out-house that we demolished. We've used some quite tall plants like Bamboo in pots to break up the expanse of walls too. Lots of pots and containers of various colours and sizes with plants like Hostas, lavenders, spiky ones (not good on plant names but you know the sort of thing I mean )

As a feature we've also put up a couple of metal/enamel signs

[Sunshinemummy]

I live in Earlsfield so river is the Wandle. There's a park just the other side of it so it's really peaceful and lovely (for London anyway). I love sitting out there and eating my breakfast with the papers on a Sunday morning.

[BettySpaghetti]

ooh yes - a herb garden and bay tree . Good idea.

I've seen a herb garden somewhere that was laid out using reclaimed bricks set in the ground as dividers -it looked really effective.

[Crystaltipsandalaistar]

Hi, my garden backs onto fields and it's lovely. i'm very lucky. We have just a small picket fence at the end of the garden. I have a few climbling roses which are just coming out now, and lots of clematis, which I love. I like my garden to flow and be natural, so no bedding plants. Just loose pretty things. Got lavenders by my little fence which are looking pretty, with lilac violas in between.

[Crystaltipsandalaistar]

mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/lynandmalcolm/clematis_plant_list.htm

have a look at this site...

[Crystaltipsandalaistar]

it'snot mine by the way! One I found ages ago, and saved on favorites...