Snork's Garden Redesign Project

Any idea what I could plant in these? They are on a shady wall....though it does get a bit of sun in the morning. Id tried trailing heucheras in them but i dont think the pots are big enough and i didnt water them enough (oops)...and they attract vine weevil.

 

I can understand heucheras struggling there Snorky. I guess you used mpc too.....I find mpc is a big attraction for vine weevils. John innes is better all round.
Ophiopogon nigrescens might be worth considering...black against the red brickwork.
Although enjoying sunshine echeverias might grow there too.
Arabis ferdinandi coburgi Old Gold too.....evergreen or semi evergreen, neat cushions tending to slowly cascade and white flowers in spring.

 

@Verdun Actually i used john innes no 3 ....followed your recommendation after posting on here after a bad attack of vine weevils in some big troughs of heucheras I had. I also have to use vine weevil killer as they came back. V annoying.

Thanks for those recommendations....going to google them now

 

Ooh I’ve already got some ophiophogon nigrascens that I could use....infact it used to be in some pots down that side and they grew really well.

However...i love the arabis ferdinandicoburgi!

 

At this time of year a product like Provado will deal with heucheras. I regularly check heucheras here by tugging at them....if they lift they have been attacked by VW larvae. I then dig them up, wash them thoroughly, pull apart and pot up using fresh compost. I also delve into the soil where heicheras were and dig out around the old rootball space. The excavated soil is spread out on a plastic bag for the birds to feast on.
Touch wood.....I havent had much of a VW problem over the past few years so something is working!
In pots, apart from JI, I mulch heavily with grit
A nice combi too Snorky....the variegated arabis and ophiopogon ....in a terracotta pot(?)

 

Ha ha, yes, that’s what I did when the troughs were full of them...let the birds eat them all. I chucked a couple in for the fish too and they enjoyed them! Id even tried a few doses of nematodes but they didnt work either. I managed to save a lot of heucheras by washing them like you have done, split them and replanted in JI3 and used the grit.


I like the sound of that combo!

 

Brilliant, thanks for that info @shiney Yep we’re very similar on the climate aren’t we! I will have to see what youve got for sale at shiney land hee hee.

Ooh it’s just reminded me my grandma gave me a Wiegeila(?!?) cutting that she had grown for me and its in a pot. (I remember seeing it at shineyland and thinking how great it was-think it was near your back door?!). I need to find the right location to plant that.

I’ve also got a small sambucus in a pot that I bought last year that needs planting out and need to plant that too.

 

Aww thanks @shiney that’s so kind. I was thinking of organising a trip over to norfolk way (geneaology related trip) so could maybe detour your way on the return trip.

Today i need to keep digging up plants from the front where the new hedging is going...weather seems grey but “mild” and not to windy so good for getting on with it.

There’s some sort of deciduous tree in the border that needs to come out and going to remove that big round bent conifer on the left side of the back garden and plant the “unknown” tree in its place.

 

So just been playing about with photoshop to see what we should do with the sunny side border. (before and after pics attached )

I've got a big hebe in the front that is coming into the back so thought that could go where the old pond bit is. Thought I could plant my black sambucus at the back as it supposedly grows quickly and tall. And the clematis armandii in the top part of the raised bed

Do you think the sambucus will be ok there?

Any thoughts on putting the hebe there or should I use the front part for smaller plants/perennials instead?

 

Hi Snorky! What is the Clematis going to cling to? You'll need strong wires or something. Being evergreen, armandii gets heavy. You'll probably need to get up close and personal to it as well, initially, to tie it in to it's supports.
That spot looks good for the Hebe. It might suffer a bit being moved in winter, so you can kill two clay pigeons with one stone and prune it in Spring to tidy it up and reduce it's size if you need to.
The Sambucus gets enormous if left unpruned. It does cope with hard pruning, though, either yearly or every other year.

 

Hi! Yes I will need to put some wires up for it. I've got one already on the fence near the koi pond and it is massive....another task I need to tackle. But it looks so good and smells lovely....so worth the hassle.

Unfortunately I'm having to move the hebe as really need to get the hedge in at the front as really want to block out the horrid neighbours (theyre complete nut cases). I'd pruned the hebe back during the summer and it grew back lovely and is still actually flowering now.