Hope in the Height

For most of this year I have felt rather disconnected with our middle patio.

It got damaged by fire last year and was replanted early this year, I am, however, pleased overall with the changes and the new plants we've put in.

Other parts of the garden that were rehabilitated post inferno I'm really pleased with and think looks better now like the jungle hut and the jungle area which now has more tree ferns in it. The middle patio however, although new plants have been put in have lost the height, maturity, and lushness that it used have. And consequent to that the sense of privacy the area used to have.

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The Right to Privacy

I saw this old photo of our middle patio a few days ago and thought, eek! Look how lush, leafy, and private this area used to be....

How it was in September 2012

Now it looks so bare, sparse, and exposed.

Crikey, like we just moved in and have only started doing up the garden...

That's the way it is though, it is on repair stage and it's only late March and most deciduous plants are only starting to put on new growth.

This area is rather private anyway even without the plants but it would be nicer if the views of our neighbours shed roofs are obscured and fences blended away like it was before. At least old photos of our garden will serve as our guide as we work towards restoring and repairing it to how it was before. Not to be an exact copy of course but at least replicate the sense of privacy the area used to have, eventhough the area is private irregardless.

The road to recovery starts by removing mess and clutter

Speaking of fences, it's one those things that seems most people are preconditioned not to see or take notice of. Fencing - you either blend it away or you emphasise it. Opt for the latter, make sure you have beautiful, well constructed, and sturdy fences for they will not only serve to demarcate boundaries but they become a feature. Opt for the former then use sensible, natural colours to blend it away.

Voila! Clutter gone!

We're opting for the former and will be blending it away, like how it was before. It doesn't have to be perfect but we'll level the panels as much as is possible (our garden actually slopes) then paint the concrete (albeit charred) posts with dark brown masonry paint. Then the fence panels itself with dark brown stain. Then we'll let the planting do the blending and concealing.

I wonder myself how much lushness we will be able to restore this year. I'm pretty confident we can most it even if we have to use more annuals than usual this to fill in the gaps whilst the more permanent plants fill up. 

Looking back at our own past for some inspiration

Anyway, the year is early and the growing season has just begun. And we've only just begun ourselves. I'm curious what we'll come up with and achieve in this area this year. Will it feel private again as early as this year. We'll wait and see...

Mark :-)

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A Poem Lovely as a Tree

Whenever we go tree shopping I always find myself thinking of the poem Trees by Joyce Kilmer, a poem that as a child we were made to memorise and recite over and over again on numerous occasions in primary school. Even during typing class (do they still have typing lessons in school nowadays?) one of the exercises that we had to do to pass was to type the lines of this poem arranged in a way to form a symmetrical shape of a tree.

Tree shopping, what a bliss!

Ahh memories! Memories of a poem that was overused in school with its simple, melodramatic lines and religious overtones written to exalt the virtues of trees. Overused it may have been (and it possibly still is) but this is just a testament to the  simplicity, effectiveness, and beauty of the poem. A big kudos and a lasting legacy to the poet who penned it.  

So tree shopping it was for us last Saturday, albeit an impromptu, spur of the moment decision. I know I just mentioned on our previous post that we stayed at home and gardened for most of that day but connected to that was the urge to start reinstating plants that will provide structure to the garden. With the clearing out starting it would also feel great to commence some planting too. And what way to start this process than to put in a beautiful tree we've always wanted to have in the garden but never had the space for it until now.

Given the space (and fortune) I'll happily have all of them!

This is the Tibetan Cherry, Prunus serrula 'Tibetica', a tree introduced into cultivation by Ernest Wilson in 1908 from Western China and is one the finest trees available mainly for bark interest but its graceful habit, form, and not so large size are also notable features. The bark can be polished by regular hosing and even rubbing to further enhance its most attractive feature. There is a beautiful specimen of this that greets visitors to Kew Gardens via the Victoria Gate entrance and ever since we caught sight of this elegant tree it immediately went into our wishlist. And from last Saturday it finally leaped from our wishlist into reality and into our garden.

I couldn't find any of our photos of ones growing at Kew so I borrowed this from Loree of Danger Garden who took this photo when she visited Kew Gardens in 2012

And here's another one taken by Loree (she does take fab photos!) - Prunus serrula 'Tibetica'

I do love trees, perhaps just as much as Joyce Kilmer indicated in his poem (okay, perhaps less melodramatic and religious). In fact whenever I get asked what would be the first non practical thing we would do if we acquired acres of land (hypothetical question but who knows, it might actually happen in the future) to garden I always say I want an arboretum, much to their surprise as they almost always expect that we'd say something like an arid bed, jungle walkway, or even a large pond. Fortunately for me Gaz shares the same sentiments on this matter. We'd still have those of course, given the chance but an arboretum would be really nice.

Given the generous space I could happily indulge in collecting Sorbus, Prunus, Magnolias, Acers, various conifers, you name it. Small trees, large ones, slow growing, fast growing, long lived, short lived, legacy, newly introduced, etc etc! And then underplant these trees with various bulbs that would come up and flower in succession through the seasons. Galanthus, Trilliums, Daffodils, Aconites, the list can be endless.

Snap! That's me daydreaming now! Better get back to reality and focus on this one particular plant, or should I say tree for now.

So after spending most of the day clearing and tidying up by mid afternoon we cleared enough space of an area to make way for a tree. There used to be a common elderberry tree, Sambucus canadensis growing sort of in that area and just behind the fences that provided some structure and privacy to the garden but that's gone now, perished by the fire (and rootball subsequently dug up just in case). So a replacement was necessary and this tree immediately sprung into mind. We still had about three hours of daylight left to do anything in the garden and we took advantage of this by immediately driving to a garden centre within our area that we took note of before that sells larger specimens of this tree for a reasonable price.

Not a bad size for price and will provide instant height and impact

We got there, made our choice amongst the best of what they had that is tall yet will still fit in the car, paid, and tied up the top growth with the only thing we had available then to tie it up which was literally a tie (we were a tad unprepared) then headed straight back home.

Why use a rope when you can use a tie!

Unloaded the car, dug up a hole, then presto, there it was in its new home. We forgot to buy a tree stake then so that will follow soon.

We thought it would be nice to cap off that day by planting out a tree that's we've wanted for awhile, and also symbolic that the road to recovery of our garden has truly begun.

And there it is, in it's new home, and playing with a few plants potentially for underplanting by positioning the pots.

Yes it was spontaneous but so, so satisfying! It all starts with that beautiful tree, more plants to follow later.

The fences will be sorted out, painted, and blended away later on but for now we're just admiring and appreciating the presence of this tree in our garden

Now back to the poem, after me saying how overused it was Gaz tells me he is not familiar with it at all! Perhaps it's just me and my school contemporaries then? I'm sure that's not the case.

But for those who are not familiar, let me share to you:

Trees

by Joyce Kilmer

I think that I shall never see

A poem lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest

Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast;

A tree that looks at God all day,

And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in Summer wear

A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;

Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,

But only God can make a tree.

Mark :-)

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The Scent of Cedar

When you have a heavy cold any wonderful scent that manage to pass through your clogged nostrils is a welcome treat, and that scent must be very powerful to do so. And such was the scent of cedar.

Being all arty with cedar shingles!

I didn't even need to be right next to it, it was wafting in the air and you get a whiff of it the moment you open the patio doors.

The cedar shingles for the new jungle hut has arrived and was piled on the top patio ready to be installed in the following days. I followed the scent to where it was obviously coming from and found myself deeply inhaling the scent of  roof tiles - now that's something I bet you won't hear too often! And even better, a couple of builders did the same after me. There we were, a trio of people sniffing roof tiles!

But cedar wood also meant cedar oil and some of it were leaching from the shingles on to the patio. It doesn't matter at this point as the patio will be repaved anyway but this is something we'll have to keep in mind for the future. The initial plan is to use cedar slats to screen the existing fences in this area next year, as part of this patio's looming makeover. The stone paving must go on first before the screening and the last thing we want is for oil to leach out on to the porous. So if we go for this material we'll have to store them somewhere else.

The new jungle hut is shaping up very nicely. The builders are not always good at following design brief faithfully but so far so good, it looks like, for a change it is heading towards there a hundred percent. Full credits to Gaz here, he made all of the sketches and did all of the redesigning and all I did was to give him full faith to do so. I'll have lots of input with the furniture, decor, and colour scheme though but that will have to wait till next year.

Before they go on the roof they might as well serve a temporary purpose - as a platform whiche helped me tidy up this Nolina longifolia

Ahh, the sweet scent of cedar!

Mark :-)

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The Spark

I had a quick walk around the garden yesterday and I heard the sound of sparks somewhere....

But where? I couldn't see any nor could smell anything that would indicate combustion caused by sparks....

Like nothing happened eh?

I was just being playful with myself (or perhaps I am now losing my mind?). The sparks I heard were figurative sparks. Now that the house renovation is calming right down as compared to how it was last summer my interest in the garden and plants are returning.

The spark is returning and hopefully it will become full on flames again (pun intended).

Insulation going in for the Jungle Hut

Great! And just in time for winter! Perhaps the spark with trigger the flame that will then heat the greenhouse?

Not much change outside but inside...

Anyway, enough of the sparking around. If I want to get into gardening again I better go indoors again and finish painting that door frame.

Mark :-)

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The Return of the Jungle Hut (Part I)

Having professional carpenters in the garden is something of a novelty, until now we have done everything ourselves, calling in assistance from my Dad on occasion. The rebuilding of the jungle hut, however, is being paid for by our insurance company and so we don't need to resort to DIY.

First they dismantled the old one, which they commented had been very well built. I guess we knew that already as the main part was at least 20 years old, and showed no signs of any problems. That was unceremoniously dumped into a huge skip before it was taken away for recycling - most of the timber content gets pulped and I understand then used as fuel. 

New timber sat next to the old hut in the skip 

The new Timber arriving

So with that gone did we get chance to photograph the big empty space - no not at all, as by the time we had gotten home that evening the start of the new building was going up.

The new Jungle hut will be similar to the old one, although the decked area is growing in size and the shed itself will be slightly smaller. Its looking very solid already and the cladding being used is much thicker than the old - and in my eye looks much better too.

Very chunky cladding

The decking is also much thicker than we had used, so will be nice and solid too. As before the shed will be double glazed and insulated to ensure that when we over winter plants - and it will be needed for that very task before much longer - the cost of heating is kept to an absolute minimum.

Twinkles likes the new shed

We are expecting the finished building to be completed next week - I love having the professionals in!

Gaz

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Long and Dirty Weekend

We all love a good, long bank holiday weekend don't we, especially if it's a dirty one. Quite literally on our case as work continued in the house all weekend. On Saturday as the builders carried on working and made more mess (the good and welcome sort, meaning things are moving on, yay!) I shut myself in the bedroom (more to prevent too much dust in the room really) for most of the day and just....relaxed. I haven't done something so lazy for a very long time and boy did I need that. Laying in bed and marathon watching episodes of Tales from the Crypt was thoroughly enjoyable.

Ginkgo with an aura.... Ginkgo biloba 'Beijing Gold' and Dasylirion quadrangulatum

Then later in the afternoon, once the builders have left for the day I had a sudden craving to go to a....department store! We didn't buy anything, not yet for anything that we bring home will just get dirty anyway so it's best to avoid any buying until the house is finished. What the department store did provide are glimpses of clean furnishings, and sort of a reminder of what a dirt free living would be like again and a glimpse of a finished product. Again I needed that little trip, refreshing and inspiring. And whilst we sat down for some coffee just before we headed home I smiled when I remembered how similar my behaviour was to when we were still doing the big pond project. When things got a bit too hard and dirty then we would often make little trips to nurseries and gardens to gain inspiration and refresh ones motivation.

Which then reminds me, literally as I write this post that we ought to reveal the result of the big pond project very soon....

So come Sunday, we did lots and lots more cleaning in the house. Although dust and dirt will continue to settle in the house for the next few weeks it's always better to be on top of it.

And come Monday, we decided to turn our attention to another place that needed tidying up - the areas of the garden that were affected by the fire.

Clear up of the area has been slow due to the house taking priority but steady as we go bit by bit on some evenings after work. The builders who will be in charge of clearing up and rebuilding the 'Jungle Hut' are the same ones renovating our house so whilst house work is ongoing then they have very little time to devote to our garden. We did say though that we could do with restoring at least some of the privacy back into our garden by getting some of the new, replacement fences up which they did a few days ago.

From nothing to something, this climber is ready and raring to smother its obelisk all over again.

Thank goodness the Magnolia denudata 'McCracken's Variegate' is fine

So some of the new fences are now up and we have some privacy in the garden again. The rest of the fences will have to wait for now as well as the levelling and finishing off of what's up already.

And the inside of the Jungle Hut has been tidied up already and almost ready for demolition. We have salvaged what we can salvage, cleaned what we can clean, and most important of all cleared out and binned as much as needed to be binned.

As for the burnt plants, some are making a comeback whilst some are well and truly lost. But the clearing out of the dead plants and organic debris has been very minimal until this Monday when we went full steam ahead in cutting back.

The aim is to clear out as much as we could, in stages and leave the plans for replanting until most of the clear out has been done and when we have an almost blank canvass again. The less clutter the more likely we will be inspired and planning will be much easier.

A very special view

So lots of cleaning it was but my goodness there's just so much to look forward to here! I've never been so excited to be so.... dirty!

Mark :-)

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Life After Fire

With just over a week after the fire some of the plants that were severely burnt are already showing signs of life and start of their recovery....

Agapanthus sp.

Amicia zygomeris

Trachycarpus fortunei pushing out new spear

Dryopteris sp.

As it is still summer and an active growing season this is a big influence as to why  some of the affected plants have pushed out new growth relatively quick after the event. Had if we were in the colder months signs of life would have taken much longer to show up. In a few weeks we will have better ideas which plants are worth saving and keeping, and which ones will have to well and truly go....

Ligularia japonica

Bergenia ciliata

Fallopia japonica 'Variegata'

Musa basjoo

Phyllostachys vivax f. aureocaulis

Trachycarpus wagnerianus pushing out new spear

Ginkgo biloba 'Variegata'

Pulmonaria sp.

Phyllostachys bambusoides

Isn't nature amazing?

Mark :-)

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