Grow Your Own Magazine

We have been here 2 years and are wondering how to tidy and retain our overgrown garden border. These houses were built in an old quarry pit and as the builders worked rubble ended up being moved further up the road until they could go no further. As a result the houses at the end of each cul de sac have banks bordering their gardens - on the other side is the main road into the village. As you can guess this means we have some very rocky terrain to deal with here.

The back was strimmed to try and tidy it last year, the trees were cut back and the ivy removed (some of it has trunks as thick as trees!) The front is a little harder as has more planted in the way of daffodills (although several are now blind) and shrubs etc.

We are trying to do all this with the local birds etc in mind and want to retain traditional native species where possible in the planting.

All the other houses, except us and the people opposite, that border the road have taken out the old hedgerow and put up fences which I think is a real shame. When you watch its amazing how many birds we have in that part and it is even more noticible now the people opposite are mid way through the process of removing the hedgerow ready to replace it with a fence.

What can I do with the back bank? If I was to go to the hard work we could "reclaim" a little bit more land but would need to put some sort of retaining feature in maybe terrace whats left. It is so dark and dry I have no idea what I can plant wether I leave it or not?

What about the front? - it is difficult to get up there to weed properly and I dont want to just strim it. Everyone always comments on how pretty it is but it takes alot to keep the weeds under control.

Any advice or ideas would be greatly appreciated. I can of course supply more information if required. If any of you are nearby in Northamptonshire and fancy coming along in an advisory (or muscular!) role then so much the better! Awaiting some response with baited breath!

Tammy

Without pictures it's difficult to visualise the bank you're describing. However why not put a native hedge atop it? (Or in front) You'd have to be sure the bank was stable first.



The Hedges of Dartmoor

Can you post a picture of the problem area?

__________________
Manda.

Yet Nature is made better by no mean
But Nature makes that mean; so over that art
Which you say adds to Nature, is an art
That Nature makes.

1st 3 are of the front and next 2 are of the back.

hth.

Tammy

Attached Thumbnails

         

Would love to hear someones opinion on this. I weeded part of the back bank yesterday and planted some sort of broad leaved that was taking over another bed. I know its not exactly tradional planting but it should give good ground cover and stop some of the weeds from having all their own way.

backs going to take hard work im afraid if its rubbly, short of ripping it all up covering with black plastic to prevent weeds, but to be honest, i'd just clear it all. are those trees yours in the back ? any nice bits of rubble you could use a feature and plant ground spreading herbs like thyme or camomile. Rosemary or even some heathers, polyanthus would look pretty here too you can get them cheap on the market , could have a line of lavender, sorry im a veggie and herb person, shrubs im not to good with im afraid i have a thread on here asking to help name mine , just looking at the slope, what is it like on the other side?, the last thing you want is to dig it all up and to have the trees fall over.
as for the front i think it's loverly, i bet you hear the birds chirping away happily dawn and dusk, again a tidy up and a clip back after the daffs have died back *i know they look untidy when they do this i find it annoying* you can pull up and either move, store, give away the ones you dont want and plant ground spreading plants to save on weeding,
what do you want in the front all year round flowers, shrubs, or just a mix of everything?
Weed from one end clear out what you dont want recycle or move rocks, keep plants you want, give away or even swap what you dont want, bark chippings or gravel(smashed up rubble if your having a bad day ) inbetween are resonable weed preventors while you wait for any spreading plants to establish, black plastic is ok but slugs love it underneath and the birds cant get to them,
im afraid whatever you do it will be hard work, but its always rewarding, do little at a time start at one end and move along so you can see your progress instead of trying to do it all at once

Is that mound of soil at the back representative of the type of material the bank is made of ? What aspect ?

What plants (weeds) are growing there at the mo ?

The other side of the border is a path which runs alongside the main road. As this path is higher than our garden we are overlooked by the very few passers by (mainly dog walkers). As we have young children we want to thicken up the screening, although in the summer the leaves do this quite well and its only then the kids have less on if you see what I mean.

Out the back is alot of ivy. I read somewhere that wildlife likes stacks of logs etc so we have been building up the screen affect by adding the larger prunings such as the ivy we are thinning out from the trees. The ivy can then scramble over that. It would be too bigger job to totaly clear and start again, shortage of Money and time makes this prohibitive too.

The bank faces North west and the soil is quite fertile (all the leave mulsh prob) and crumbly and surprisingly moist for being under so many trees. I have no idea where hubbie dug up that pile in the picture from but it was mainly medium sized local stones which I have used as a mulch around the grasses I planted on Sunday so that has now shrunk considerably.

Along the hedge also grows a fearny feathery plant with tall flower spikes that remind me of cow parsley. It tends to take over and thats my main bug bear. There is also some of that sticky weed that clings to you. There is also some sort of ground cover which is grey folliage that creeps. There is also some vinca which I try and keep as much as possible as I like it!

The daffodills are mainly out the back and I am not sure if I should try feeding them or dig up the blind bulbs or both. There are also an awful lot of saplings which I think need weeding out as we go too.

In the picture with the water butt, is the hedge all along the top of the bank? It looks like it needs laying or at least a bit of tlc.

Hedges in Our Landscape

__________________
Manda.

Yet Nature is made better by no mean
But Nature makes that mean; so over that art
Which you say adds to Nature, is an art
That Nature makes.