MBE's new garden

[mrbadexample]

I think I'm going to have to move that rhubarb. It's too big to share the asparagus bed. It can go next to the compost bins at the end of the season.



From left to right, bog garden, blueberry, strawberry trough, Yorkshire liquorice in the longtom, newly repotted bay tree, and mint just out of shot. I had to dig the mint up when I dug the pond, and it had already escaped the barrier so had to go back in the pot.

[mrbadexample]

It's a bit messy round the back of the garage. The bee hotel is literally buzzing with activity, the pond is still under construction as I haven't yet acquired any suitable edging.



I had a problem with red algae in the pond but it's slowly getting there. The water snails are doing their job, and the plants are getting going. The Gittens like to drink from it.



I planted a fern and creeping Jenny in the stump.

[mrbadexample]

I've killed my horseradish.



I didn't think that was possible. I lifted it to harvest some root for beetroot and horseradish chutney late last year, and it hasn't recovered or shown any sign of growth. I'm a bit cross as I've neglected it for probably at least 10 years but the first time I've taken some root it's kicked the bucket.

The olive in its new pot:

[mrbadexample]

Some planting done at the weekend - a couple of foxgloves, Turkish Sage and a honeysuckle.



And a morello cherry that I planted about a month or so ago. From a garden centre but it seems to have a decent shape that will hopefully be amenable to some sort of fan training.

[mrbadexample]

I dug out a border along the garage wall. The slab is there as I plan to have a door put into the garage wall at some point. The tree was from the old house where it just turned up one day. I stuck it in a pot and it seems to be happy. The border has some minarette lupins that came free with the pulmonaria I bought to go by the pond. There's also a stick if you look carefully, which is a thornless blackberry which might eventually get trained along the wall. The lavender on the corner is doing well.



The gooseberries on the back wall, which I've just sprayed as a combination of aphids and sawfly were causing problems. I'm not expecting much fruit this year.

[mrbadexample]

Next job will be to plant the Trachelospermum jasminoides we bought at the weekend, also along the back fence. Quite a lot of progress was made at the weekend.

[mrbadexample]

I've killed my horseradish.

It lives! There's a sprouty bit top left of the picture. This was actually visible in the previous picture if you look really carefully, but I didn't notice it until today.

[mrbadexample]

I went over to Telford on Saturday for Shropshire Sarracenia's open day. Main reason was to pick up a few new fly traps. All bar two of the ones in the bog garden have perished over the years and I wanted to plant up a few different cultivars in the greenhouse. I didn't have room in the old greenhouse as the staging had to come out to make room for plants, but this one's a lot bigger so I've room to keep the staging in. This will look great once the moss has spread over the surface and hidden the perlite, which is a bit unsightly.



I did buy another sarracenia as well, to replace the s. purpurea in the bog garden that has twisted itself into so many knots it needs chucking out. I'll get a picture of that tomorrow.

[mrbadexample]

This twisted mess of a sarracenia



used to look like this when I put it in:



but over the years the pitchers have tied themselves in knots growing the wrong way. I've propagated new plants from it so think I'll consign this one to the compost bin. This is the one I'm going to replace it with:



A bit more upright but still not too tall, and an altogether prettier plant. Mike King, the grower, said he'd not tried this one outside so hardiness is questionable (but it'll probably be ok). I'll try to remember to give it a bit of protection in the winter. The s. purpurea it's replacing is tough as old boots.

[Jay-ell]

Nice photos. They say a pitcher speaks a thousand words.

[mrbadexample]

I planted the new sarracenia in the bog garden. I had to put the cage back over it as there was a bumble bee desperately trying to commit suicide in it within about an hour.



I took the old twisted mass of s. purpurea over to the compost bin, but when it came to throwing it in I couldn't do it.

So I split it up, creating 17 new plants! Maybe this is something I should have done some time ago.

When I visited the grower he had these just sat outside in trays of water - no pots & no substrate other than a bit of sphagnum. So I stuck them in the pond. Some were a bit lacking in roots, so I expect some to die, but probably most will live. I'll have to find people to give them away to.

[mrbadexample]

I took a few photos today to compare now with those at the start of the thread. It's starting to look a bit more like a garden.

[mrbadexample]

Glad I started this thread now as I have no other photos following a hard drive failure. Never mind.

I planted the rhubarb in the wrong place. Right in the middle of the garden next to the asparagus (first photo, previous post). Of course, with optimum conditions it went bonkers and started pushing the asparagus over. So I've dug it up, split it into 4, given three crowns away



and replanted mine by the compost bin. It's out of the way, it might get some nutrients from the compost bin and it should still get enough sun. It's close to the pond - I've been known to find a toad hiding under a rhubarb leaf on occasion, so it might be used as shelter there too:



First question - can rhubarb regrow from roots? There's a few left in but hopefully nothing thicker than a finger.

[mrbadexample]

It's the first chance I've had to put my drainage channels to the test, and they seem to have worked well, giving the water somewhere to go following a jetwash:





If I score some narrow channels in the floor I can help excess water drain towards them and improve things a little further.

I got loads of botrytis at the end of last season so I've ordered a louvred window for the greenhouse to further improve airflow.

[mothhawk]

..First question - can rhubarb regrow from roots? There's a few left in but hopefully nothing thicker than a finger.

After I moved my rhubarb a few years ago, it re-grew a little plant in the original spot. I dug that up and that was the end of it.