After putting 40m of close boarded fencing up last week (with another old codger) I've got 250 Hawthorn whips to plant unfortunately my back has gone, can hardly put my socks on!! Does anyone know how long I can keep them before planting?
Funnily enough we have a perennial thunbergia in France..... thank you. I have researched it for our fencing..... and may put some in...
I hadn't realised the convent had gone tbh. My aunt, who passed away in 2013, lived there for a couple of years - and also in Garston.
At this time of year they should be dormant so they should be ok. If they are bare root whips just keep them damp and frost free - wrap them in a damp cloth or sac. If you are up to it you could dig one hole and just heel them in until you are ready to plant them. Hope you find your back soon Suggestions, why not mix with other hedging plants, some evergreen, to produce a nice varied natural hedge which will be even more wildlife friendly.
Thanks for info. They arrived yesterday, I have 125 Hawthorn with another 125 mixed varieties, good price from hedges direct. My gardener friend is coming on Friday to put them in. I have left them in the plastic bag with old wet newspaper to hopefully keep the roots damp. The suppliers recommend cutting down to about half after planting but my sidekick disagrees so maybe I'll do that when he has gone.
Make sure the roots are getting some air as plastic can cause nasty damp things to happen. If you want a bushy hedge then pruning them is a good start although it does seem like you are throwing away half your investment.
I will consult Mr Austin's book, the nice ones we have do not understand the word short... How short?
I've done a bit of research and found an email we wrote to David Austin asking the same question but without the stipulation that they are short climbers. the recommendations are as follows: Mme Alfred Carrier New Dawn Paul Noel St Swithun Teasing Georgia (we bought this one) The Pilgrim Suggest you look them up to see how tall they grow. No harm in emailing David Austin or Peter Beales and asking the question, they are very helpful. I also looked at Peter Beal's book and came up with this list of climbers that do not grow more than 12ft high and which are suitable for a North facing aspect. Hybrid Teas Cupid, 10' pink Golden Dawn 12' yellow Mrs Herbert Stevens 12' white Reveil Dijonnais 10' orange/red/yellow Richmond 10' scarlet Bourbons Kathleen Harrop 10' pink Martha 10' pink Zephrin Drouhin 10' cerise All the above 3 bourbons are thornless, flower over several months and are scented. We find that roses along a N wall/fence tend to grow upwards until they get to the light which makes them leggy with all the flowers on top. To minimise this put up some horizontal wires (you will have to anyway) and train new shoots along the wires which will reduce the vigour and hopefully produce side shoots which will flower. Feed em well. Hope this helps. S
Many thanks.... I have also been looking at David Ausitn's website.. we had several or his new english roses in our old house.... Mme not so keen as she thought the flowers were too heavy and drooped... I think it was just rain This is really helpful and i will enjoy looking them all up Will let you know what we eventually do.. Then the next challenge will be a couple of matching clematis!
When I lived in Lincoln, a good friend who had moved down with her hubby and 3 kids from Newcastle. Her house had Clematis climbing round her back door frame. She really loved it, so when she first saw her new neighbour in his back garden, as an ice-breker she called out to him, "Have you seen my clitoris?" Neighbour rushes back indoors!
Trying a new tactic with my dahlias this year - normally I lift them to over winter but as this area is very mild I have cut them right back and covered them with six inches or so of old compost and will leave them in the ground - Spring will tell me if I did the right thing
wet wet wet here.... Anyone recommend a good mix to fill holes/indentetations in the lawns made by our builder when putting land drains in.... I think Frenchie/someone told me once...but the problem is now worse.... . i need to build up one area about two metres square by about 1.5 inches where the lawn slopes down to some new paving.... and water is collecting.... and do I then reseed... or wait for the grass to grow through.... or will moss come thanks
I would add a mix of sand and topsoil /compost now and get the levels right. Then in the spring I would add some seed - some grass could grow through but it would not be very regular.
Depends how wet we are talking. If just a bit soggy I would go 2:1 soil to sand. If wetter than that I might go to 50-50 but then would want to use at least coarse sand or even add a little grit to the sand for better drainage. In a small area of my garden the 2:1 worked well
That is top-dressing OFH - I got the impression Yorkie needs to bury his grass under a couple of inches of earth - same principle though
