Formally, Informal English Garden (edible)
wbonesteel
10 years ago
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cactuscharlie
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agowbonesteel
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agoRelated Discussions
"The" formal boxwood garden
Comments (35)" I do feel though (plz let me say this just once..) that they look like prison facilities." (edit: I caught ltonk before he or she made an edit. But that's a fine opinion to express if you're not used to the look, which, clearly most people in the US wouldn't be) Well, obviously, the British aristocracy would disagree with you. I don't see any razor wire fences, guard towers, concrete block batiments, etc. Are you sure you've actually seen a prison in your life? FWIW the first picture is the back of Castle Howard, here's a better overview: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/north_yorkshire/3624511.stm Of course the ones that actually _were_ castles were in a sense a reverse prison at one time. But I don't think that's the reasoning behind the way they may or may not be planted. I think it's more a mindset about what landscaping, gardening, and architecture all actually are, and mean. There's an utterly fascinating essay I have somewhere...unfortunately I've downloaded 1000s of pdf files of interesting articles and papers over the years, and it's hard to find one I need at a moment's notice - about the history of the concept of "culture" vis-a-vis horticulture. How "culture[d]" and "horticulture" are inexorably intertwined. Basic point is gardens always started out with a utilitarian goal in mind, but their cultural effect was recognized early on. (hanging gardens of babylon, etc) I think to really pull out occam's razor and slash this one open if I may mix metaphors, to put greens in front of one's castle would have implied one had nowhere else to grow one's food. Or something like that. Funny that you said thatthough, as, even though I'm a bit of an anglophile and certainly a fan of English gardening culture, I was reflecting recently that such stately homes, lovely as they are, reflect the "prison" that pre-20th century society was for those who were not in the gentry and aristocracy. You could only build such places without modern machinery and run them efficiently when labor was incredibly cheap and expendable. With the # of recent examples of these piles turning back into what they once were...i.e., fully private homes that don't even need the revenue of visitors, you have to worry whether the world hasn't turned back that way a wee bit. But let's not get into economic policy. That would make a real OT mess. The two I know about are Leonardslee, the Loder Estate - home of one of the most famous collections of rhododendrons in the world - and Torosay Castle, but I'm sure I've read of at least one other in the past few years. This post was edited by davidrt28 on Tue, Apr 30, 13 at 23:22...See MoreNeed Help Re-Designing my English Garden
Comments (13)Thanks for adding your suggestions, Renee! And gypsy, I think your garden is lovely, don't sell yourself short! And thank you Renee for your kind comments. It is such a pretty, pretty area of our yard, and my husband is on board for it to stay formal. And yes, these rose trees are breathtaking. Every year the perform better and better. They are nearly 8 feet in diameter right now . We're going to have to re-stake them. Again. With something really massive, lol! House is sort of a beige with medium brown trim. Sounds ugly, but it is sort ofTuscan in its style, and it's a nice neutral color. Here's an old photo of the house (much more landscaping and fruit trees, now). My formal garden area is on the left side of the house: Colors for the flowering plants. Thinking purple (have some variegated lavender colored iris that will stay, just need to be dug up and repositioned), pink and white. And some silver foliage and green foliage. The lavender I was thinking of using is Lavandula angustifolia 'Thumbelina Leigh'. Very nice, well behaved, very rich green foliage and deep blue purple flower heads. Plus, it is very fragrant. I have found this to be one of the very best lavenders for small spaces, just has so many great qualities. I was also thinking of maybe using some Dianthus? I found these 'Super Trouper' in a fuschia pink, which I think would be a nice color accent. Foliage is silvery: White Meidiland roses would be great. Or some white rose. I have a lone 'Glamis Castle' that looks gorgeous below the 'Red Fairy' tree rose. So, yes, white roses would be very pretty. I'd love to have any DA rose, so I might try to mix and match pink, purple and white DA's in the middle of the triangles. For the shady areas, I could go with a white Kalanchoe, or a white begonia with the Hellebores. The shady area is much more difficult to plant. Patty S. This post was edited by hoosierquilt on Mon, May 20, 13 at 18:44...See MoreFormal garden style?
Comments (50)I agree that you need some big items (like big shrubs or trees) to define the space and dramatic edging if you plan to keep grass in the interior of the design. If you do keep grass, I think you'd want to keep it golf course-short so that it didn't compete with the plants. With what you have drawn, I'd at minimum put big items on the corners, or symmetrically placed in the ceneters of each long bed. Choose something you like that can be repeated, that will give you multiple season interest, and that won't swamp your beds or shade them too much. I googles deer-resistant shrubs and trees and found several items - you could see what works in your climate. My mom has crabapples and an apple orchard in an arrea that gets >100 deer in the immediate vicinity, but I don't know how they would do if they were the most appealing foodstuff in the area. If they work, might be a possibility. Me, I would lose the grass in the interior entirely, and also look for some perennials and shrubs that grow more than 3 feet tall to intersperse with the rest....See MoreMy informally formal garden.
Comments (13)It's a relatively small town. I just figured that the back yard was too small and really belongs to my wife's dogs. The front yard was big enough, but...If I were going to put in an edible landscape, I'd make it look good. No one is going to holler if I make it look nice. That was part of the thinking. The other part is that when we bought this place, the drainage in the front yard and driveway all ran to the foundation of the house. I had to change that w/o changing the overall direction of which way the runoff drained. In the process of getting the runoff to drain away from the foundation, I ended up with this garden. The overall drainage on the lot runs south by southeast. I didn't change that, nor did I make it run north by northwest or something equally stupid. The overall drainage still runs south by southeast. I'm not flooding someone else's property, nor is theirs now flooding ours. That's about the only landscaping code I have to deal with, here. In short, I didn't ask anyone's permission. otoh, I've done this sort of landscaping in years past, in locations where the codes were somewhat more...stringent. So, I already knew my limits and had some idea of industry standards. - and I'd learned which way the locals in this town leaned, so to speak. Plus, the landscaping was a real mess when we moved in, and it is now well on the way to being extraordinary. If I'd just laid out a traditional garden with rows, people might have a right to holler a bit. Instead, I went for well-landscaped and extraordinary. The only problems we've had wrt others in our front garden were feral dogs, cats and kids. That's no longer much of a problem. The biggest problem has been from that damn squirrel, getting our tomatoes before they're ready to harvest. He'll be on the menu, if he keeps it up this year....See Morewbonesteel
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agowbonesteel
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agowbonesteel
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agowbonesteel
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agomandolls
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agowbonesteel
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agowbonesteel
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agomandolls
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agowbonesteel
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agoYolanda
9 years agonancyjane_gardener
9 years agonancyjane_gardener
8 years ago
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