Hello Porridge! An tangentially related gardening thread

[GrendelsMum]

Hello!

Back from hols, and had a smashing time - got through 6 major gavardens in 7 days, which is reasonably good going

All in all, we did Trebah, Glendurgan, The Eden Project, Trelissick, Kestle Barton, and Dyrham Park.

Friend loved your expression about me 'going through a nursery like a dose of salts' - I don't think I'm going to hear the end of that one.

I was very restrained on plants, though - just a couple of succulents from the Eden Project that I had promised myself when I saw them at work (they've looked happy when everything else has looked dead as a dead dog). Echveria 'Duchess of Nuremberg' and one whose name I can't remember, with interesting vertical leaves rather than horizontal.

I saw Trifolium repens 'Dragon's Blood' and thought of our trip to the Old Rectory - looked like a smashing plant for a container. Do you know it? Any ideas on how to grow from seed / whether it propagates easily? Seemed rather expensive at the nursery where I saw it.

Hope you've been having a good summer, and your garden looks good. Mine still looks pretty crap after the drought, although at least the lawn has gone green again, and my autumn plantings and some of my main summer plantings are looking good.

Sounds lovely but I can't believe you were so restrained. I love Echeverias and got inspired about them in Cornwall.

I'd split trifolium in the autumn - I'm not sure whether it comes true from seed.

Glad to hear the garden is looking good. Here the meadow is still flowering and the recent rain has done the plantings no end of good. I did some planting as the weather has been so atrocious - Hydrangea "Limelight" and some tiarellas in the woodland bit. I found a fab supplier who sold me a tray of 12 tiarellas for £5.

I'm about to order for autumn planting - are you thinking about that and if so, what are you ordering?

Really? Where's your supplier? Do put up a photo of your meadow on your profile - I have meadow envy.

Autumn is planned for big scale planting, plus a new round of house renovation (feeling slightly overwhelmed by it all) - the mini-orchard should go in (6 trees, probably), plus the yew bushes to create the shade walk at the bottom of the garden. Oh God, it will be utterly knackering - turns out the lower garden is more of the old farm yard, as in rubble under the layer of top soil. I'll see if I can manage it myself, and if not, have been recommended a professional.

I'll also be taking out the plants that really couldn't cope with the drought, and finding them a new home. Plus I still have a chunk of upper garden border with no plants in (I've been removing bindweed) which needs filling.

What are your autumn plans?

A bloke who buys wholesale off the Dutch suppliers - has a most unlikely nursery in Norwich but fantastic prices.

I am trying to upload a picture of the meadow but am having technical difficulties - argh!

How exciting on the autumn planting - what are you doing on the house? I have to say, I'm relieved that our build is over at last.

I hate bindweed! I used to have the National Collection of it at my old garden but here it's better.

Here, I'm going to be shrub planting in the wood and landscaping the rest of the garden. And doing more bulb planting. And perennials. Mmm - I'm going back to work, so I'm wondering how realistic that all is...

Pic of meadow on profile.

Oh, that's looking stunning. Very small photo, but stunning! Congratulations.

Your bloke sounds a bit like the guy I got my wedding flowers from - £126.50 all in, for 10 goldfish bowls with orchids and bear grass swirled around them. Mad prices, as you got whatever was going cheap in Hollad that day.

Speaking of which, have you seen this?

Click on clip 4, to see an amazing video of the Dutch flower auction house:
www.pbs.org/thebotanyofdesire/lesson-plan-beauty.php

And here they are bidding for the flowers going past at incredible speeds:

www.pbs.org/thebotanyofdesire/video-dutch-auction.php

Today I am not thinking about the house, but I will say that I'm also trying to get planning permission for a greenhouse.

I dug a test hole for one of my trees yesterday - I think the tree planting will be slow but possible. I've also got a row of bean poles up to mock out the hedges, but I'm needing inspiration on how you get 'in' and 'out' of the walk, if you know what I mean. I might try to draw some plans to show you to get your feedback.

What are you planning for the wood? Inspired by Beth Chatto at all?

Those clips are great .

PP for a greenhouse - how BIG is it?!

Where are you getting you trees from? And what varieties are you planting?

I'd love to see plans.

Trying to channel Beth Chatto but I don't think that she had the complication of chickens in the wood whilst she was planting it! Mine have the wood as their home - the idea was to do the tree/shrub planting and allow it to mature over the next few years at which point the chickens will go somewhere else. I'm fully planting up the perimeter of the wood so that you don't have a view of all the chicken's housing though.

Hope I can gatecrash your thread!

Lovely photos Porridge (very sweet looking DSs you have!).
Can I ask the details of your Norwich nursery, am always on the lookout for cheaper plants!
Grendel your plans sound very exciting too, would be good to hear which trees you are planting...

Hi Pannacotta

SWEET!!! Ha! At least they're clean in that photo

The nursery is on Gurney Road - no name - there's just and "open" sign. When I went last week he said that the Dutch lorries don't run much during the school holidays but come the beginning of September he should have a lot more stock. Don't be afraid of asking for a discount.

Porridge my DSs are also quite angelic-looking, esp DS2 who in reality is a rough little grub-magnet!

Thanks for the nursery details, will check it out, I havent found Norwich that good for buying plants, so a recommdation is great. Have you been to the Walnut Tree near Attleborough? It's a lovely nursery in a pretty setting and holds nice plant fairs every summer.

Hello folks!

How about an autumn garden visit?

Now I must stop messing around on the laptop on a lovely day, and get on with edging my lawn neatly [hard working face]