Peter's Inbox

Hi Peter,
You have mentioned a major issue in your blog that will affect your decisions for the garden . You are currently renting the property.
As you so rightly say you may decide not to stay there for long, and your efforts will be left behind.Theres no point in spending too much money at this stage.
You could add masses of Alliums for late spring structure with perennial wallflowers.
(Very cheap and colourful)

Put the Allium bulbs in groups of 5 or 7 so that you have masses of tall spikes growing together. They could go in this autumn.Also you could add blue, cream and purple tulips for spring colour with some muscari grape hyacinths so that they spread and appear each spring along with some traditional blue hyacinths for spring perfume.

Later next year you could develop a cottage garden style border if you want to invest more money, time and effort in the garden.

I know you want to experiment with the planting and the border ,but you could end up wasting a lot of money if things dont work out, and you will feel disappointed..

Sorry to have posed more questions rather than answers--- but I have designed gardens for other people and they often say to me 'tell me what to plant' and I always say if I do that the garden is no longer yours- so I ask them to sit down and just get a few ideas down about the colours they want and if they want an evergreen backdrop or colour in the winter.
It does'nt have to be a 'professional' plan, but you will appreciate your efforts far more if you learn by having a go. Even if you make a few mistakes it does'nt matter, but you dont want a major disaster on your hands either!

So this is why I'm going to suggest that you and your wife both look through some gardening books and plant catalogues, or go on the internet, so that you can jot down ideas and plan your planting scheme together and agree on colour, pattern, texture and heights and types of plants.

I've given you some ideas for some easy 'starter' plants, and then you can add to them and be more adventurous as the space develops if that is what you both decide to do.

I think it will be far more satisfying for you both to see the border develop over time rather than do a 'quick fix' like the T.V garden makeover shows of the past......

Finally, and perhaps the most important decision of all...
(in view of the fact that you are currently renting the property,)
I suggest you both decide on how much money you are prepared to spend on the garden, and really stick to your decision....
Hope this helps,
All best wishes,
Grenville.

I tend to agree with Grenville on this one - although Andrew's suggestion would work, it wouldn't necessarily be what you envisage. Think about how you intend to use the rest of the garden. Do you want to sit outside and look at colour and shape? Do you enjoy fragrance? Write down what you'd really like then add to this blog and we'll put our collective thinking caps on and make suggestions. Remember that this is YOUR garden and only you know your preferences - you can take or reject the ideas. So glad you want more than veggies, though! :-)

To cover the wall, I'd suggest an euonymus - either 'Silver Queen' or 'Emerald Gaiety'. Dead easy (honest!), grows just about anywhere, is evergreen and clings on like ivy (but is a much lighter plant).

Hi Peter,
I think first of all we need to collectively put our 'thinking caps' on and not rush into the project....its a blank canvas so lets treat it like a new 'painting', and the first step is to have an idea as to what the finished work of art will look like.
Well.... theres an endless list of possible suggestions but the first suggestion we can make is to give the border some shape- its a bit linear and straight at the moment. How about cutting into the lawn to create a gentle curve that will also give you more planting space?.
Then think about tiers of planting for height and structure, so that the plants cascade down to the lawn. For height particularly against the brick wall and to give a backdrop, possibly a Wisteria , Jasmine and several Clematis 'Miss Christine' for early white flowers and 'The President' or 'Prince Charles' for later colour- You could several varietes for seasonal colour to cover and hide the fence as well.There is also 'Apple Blossom' an evergreen Clematis with evergreen glossy leaves and delicate pink- white flowers in March/ April. There are also evergreen honeysuckles to provide all year round foliage and some perfume to the garden.You could add some perennials for colour and seasonal bedding if that is what you like.
It depends what sort of theme, colour and style of border you wish to create. Do you want 'evergreens' or a colour theme. etc. It's very easy to suggest plants, but first of all give some thought to what you want in this area- evergreen?, exotic vibrant colours?, muted colours?, seasonal interest throughout the year? etc etc so that in the depths of winter you still have some interest.
You might wish to think about colour, pattern, texture and form for this area as well.
The next step is to grab a big sheet of paper and jot down all your 'wishes' for this border, and we will proceed from there. Dont rush into it!. We are reluctant to suggest any more plants at this stage. Get back with a 'wish list'' and we will go from there.It's important that your garden is 'your own.' and you get it looking good, right from the start otherwise you can waste both time and money.
Hope this helps and looking forward to seeing your planting 'wish list' for this area.
Best wishes,
Grenville & Alan.

Nice pic

Nice clarity, Peter :)

Suspect the new page will be visited frequently on a regular basis; many thanks for the concept and for creating it.

Gr8 stuff!

another great new idea lads

;-)

lol cluelesskev.

You can 'discount' my garden ! It's a dive !
But only one letter away from being a diva !!
:-)

Great news Peter and thanks for the details.
Now promise you haven't been tempted to eat any edible flowers from your garden recently.... Spritz and myself are keeping an eye on you!
Best wishes,
Grenville.

Home grown tastes so much better! Well done Peter, I wish I was as lucky with the onions and things......we have just harvested our first potatoes and it might just be my imagination but they tasted so much better than shop ones.....As we are in thenorth east of scotland we will have to wait what the other veggies do .........Due to the harsher climate up here we are always a bit later but I am hoping I might be as lucky as you all to have some more veggies and fruit popping up this year :O)))

Phew- Thanks Spritz for helping to avoid what could have been a potential disaster. I have been awake all night suffering from the most dreadful visions of Peter creeping around his garden in the middle of night gathering all his 'edible' flowers and sprinkling them on his cornflakes the following morning! As you so rightly state we must'nt give up.......

Right, Peter - firstly, many congratulations on your very first flower - I did know you could eat them, but I was hoping you wouldn't find out until you had at least seen them and admired them! I'm a happy bunny too (only we don't use that word in my garden :-( ...) Now you know that some flowers can serve two functions, you can grow some more 'edible' and 'ornamental' plants. I am going to suggest Calendulas. They are not called Pot Marigolds for nothing - yes, you can sprinkle the pretty yellow or gold petals in your salad and impress the missus with your culinary AND artistic skills both at the same time! They are also easily grown from seed... (Glad you enjoyed the veggies by the way!) Grenville and I are not giving up on you...go for it! He is obviously worried that you are going to gobble up all the flowers you grow. No, no, just use them for that certain 'piquancy' and admire the rest in the garden.

Don't eat the flowers Peter ....PLEASE KEEP THEM FOR COLOUR !!!!!....
Spritz where are you? Please come to the rescue...
Peter is seriously tempted to eat his flowers as well as his vegetables, now he knows that some of the flowers are edible.
What can we do?

Had lovely weather here too Peter. Had to get the camera out! I too have nasturtiums in flower, but have not tried eating them.... :-)

Lovely clear colour

i made a salad the other day and topped it with some nasturtium flowers it looked fab!!! tasted good too!! just been trying my borage flowers they're unusual!! might collect them and freeze to make pretty ice cubes!

Always so much tastier when you grow it yourself! Happy that you had a good harvest, Peter!

Planting nasturtiums was a compromise for us, I wanted some flowers and he said "Can you eat it?" and with these it was yes, so we planted them. He said they reminded him of watercress, they are very peppery but mixed in with other stuff make a great salad! lol

Fantastic to eat your own vegs. Do you have to clean those garlics first? I mean, when I buy them in the shop they always look white. Good shot of the bee with pollen. Do you eat the nasturtiums as well? I see Wohlibuli does. I cannot remember what they taste like. I once had them in a salad. They look so good against the green. Great photo too. Peter, I will come back here soon to admire your pics. Right now it is bedtime here.

How odd!

Congrats on your good success. Any success is good right, considering that we haven't been growing "eatables" as my husband calls them, for very long it can really get exciting fast can't it. I don't have garlic but I do have onions, plus a lot of other things. Some have been disappointing but others have been amazing. I use the nasturtium leaves and flowers in salads along with all kinds of herbs, It makes a boring salad of purchased greens real snappy! Anyway keep it up and enjoy.

Wow Peter- the Italian meal sounds delicious, and double wow- the first flowers are appearing in your garden!
Well done - now what can be added for more colour, pattern texture and form? No doubt Spritz will advise as well. You realise that we wont give up making suggestions now- O.K, Now lets think.....
My suggestion...... How about creating a 'hot border' as you have the Nasturtiums as a start with oranges reds yellows and pinks and then into purple, blues and mauves for a touch of Grenville's wow factor?
You have made me a very happy 'bunny' from Bristol!
Best wishes and well done again,
Grenville.

Your garden is nice and healthy looking Peter, thanks to all your hard work! Yes, I do the rosemary thing too; at Christmas our store carries rosemary 'trees' displayed at the registers & I can't stop petting them, lol! When I pinch off the tops of my herbs I always carry a little piece around for a while just because the scent is so wonderful...

Yes , how stupid of me I mean't butterfly eggs but looking again at the picture I think Lori is right it is caterpillar droppings but the way the plant is eaten I don't think it is a cabbage white, something bigger I fear!!!!By the amount eaten you would have found a good colony of cabbage white caterpillars.

Peter,
Both Spritz and myself are both on a 'mission' to convert you to growing flowers as well..... does that come through in our replies? On a seroius note you are doing a great job...... but....... how about some 'themed' areas. For example: exotic ,cottage garden, seaside, southern hemisphere, tropical, gravel garden, colour themed, climbing plants scrambling over the fence panels, a water feature, seating area, some statuary or art in the garden, an arbour, pergola or summer house, a shady area,vegetables or fruit.
Let us know how you get on........!!!!!!!!

You're well on your way Peter. Your beds are looking real good compared to 2007. They can only get better :) I touch and smell my herbs all the time. My favorite is the scent of Oregano.