A New Bit of Garden

[Lesley Cox]

Having decided to clean up and reduce my nursery and get it up and running properly again after a couple of years of nothing doing, I'm starting near the entrance to our place and have decided the best way is simply to rake the rubbish or remove if possible, cover the space with a bought/brought in soil mixture then plant it. Sounds simple enough but it is involving a lot of hard physical work.

This part of the nursery consists of blocks of polystyrene trays with the plants in them. The outer edges have been tramped gravel but are quite wide so I'm making some ribbon beds as a more interesting edging. Besides, I desperately need planting space.

I've started by removing the furthest out block of trays (just 12) and raking gum leaves and weeds which I've sprayed, into the centre. As with all horticultural operations I have help of a canine nature.

The trays in the pics are attached to the ground because they had small plants in them of Leptospermum lanigerum. Suddenly they were very large plants and not able to be removed. Roger has chain-sawed them as low as possible and I've simply dumped the soil mix on top and will try to forget about them. It means sacrificing a few trays but what the heck?

All I can say about the last pic is that it is of 2 cubic metres top soil, 2 c m pine park fines, 1 peat, and half each of 5mm crusher dust and 10mm crusher dust. I've used this mix before and find it drains very well and is an excellent "soil" as distinct from potting mix. Further, I can assure everyone that Teddy is lying beside me now and is not under the pile which arrived yesterday afternoon. I started to spread it and then the rain came down. It continues to rain today.

Since I hadn't mentioned that I planned this operation, I found it expedient to be at the supermarket at the time Roger normally arrives home, but miscalculated, as he arrived late and I was home before he was. However, he came in apparently cheerfully, and so far, hasn't said a single word.

Just 5 pics so far. More will come over a period of time.

[Robert G]

Lesley,

I am looking forward to see how it unfolds. My canine always inspects my work as well...my spouse too.

[cohan]

congrats on the renovations and new planting space
anything particular that is to go in there?

i'm working on some shade beds (as mentioned before) and completely re-digging my old rock garden from teen years (large area of native clayey soil with lots and lots of rocks from gravel to barely movable by hand size);
though yours looks like a big operation, i think your method looks a little easier than mine  --but of course i could only get away with covering up whats there if i put soil about 20 feet deep, then it might take the stuff  (weeds and tree suckers) a couple of seasons to get through 
so i'm painstakingly digging sod and roots and rocks by hand...

[Luc Gilgemyn]

Interesting developments Lesley !
It will be great to have such an empty surface to plant out all your goodies !
Have fun... after the sweat has dried up....
I look forward to seeing more !

[Lesley Cox]

Thanks for your interest. These bead won't be rock garden per se as I don't intend to put rocks into them. I'd love to, but local rock costs the earth and in any case I'm always a little dissatisfied with my rock work.

The contents will be "alpines" but not the most precious. Dianthus, phlox, campanula, small irises, silenes, etc etc and primulas of the tougher kinds, auriculas etc. The first planting will be right beside the gateway where at present it is shady, of Sorbus reducta, the running form, Polygonum affine 'Donald Lowndes' and Cornus canadensis. The new beds will curve around the eastern end and along the south side, while on the north side at present is a long border, quite wide and filled with large pittosporums, seedling macrocarpas (Cupressus macrocarpa), Leyland cypress, a large and gangly Azara and assorted cabbage trees (Cordyline australis). When I can persuade Roger, I want all of these out and I'll replant with deciduous trees which colour in the autumn and underplant with woodlandy things, including those which colour, hence the 3 already to go, mentioned above which should look nice as one comes in the gateway on the road.

[Lesley Cox]

The spreading of the heap hasn't progressed much as the weather has turned to winter again and we even had a little snow yesterday. There is a bitterly cold wind and I'm looking for excuses not to go out. No red dust from Australia though.

[Ragged Robin]

Lesley, what an exciting but huge undertaking judging by your description and the pile of earth 

Autumn colour sounds perfect for your entrance with that sweep of drive to welcome people in and encourage them to look further.

Having spent so much time trying to extend and plant a rockery this year I know how much the weather and canine friends can change your plans 
Teddy looks very active in enjoying the whole scenario, he looks a real character!  Best of luck with your new bit of garden and I look forward to seeing it progress.

[Lesley Cox]

Thank you for your comments Robin. I can see it all in my mind's eye and hope eventually to achieve something close to what I want. This pile of earth is the first of probably 4 or 5.

[maggiepie]

Lesley, I hope you will give us a running commentary with pics for your new venture.
It will help those of us who will be in the thralls of winter, enormously.
I can see Teddy is a huge help for you.
The cornus canadensis caught my eye, I love it so much. ( first time I ever saw it for sale in Oz was at the Viburnum Gardens nursery, my sister actually bought a pot of it, dormant for 32$ Oz that was in the mid 1980's. It never broke dormancy so it may well have been deceased 

Here, where I live, there are miles and miles of it along the roadside in spring, it is my favourite native plant.
Oh, btw, those polystyrene boxes in the pics, how do you use them, are they partly buried and filled with sand and then have pots plunged in them???

[Lesley Cox]

I will indeed, give progress reports as things happen. Obviously it will be more interesting as planting starts. I have 7 Cornus canadensis from seed and will plant the lot in a group in reasonable hope of getting fruit in due course.

The polystyrene trays are what mushrooms used to be exported to Japan in. We can't get them now as the Japanese prefer cardboard trays. Fair enough but the poly trays are handy and so light of course But they get damaged easily (especially when one's small son, in a fit of tantrums gives a few a good kick!). They are just laid on weed cloth, straight on the ground and the plant pots put in them, not plunged. They have holes which drain excessive water and are just about 10cms in height. I use them for taking plants to a show or stall somewhere too but now they're no longer available, I'm making do with other things. Banana boxes are good but can't be watered.

[maggiepie]

The boxes look very much like the boxes that brocolli is delivered in to the supermarkets around here.
Maybe I can get some from the local co-op.

[johnw]

The boxes look very much like the boxes that brocolli is delivered in to the supermarkets around here.
Maybe I can get some from the local co-op.

Helen  - I saw the staff unloading grapes at Sobey's last week. They had stacks of these styrofoam boxes and it looked as if the tops and bottoms were the same size. I hesitated but they would be good for starting things.

johnw

[maggiepie]

John, will ask at the co-op next time we go.
I get 5 gallon plastic buckets with lids from them at times, they're great for storing veggie peels etc for the compost bin during winter.

[cohan]

Thanks for your interest. These bead won't be rock garden per se as I don't intend to put rocks into them. I'd love to, but local rock costs the earth and in any case I'm always a little dissatisfied with my rock work.

The contents will be "alpines" but not the most precious. Dianthus, phlox, campanula, small irises, silenes, etc etc and primulas of the tougher kinds, auriculas etc. The first planting will be right beside the gateway where at present it is shady, of Sorbus reducta, the running form, Polygonum affine 'Donald Lowndes' and Cornus canadensis. The new beds will curve around the eastern end and along the south side, while on the north side at present is a long border, quite wide and filled with large pittosporums, seedling macrocarpas (Cupressus macrocarpa), Leyland cypress, a large and gangly Azara and assorted cabbage trees (Cordyline australis). When I can persuade Roger, I want all of these out and I'll replant with deciduous trees which colour in the autumn and underplant with woodlandy things, including those which colour, hence the 3 already to go, mentioned above which should look nice as one comes in the gateway on the road.

lots of work to go! sounds like its going to be great though fall colour is a very nice thing to have.. cornus canadensis really are nice in several seasons-- as the leaves unfold, immature flowers (greenish) then white, then orange red fruit and darker red leaves (they are at that stage here, though not all turn colour at once)

[fermi de Sousa]

Thank you for your comments Robin. I can see it all in my mind's eye and hope eventually to achieve something close to what I want. This pile of earth is the first of probably 4 or 5.

Hi Lesley,
we've found a pile of earth a very effective growing medium! We've mounded soil in places around the Rock garden and found that the plants love growing in these elevated beds or "berms" as the Americans have called them. One astounding thing has been the effect on the trees next to them. Most likely because they get their roots underneath them and benefit from the protection from drying out. Two almost identical Claret Ashes in our garden look now look years apart in age as one was next to a newly constrcuted mound and within the year had twice the trunk girth of the other! A similar thing happened with some small oak trees; the one in the mound is now 3 times the height of the other. Albeit our climate is a bit different to yours and these deciduous saplings were not having the best life anyway!
cheers
fermi