I'm Jamie from North London and I am a lazy gardener kill most anything I plant. Lover geraniums but they die after a few years even if they are good at looking after themselves. Then I discovered African Daisies which are amazing very hardy plant. Looking for advice on and bush/flower/plant I can plant that doesn't die after a few years and is super hardy like the African daisy. What bush should I plant that would get really massive for example?
Welcome to the forum! I too love African daisies. Or just about any daisy!I overwintered mine this year. I sure hope it survives going back outside. mine is labelled Osteospermum. Yours?
Hiya yeah that's the one I plant them outside and have some that are about 3 years old now. They love Autumn / winter and tend to find summer a bit difficult, I think I overwatered them last summer as a lot died. I like the purple ones as some people say "you've got weeds" about the white or yellow ones. Cheek. I have one that is growing under the shadow of a small tree and it's really tall as African daisies are very responsive to their environment. I've had to turn around some pots as a few were growing at a slant so they could catch the sun at a certain angle.
Hi Jamie, Welcome to Gardeners Corner Could you give us a few details about your garden, eg size, how much sun/shade it gets and what times of the day. When you've done a few more posts you'll be able to put up a few photos which will help as well. Have you had a look around your locality to see what other people are growing and perhaps get chatting to your neighbours about what they find successful and/or easy. Also, have a look what your local garden centres/nurseries are offering for sale. This is much better than judging by supermarkets as they tend to offer the same stock whether you live in Aberdeen or Plymouth. When you say you want a bust that's really massive what do you mean ?..... Are you talking height, width, do you want a tree or a bush or even a living screen ? Hope I haven't bamboozled you, remember we all started in exactly the same place you're in now
Hiya, Well I have two large balconies. I have just used my compass on my phone for the first time and the back one (the main one) is SW facing it seems and the front is NW facing. I have large planters in a line on each balcony two feet deep and one metre long. Also some bigger planters. The sun rises in the east right? So I'm guessing the front balcony gets the sun earlier? I'd have to take a notebook to this lol. I'm under the impression the front balcony gets more light for whatever reason but this isn't scientific. It might get more light on the morning and the back one more in the evening. I live on a council estate where people don't talk to each other. There are about one hundred balconies like mine and I am one of two people who have put plants on the front. I live in London service is poor and I don't waste my time speaking to demoralised staff who would rather be elsewhere than talking to me. I would love to share my photos when I can do that. Not looking for a tree the three I have are almost dead now, the tips are green and they have got bigger over the years but most of their leaves are permanently brown. This happened during my overwatering period last summer. I have had some luck with butterfly lavender but again last summer... all dead now (just planted some more). I'd like a bush about 50cm high / wide to block out the view of a neighbours front door. It has to be a "hardy-b" as it were, grow quick, block out the view, doesn't have a 3 year die DNA thing like geraniums. Also I think my soil might be too soft in most planters and that might be a problem.
Welcome to GC, Jamie. If you're wanting to block out the sight of the neighbour's front door is 50cms really high enough? I suppose we'd need to wait until you can post pictures of the situation.
Hiya, yes it's difficult to explain. The edge of my back balcony (which you'd usually look over) is literally the sloped roof of the property below slanting down to a row of houses and every time one of them opens their doors we are staring right at each other. Very annoying. How many posts do I need to post pics?
Hiya Jamie! Love the purple osteospermum, they don't survive for me though so given up on them! I too live on a council estate and we got a back door right opposite my next door neighbours (from hell) and we could see right through each others kitchens, we ditched the chain link fence and put a block wall up.. might be bit tricky for you being in a flat though! I'm sure someone on here will come up with something for you
Hiya and what about this shrub very tough down to minus 10 and evergreen but with gorgeous fragrant blooms plus you can shape it its commonly used for Topariay. https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=winter+gem+shrub&biw=1024&bih=552&tbm=isch&source=lnms&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiX25a2867LAhVFOhQKHVvgCmgQ_AUICCgB&dpr=1#imgdii=mf7JvKzIzXYw_M:;iSf2vF8TYtZDXM:;iSf2vF8TYtZDXM:&imgrc=iSf2vF8TYtZDXM: http://bredbypetermoore.co.uk/plants/sarcococca-winter-gem/
Most small plants take a while to grow to a reasonable height but the one suggested by BeeHappy is a good choice. It's tough as old boots and evergreen. It has tiny, highly scented, flowers in the Winter and the berries take a long time to form and are black throughout late Summer and into the Winter. We have a number of the plants in our garden.
Good suggestion. Is there anything that grows quicker and is perhaps slightly bigger? I see a really lovely 'weed' looking bush about London that gets as big as a tree on occasion. It's got purple cone shaped flowers and is really bushy. I should take a picture really.
