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[CLKD]

Morning! Pruning: between November and March: - never under-estimate the important of pruning!  Is there a gardening club in your area where you could ask advice, or the Garden Centre.

[bramble]

Depends where you are in the country as well. No signs of blossom yet in Scotland.

[Elizabethrose]

Dug out two Trachelospermum jasminoides: rather heartbreaking really as grown from cuttings and they were probably both 15 feet tall. Looks like Honey Fungus, but have to return to Wisley with bigger root samples for testing. What to replace them with??!

I cropped back a Cotinus coggygria 'Royal Purple, Cornus alba 'Aurea' and a Sambucus nigra 'Black Lace' which contains them and stimulates bigger leaves: it's always reassuring to see them start to shoot after such a heavy cropping!! 

Lots of bald patches whilst waiting for the perennials to spurt, but a good time to fertilise the soil whilst we can see it. I've also taken the opportunity to move some shrubs that I'm hoping will rebalance the garden as we've had a number of mature shrub losses in the past few years. (Probably the pesky honey fungus!)

Just dug out an old hydrangea, supposed to be a Blue Skies but when it topped 15 feet we decided must have been mislabelled. Replaced with a totally gorgeous Hydrangea paniculata 'Phantom' which I've been nurturing in a pot for the past three years. I'm praying that it does well in it's new less sunny position as I absolutely love it and will be well and truly heartbroken if I lose it. I bought a second one and potted it up last year so it will have matured before I planted out the big one. I had them on the patio area next to a massive pot of Agapanthus and they looked utterly amazing together, so beautiful.

Ariadne, our neighbours have three apples and none of them are in blossom yet, it is late for them as usually they are in blossom now. It's odd as everything around is blooming and breaking.

Off to Wisley again this week to take a bigger root sample, buy some new pots and to buy from their plant shop and to wander the gardens. Always a delight!

 

[CLKD]

Hydrangas aren't fussy where they are planted ........ they likes a certain amount of shade in the day when it is very hot.

Ask about what to plant there Elizabethrose it may be better to leave the area empty for a while. I can't grow Sambucus here 

[Elizabethrose]

Thanks CLKD, the area is pretty shady I'm hoping not too much so. Certainly the hydrangea I've just removed absolutely thrived there as do a variety of smaller hydrangea and azaleas. We'll see!

Yes I'm going to ask for advice re the replacements. We bought and used a root barrier preparation last year when we replaced a Viburnum Davidii that we lost, but the replacement hasn't fared well (honey fungus?). It's the devil of a problem to deal with! One of our neighbours lost a pear to honey fungus which sat on our boundary and I fear the worst.

I've checked out the RHS honey fungus tolerant plant list but they always offer such good advice in the plant query area. x

[CLKD]

 

[Elizabethrose]

Transplanted a huge pot of root bound agapanthus into an even bigger pot. Will have to wait till hubby gets home to lift the wretched thing though as my back is certainly not up to that. I've managed to keep them evergreen over the past few years by covering in fleece through cold winter spells and was rewarded with 23 flowers last year. Sadly the leaves went soggy this winter so I'm really hoping the flowers will be as prolific as last year.

Watered all transplanted shrubs, all look fine apart from a Mahonia aquifolium which has now lost it's flowers (droopy!). Probably should have waited till the flowers were spent.

Feels like a lovely summers day here, so many birds tweeting (and builders drilling!!  )

[CLKD]

??  Agapanthaus flower best when pot bound  ......... make sure that there aren't those white mealy things in the soil [can't remember what they are larvae of but they eat roots] ......... are yours blue or white?  Apparently they grow wild in their Country of Origin  .

Been busy outside for 3 hours.  Pottering  .  In warm sunshine!

[Elizabethrose]

I know CLKD but they had got past the point of it being beneficial, there wasn't any soil left!

Didn't notice anything dodgy in the soil. They are blue, I can't remember the variety but are about 3-4 ft tall. Magnificient! We managed to find some spirally supports online which added to the drama. We've never had much luck with them in the ground. We're really sheltered here and sunny (weather permitting) but they've definitely preferred the move to pots.

[CLKD]

Photos.?  ...... pink nerines {?} are lovely too but we don't have an appopriate site for them  .  Everything has sprung into bud this last 24 hours 

[CLKD]

Have a look at your local garden centre web-site or go to Buckingham Garden Centre - their web-site is easy to use as are the Royal Horticultural ones, i.e. Wisley.  We have hollies here, some are variegated.  Every-green, berries ....... we also have a yew tree which has grown like Topsy  .  How high do you want them to grow? 

[Elizabethrose]

Hah, CLKD, I have one but unfortunately I'm in it going 'Tah dah' at my magnificent display. I've been outed so many times on this forum but it's a step too far to post a photo!!  Had a pal staying this weekend who outed me a while ago, mind you she's like Miss Marple and has 'recognised' others in her area.

I'll see if I can find a photo from the previous year and post that. (I sound like the proud mother but that's what gardening does to you!)

What height and spread do you want Stellajane?

[bramble]

Sarcoccocco humilis is a nice evergreen shrub for a shady site. With the bonus of scented winter flowers. Aucuba japonica will do and it is variegated with red berries. And some Skimmias also. Quite a lot of shrubs wlll cope with shade.

Bramble

[Elizabethrose]

The Sarcococca hookeriana var. humilis is a lovely little shrub Bramble. We have one in a shady area and the early spring flowers are heavily fragranced. It's certainly a shrub group that I'd recommend.

Stellajane, I've just planted up a 28 foot shady bed along one side of my kitchen. We'd stripped out everything aside from a brilliant orange azalea that's been there for about 35 years and is to die for! We've planted; a Hydrangea paniculata 'Phantom', which is a compact hydrangea with massive stunning white flowers that change to red, a new non spiky Mahonia eurybracteata 'Soft Caress' which has a lovely airy, fern like leaf, a Euonymus japonica 'Benkomasaki Erecta' which has a columnar habit and is a dense evergreen of long erect stems. All of these are small to medium shrubs that 'shouldn't' exceed 5 feet. We've interspersed them with three different varieties of fern that have individual interest; Pteris cretica Albo Lineata, Asplenium scolopendrium Cristata and a Cyrtomium fortunei 'Clivicola'. We have swathes of bluebells peeking through that have also been there for years.

All is looking great though it's early days! There is a lovely variety of textures and colours and growing habits. Fingers crossed all will look good as the bed matures.

A weekend of gardening, after another trip to Wisley on Friday. It has such a great plant centre with a really unusual plant offer. We've repotted herbs and sized up existing potted shrubs. Tied in various clematises and roses which seem to be making a dash for the Gods! In fact everything has suddenly splurged into life: it's amazing how it suddenly happens. The Viburnams, Ceanothus and Wisteria are heavily laden and just about to burst into flower.

Spring is utterly glorious!

[Elizabethrose]

Lovely sunny day here and my Viburnum Judii has burst into flower: the fragrance is wonderful!