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Essex, United Kingdom Gb

I have a round area of soil smack bang in the centre of my garden- concreted paving edges- this was put in place by the previous owners. Nothing seems to grow in it according to them. so right now its a circle of dirt. I have just moved here and all that was in it was a rather unhealthy looking rhodedendron which I have now put in a pot and it is much happier.
Any ideas what I can do with this circle please?




Answers

 

will add a picture later if that helps, thank u

15 Apr, 2010

 

mozaic it?? Don't ask me how though

15 Apr, 2010

 

Welcome,Claireliz.Have you tried digging down to see whats underneath?It might just need a bit of TLC,and replacing the soil or enriching it with compost and/or some new top soil.Maybe it wasn't suitable for your Rhodendron,as they need acid soil.If you find it is quite shallow,when you dig,summer bedding should be fine.Hope this helps.

15 Apr, 2010

 

fill with mixture of coloured glass chippings and make or buy a nice sundial/water feature, the sun reflecting of the shimmering glass will be really cool.

failing that dig all the crap out to depth of 2 feet and lay rough clay and then fill with good top soil

davey

15 Apr, 2010

 

A soil testing kit from a garden centre might be your best bet. If it is too alkaline maybe someone dropped a bag of lime in it then you should be able to over come that without the need for such drastic action as suggested by D above

15 Apr, 2010

 

What sort of plants are growing in other parts of the garden - assuming anything is growing at all. Also have a look and see what your neighbours are growing this will tell you whether your soil is acidic or alkaline without buying a kit.

I would certainly dig in some good organic matter, composted bark or the like and, for this year get some sumer bedding in to give colour.

Davey it is a good thing we don't all like the same type of garden - your suggestion makes me shudder - gardens are for growing plants, preferably rock garden and woodland plants in my case.

15 Apr, 2010

 

If not possible, how about a large pot with a feature plant in it, to give some height to the area? I've done that in the middle of a stone circle I inherited, where there was a washing line thing. It looks made for the job!

15 Apr, 2010

 

well moony we all have our tastes i simply answered the original query with a idea or 2 -----------didn`t realise i was up for criticism for my way of gardening but each to their own eh

15 Apr, 2010

 

It would make a lovely rock garden if you built it up and added rocks. I thought it was just this circle that was a problem not the whole garden but re reading the Q maybe MG is correct. Is that the portion behind your dog in your avatar if so one pot would not do it. Could you give a diameter please. Don't worry about the way people say things Davey, it is speed talk and everyone is able to say what they feel. If you can get to the Perth show on Saturday this week you can meet MG. She will be manning the bookstall. If you click on her name you can find out the details.

15 Apr, 2010

 

Not criticism merely a comment. GoY is a very broad church with folks growing a huge range of plants. I don't expect everyone to like the way we garden - and have been told more than once t hat we are nuts!

15 Apr, 2010

 

wow thank you all.
Scotsgran- yes it is the circle behind my dog. It has 4 lonely tulips in it at present- very weedy ones. It is approx 5ft diameter.
There isnt anything much growing in the garden as I dont think the previous owners liked to garden. I do have a pond with some very healthy lilies growing beside it :)
The soil is acidic.
I didnt know whether to plant it up or grass it over or fill it in and display pots there. Thank you all x

15 Apr, 2010

 

Depends what you want from your garden... It could be a rockery feature, a smoothed out gravelled area with pots... basically anything YOU want! Treat it like a bit of blank canvas, step back and think 'I'd like to see this area looking...' And remember a garden is not created in a year! You may just need to live with the hump of soil and a) See what it grows and b) Think about what you would like there :-)

15 Apr, 2010

 

Thanks MG. I think I will have a think :)

15 Apr, 2010

 

Good luck and have fun... any garden takes years to create - most of the time it is better to watch the garden through a 12 month period to see what grows before you decide what to do. That way you at least see what is already growing. The exception is if you have a blank canvas either grass or bare nothing planted beds... I almoty envy you the fun of creating the garden you want... we've been creating our for 20 years now and it is still changing :-)

15 Apr, 2010

How do I say thanks?

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