Majeekahead's Blog
3 Feb, 2008
15 comments
Hiding an ugly area - Part 1
this will proberly be the first of many blogs on this project, but I have this ugly area right at the back of my garden. it’s a very necessary part of the garden, housing the shed, compost bins, greenhouse, and will also soon have a water butt. the problem is because of the shape of the garden – very long and thin, it also seems to be the most focal area from the house and patio. i have been racking my brains on what to do about it since moving in December 2006. infront of the shed, and underneath it there is a 2ft deep concrete base which is uneven and sticks up above the soil surface like a stage. From the front of the shed it gives me a good 8ft x 14ft area to use as my work area, which is ideal, it is the best place to have all of this as putting it anywhere else would cut off part of the garden. it is not possible to fence or screen it off because the base is really old and as i said uneven, so to do this would require Jay getting up there with his breaker – which i have considered asking him to do, but it is just sooooo much work and mess, i thought there must be another way around it!, anyway i think i have finally come up with a cunning plan, – not sure how it’s going to go but i though you might all be interested in sharing this experience with me, so here are the before pics…...
this is the ugly area in is full glory!....
this is the view from the house and patio…...
in front of the greenhouse…..
What i have decided to do is this: i have already planted an Acer tree infront of the greenhouse, i realise that it won’t hide it in the winter, but i did consider some evergreen options, but i want the greenhouse to work. the fence which it is up against is south facing (i think – it gets all the afternoon sun in this corner) so i thought this acer would be ideal, for allowing in the light in the colder months to warm things up in the greenhouse, and would also provide some much needed shade for my young plants in the summer.
in the other corner i have planted a Rhus tree, which during the summer will hide the ugly compost bins, when we are sitting up this end of the garden. again i know its not going to hide anything in the winter, but we want the light and heat to get the bins when they need it most to get the compost going! also my cleverly placed trellis half way down the garden does disguse this area from the house and patio all year round, – not likely to be sitting up there this time of year anyway. as you can see i have planted up the two beds either side already. i have gone for vibrant reds, and blues on the left, and on the right infront of the greenhouse i have gone for paler shades of pinks, blues, lilacs and whites, with just a touch of red and purple to tie the two together. i know it does’nt look like much at the moment, but i am hoping in the summer this will be a big mass of colour which will draw the eye away from the uglyness behind it. i have also planted some faily tall plants, around 3-4ft in front of the shed it’s self, including my ‘Buddy’ rose bush, and some tall ornimental blue grass. allowing light to get though but still (hopefully) managing to hide the compost bins and water butt.
and my brain wave involves a new rose arch which i have ordered from ebay last week. it will sit just to the left of the greenhouse defining the way up to my work area. i have ordered 2 climbing ‘Blue Moon’ roses which will also hopefully go along way to taking my eye away from what’s behind it.
well that’s the plan, i will keep you all up to date on how it’s going through the coming months… wish me luck!
Comments
4 Feb, 2008
Hi Majeeka. You have written so much, but here are a few quick obs from me. Why do we feel the need to hide away the most valuable assets in our gardens, i.e. shed, greenhouse, compost bin(s), water butts, etc. Without them we would have no real garden at all, but we all do it. Your compost bins look like they stand on a hard base. Is this the case? They would be better on soil to allow micro-organisms access to help with the deceleration of the waste. You have to decide what is easiest as far as siting is concerned. Near the kitchen door, for easy disposal from there, or closer to where the compost will be used (in my case the veggy beds close to the greenhouse). It is a bit like the kitchen work triangle, but the walk through the garden does you good, and allows you to look at other plants on the way there and back. You have a trellis screen to the left. Compliment this with another on the right, in front of the greenhouse. Allow this screen on its own in winter to do its job. In summer, grow runner beans, etc up it, having started them off in the adjacent greenhouse. With a broad enough border in front of the greenhouse, and using the posts to hold the trellis, you could add in a couple of hanging basket cherry toms, and some cheerful, complimentary, companion plantssuch as French marigolds or Calendula. Also,Brooke could grow all these very easily, and learn a lot, too. Best Wishes!
4 Feb, 2008
Angie, a word of caution if you plan to plant a Rhus, they sucker all over the place and can be very invasive, especially if you plan to plant one close to your neighbours boundry ? I doubt they will be very impressed when the suckers start popping up all over their lawn. Good luck!
4 Feb, 2008
thanks both of you for your comments and ideas - the great thing about this site is you can do exactly this mull over your ideas with each other. the trellis idea is a good one i have been ponding putting some in front of the greenhouse, the only problem is securing it! the edge of the shed base is far too uneven to attach anything too, and i did'nt want to put in more concrete in this area, as it would mean digging or cutting into what is already there. but having said that, now that i have bought the rose arch which will go just to the left of this area, there may be a way that i could attach some inbeween the fence and the rose arch - it just depends how sturdy the rose arch is. Andrew, all i can say is great minds think alike! there is an evergreen Cenanothus planted next to the trellis which is half way up the garden! but as i have been working on a buget it is still small, so will be a few years before it does it's job properly. but yes i put the trellis here to do a number of jobs, like you said i like the idea of secretcy in a garden so it was desigened to make you want to walk up there and have a look. also to hide a cleaverly place washing line which is behind it! - another ugly but nessecary feature of the garden. and thrdly because the garden is long and thin i wanted a way of making rooms one for us and one for Brooke, i think the trellis is an effective way of doing this. and David you can't see it from this picture very well but Brooke does have a little veggie bed which i intend to get her growing all sorts in this year - also thought it may help her to eat some more! lol amonst which i have stripy tomartoes - they look like fun! the compost bins i know should be on bare soil, but i just don't have a better place for them, so what i have done is put some soil in the bottom with lots of worms in to help them get going - they do seem to be working. once again thanks, i do love an essay don't i lol!
4 Feb, 2008
thanks Bluespruce, yes i did know, but according to what i have read they can be easierly removed, and i doubt steve next door would mind, he loves trees! and commented on how 'lovely' it was in the autumn last year!
4 Feb, 2008
Angie, I suggest you throw that book away, I didn't use the word invasive lightly, and I think Steve next door will have to be a very understanding neighbour indeed :)
5 Feb, 2008
thanks bluespruce, but are you sure that this applies to all varieties? because there is a beautiful tree along the next road to me in a front garden which is exactly the same as the one i have, and it has been there for years so obviously well established, and it is a single stem tree, i do see it occationally through up a baby but whoever lives there removes them, and it does'nt seem to be causing any problems with any of there neighbours gardens. and it is in a mixed boarder and there are other plants growing around it that seem to be doing fine. i don't know the people that live there, but maybe i will knock next time i am passing and ask what variety his is and check that it is the same and see what his secret is. because i do know what you are saying, i have seen others that have made a little community, and can get really big and difficult to remove, but i have also seen several like this one in the next road to me. so maybe the variety does have some relivance to this issue, because when i bought mine i did ask what type it is and the guy assured me that it was a really invasive one, and as i said i did look it up in my tree book and the variety i have does say that the succers are easierly removed. i'll do some more research and let you know what i find out.
5 Feb, 2008
Rhus typhina (stagshorn sumach) and its cultivars is the most widely planted form, and this is the one that can be a problem. I have seen suckers appearing 10 -15 feet away from the main stem in some peoples gardens, and when you say they are easy to remove, all that can be done is to cut them at ground level, but they will soon sprout again, they're part of the root system. However there is a nice newish cultivar called 'Tiger Eyes' with very finely dissected leaves ,almost like a maple, this one might be worth a try ? As you say though, there are other species of Rhus that are probably not invasive and may well be worth looking for. BTW which one do you have ?
5 Feb, 2008
your right it is a Rhus typhina i have just checked the label i still have for it. oh dear, well i do really like it so i'll give it a chance and see what it does, before i take drastic action. if it does start causing a problem i'll get it out before it gets too big. i'll also warn steve next door, tell him to keep an eye out for any unwanted guests so to speak, but as i said i doubt steve would be bothered, he is really laid back and would leave blackberry bushes to there own devices if his mum did'nt nag him constantly to get them out (his mum does'nt live there, just pops over to do a bit of gardening every so often as she lives in a flat) so if he does'nt have a problem with me giving it a chance i will see what happens. but thanks for the warning Bluespruce, i'll let you know what happens.
5 Feb, 2008
Suckering of rhus is often triggered by root disturbance and once started, there's no way of stopping it short of removing all the roots.
I inherited an old one which was fine for a few years, then branches started to come off in high winds and the suckers started. I had the top removed, killed off all the suckers (eventually) with glysophate and then had a wonderful crop of honey fungus in the autumn :-(
It took me days to dig out all the root plus all the fungus 'bootlaces' but fortunately these has been no recurrance of the honey fungus since then.
You have been warned!
6 Feb, 2008
so not fair - now you are ganging up on me!!! lol - well it's not looking good for my poor little Rhus tree is it! well i gues if i am getting the same advice off two of the most experienced gardeners on here i should proberly do something about it. but i refuse to kill it - it is far too pretty!ok so how will it do in a very large pot? i have one that is about 2ft accross and 2ft high, maybe i could put it in that and still keep it up the back on the concrete? so my next question, what do i plant there instead? i feel another blog coming on!
6 Feb, 2008
thanks Bluespruce, maybe i'll invest in one of thoughs, i have just wrote another blog on this area, any ideas on what to replace it with?
6 Feb, 2008
definitely not! lol sorry but i don't share your passion for them! to me they are that ichy stuff that we use in funeral work! lol - just joking i know that there are some really lovely ones about, and your garden or should i say park lol is fantastic, but no would not be right for this location, have a look at my latest blog, i have given more info on what i am looking for.
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Joined 7 Aug, 2007
Berkshire
Andrewr
3 Feb, 2008
Don't forget if you want to hide something, the screening doesn't have to be right against it. You have some trellis half way down the left side that is making a partial block to the view. If that border came out a bit further and there was an evergeen shrub there, you would mask a lot of your work area. There would also be a bit of garden you can't see from the house, inviting you out to explore and see what's round the corner. Intriguingly, if you can't see all the garden from one place, it seems bigger.