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Gardening

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Help me turn Mordor into The Shire! With DIAGRAM!

3 replies

mollynolly · 15/01/2023 16:35

(Ok it's a very crap diagram but you can see the location next to the path and how the tree kind of overarches the whole area)

We kept chickens for four years, until it the bird flu flockdowns became an annual thing lasting longer than 6 months. Our last two girls went off to join a lovely little barn flock recently and we are looking to reclaim the bit of garden they wrecked. It's about 2m x 5m, on a slight incline, but, there's a bloody great plum tree on the border with next door and that means the area is overhung by branches, has falling fruit in late summer (we had a windfall year last year and an insane amount of fruit, previous years hardly any) and the ground can't really be dug up because the roots underneath are so shallow and extensive.

It was ideal scrub for hens and they absolutely trashed it, hence us calling it Mordor, but now I want to try and make it a bit more pleasant. Currently it's a mix of mud and woodchip. It's boggy in places, prob just because of all the rain we've had recently. It does get the sun for quite a lot of the day because it's the higher end of the slope which is south-facing.

My idea is that it can be a wildflower area, which I know isn't the easy thing people think it is, but I am happy to put a bit of work into it.

Is this a pipe dream? If it can't be planted or turfed even, what can I do with it? Opposite on the other side of the path are the kids trampoline and playhouse, so it's an area they could potentially play in too.

Can anyone help with a few ideas or how to get started?

Help me turn Mordor into The Shire! With DIAGRAM!
OP posts:
colouringindoors · 15/01/2023 16:57

A wildflower meadow here is definitely doable. There's lots of options from seed packs to seed mats (rollout and cover with sand/topsoil) even wildflower turf. If the area is grassy you can add plugs (v small) of wildflowers within it.

Mow/strim late August and keep.an eye out for plaints you don't want (weeds) and remove before they get too big.

Lots of info here

www.rhs.org.uk/lawns/wildflower-meadow-establishment

senua · 15/01/2023 20:53

Flowers, even wildflowers, will prefer sun which they won't get in the shade of a tree.
I'd treat it as a woodland area. Grow Spring-season plants that can put on a good show before the tree's canopy get going eg bulbs like cyclamen, snowdrop, crocus, daffs. Then go for shade-tolerant plants like foxglove (as long as you don't think that the children will mess with them), sweet woodruff, ferns, solomon's seal, hellebore.

Ferntastical · 16/01/2023 08:14

I agree with a woodland area. I'd underplant with all the things you get in a wood for all seasons - as pp said.

Snowdrops, crocus, bluebells, hellebores, wild garlic, primroses and primulas, wood anemone, honeysuckle up into the tree, lily of the valley, foxgloves, epimedium, even a daphne, ferns etc.

p.s. last year was a mad year for plums!

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