Another Planting experiment.

[unklian]

A couple of pictures of some plants I thought I would try for the close environs of my garden line . First picture taken in May when I planted them out.

Left to right, front to back they are , the tall bush an existing Euonymus, in front of that a new miniature Hebe, in front of that a piece of Sagina subulata or Irish Moss, the gardener, a Thymus and the edge of some Saxifrage. Beyond the railway to the right is another Thymus variety I left in its pot tucked amongst the other plants as I wasn't sure about its position.


And this is what it looks like now. The Thymus in the foreground was eaten by something within days, and although it did start to grow back it got eaten again ! Which is a shame as I liked its scale and texture. The miniature Hebe and the Irish Moss are doing quite nicely, in fact the moss will need a trim as it is starting to encroach on the track a bit. The Saxifrage has died off and turned into the usual mess at this time of year. I think I must try planting the other thymus properly as it seems to be OK where it is, and I will have to find something less edible to replace the other one.
I think the next update will be in the spring and we shall see what survives the winter .

Cheers Ian

 

[unklian]

Simon has been leading the way, and it is that time of year for us garden railwayists to start sticking our noses out of doors again . After a couple of forays into my garden in the last week or so I am getting to grips with what needs to be done to repair the ravages of winter. Nothing has blown over ( yet ) and the windy weather has cleared away a lot of the leaves. The nice green heather I planted has decided to flower in a pretty shade of pink so that will have to go. The Bonsai Azalea Tree has survived to my surprise, will be interesting to see if it flowers, before I decide on a permanent place for it. The other small plants are looking OK, the Irish moss looking the most worse for winter. I have some seed for this and I am going to see if I can grow more, I think a strip alongside the track covering the edge of the ballast in places could look good. Just have to see if it is that controllable . The track through the nursery looks pretty good and will need just a small amount of ballast, but in other places it is looking very washed out. It seems that it needs a few reballastings before it really stabilises. I am resisting covering it in glue, as others have done, for the time being .
Fed up with being frozen in the garden I went off to get frozen looking round the local garden centres. I guess I am strange wanting little green plants that don't flower but last forever, but even so the prices put me off buying anything. I will have to wait for the nursery at Weston Turville to open again, they actually shut down for most of the winter . Anyway here is the nursery corner as it was today .



Left to right, Euonymus ( the biggest bush ), mini Hebe, Irish Moss ( looking a bit yellow ), Arenaria ( another newish one, supposed to flower but hopefully not too much ), Thymus other side of the track , Heather ( gone wrong colour damn ), Little Pine tree and far right the Azalea 'tree' .

 

[Mike W]

Denise says don't throw the heather out, she will find a good home for it.

Mike

 

[unklian]

Latest update on the garden railway planting experiments. Some successes and some failures to report. Current situation in the nursery with the 'jungle' behind .



Left to right Euonymus and Hebe have survived, the patch of Irish moss is all but dead, Arenaria looking very pretty with white flowers ( Baaah ), new little patch of Irish moss doing well and a mini Sedum wedged in the corner and doing alright. Behind, the Thyme and Pine tree are doing fine but far right the Azalea ' bonsai tree' is very dead looking. This is a shame as I had hopes for it, but it seems that this springs cold and dry weather was no good for Azaleas as my other plants suffered as well . However I have discovered a new ( to me anyway ) bushy plant that looks quite promising. A variety of Lonicera called Tidy Tips ( ??!! ), this has greener and smaller leaves than Bagginsons Gold . I am experimenting with propagating some more, as well as two nice plants bought in the nursery.



This pic shows the two Lonicera's with a Cotoneaster 'tree' in a pot in between . Hopefully these will make nice back ground scenery .



The cuttings and propagation department on a small scale . Left to right, Irish moss seeded, Irish moss cuttings, Sedum cuttings and Lonicera cuttings . Fingers crossed



Finally , some where behind that lot is a third of my railway

 

[Locomodels]

Nicely planted and good detail on the plants. However Lonicera is a thug and needs almost constant trimming. It is often used as hedging, we had some at the last house, so we moved. We also had some here and cut it down but failed to get all the roots out. It is still trying to make a comeback!

Good luck and keep an eye on yours.

Paul.

 

[unklian]

Nicely planted and good detail on the plants. However Lonicera is a thug and needs almost constant trimming. It is often used as hedging, we had some at the last house, so we moved. We also had some here and cut it down but failed to get all the roots out. It is still trying to make a comeback!

Good luck and keep an eye on yours.

Paul.

Thanks for the tip Paul, I will keep a close eye on mine . Which variety was yours if you dare to remember ?

 

[unklian]

Not much been going on in the garden until recently when I have been doing a spot of plant propagation . The usual plant bed is looking OK.



The background shrubs are doing fine, the middle ground are looking tatty and could probably stand a trim/deadheading, the sedum in the foreground is going great guns and the Azalea tree to the left has made a remarkable recovery.
I rescued these Cotoneaster seedlings from a gravel path in my mothers garden. They are well rooted and I hope they can be grown into miniature trees like the ones in the left background .





Other plants doing well in the background are two Lonicera Nitida bushes and some Azaleas on the right. The Lonicera hasn't taken over yet, it seems to be behaving, maybe it takes time to get going .

After reading a good book on plant propagation "Garden Plants for Free" Tony Derrick, I am experimenting with compost mixed with plenty of sand to make it drain better. I think my lack of success with the plants in my seed tray nursery might be due to them staying too wet .