A short tour of my garden from north to south
I''ll put up some more pictures of my garden, encouraged by your kind comments about my front garden. First the west side around the corner from the front. A shady garden of white roses, the helenae rambler Lykkefund, Madame Hardy, Madame Plantier further north. Many more can't be seen. The ubiquitous water hose.
Further south is an arched walk of climbers alternating with shorter roses. The photo is taken from the walk across the lawn to the largest perennial bed. There are roses at the back but most don't show, only a glimpse of the gallicas van Huyssum and Hippolyte.
A gallica hedge of 10 varieties divides the back garden in half.
Comments (22)
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Garden row orientation: east-west, or north-south?
Comments (30)If all the plants are short, then row orientation is irrelevant. Taller plants cast a shadow, and the footprint of that shadow - and its movement throughout the day - needs to be taken into account. I use both N-S and E-W orientation in my gardens. Whenever possible, I place the tallest plants in the North side of a bed, in E-W orientation. This results in a zone of permanent shadow, so E-W orientation in the middle of a bed will result in loss of usable space. Because of that, I often place paths in that location, or a block of corn. (And BTW, those shaded paths are most welcome in the dog days of summer.) If I use tall trellises in a N-S orientation, then I try to grow plants of medium height adjacent to them, so that shading will be less of an issue. These might be shorter trellises of cucumbers, or caged tomatoes. In areas with hot summers (such as when I gardened in SoCal) some plants can benefit from being planted on the East side of tall crops, so they will be protected from the afternoon heat. Tomatoes really seemed to like that arrangement, it caused a major reduction of sunscald. If you are planting a lot of tall crops, then the amount of shade increases, and wider row spacing is required to compensate for it. I often plant adjacent 6-foot trellises for various beans & gourds. With E-W orientation, the plants get full sun all day, but only on one side; and rows need to be spaced 3 1/2-4' apart. With N-S orientation, plants get equal sunlight on both sides... but the rows will shade each other both early & late in the day. If spaced too closely in either orientation, then the plants will be top heavy late in the season, with little growth - or yield - in the shaded zone. Shebear brought up a good reason to use tall crops, which is as wind breaks. I plant tall trellises on both the North side (running E-W) and the West side (running N-S) of my gardens, to protect from cool NW winds. Here in the North, heat-loving crops (such as okra, eggplant, and watermelon) do better in those protected micro-climates. Furthermore, those outside barriers usually sacrifice themselves to protect the interior from the first frost. I also use tall trellises as baffles, to block or re-direct pollinators for seed saving. In various locations, both N-S and E-W rows serve that purpose. So really, the question of row orientation is dependent upon your gardening philosophy. If you have limited space, then using only short crops - or a row of tall crops on the N side - is the best utilization of space. Rows can be closer together, so you can grow a greater variety... and orientation won't matter. But if you have more space, enjoy picking without bending over, or prefer to grow varieties that climb (as I do), then just consider that planting tall crops is planting shade, and plan for the shadows accordingly....See MoreA short tour of my garden ...
Comments (35)Christopher, thanks. We could do that. If you come after the weather warms up bring your version of a "tucker". Kitty, that little history of colonial dresses is SO interesting. I never knew about "tuckers", but you know those hard working ladies had to do something to help them keep cool! I loved hearing about one way they did it and seeing your photos. Thank you!. You know, I can remember EVERY nook, plant, and cranny of my grandmother's yard and house -- better than I can remember houses that i've lived in as an adult. I also remember the mischief I got into like chewing off one of her elephant ears to play with and how my tongue swelled up.. It's a wonder it didn't kill me ... lol. Thank you Daisy and Bluegirl, and everybody, for your kind remarks. It's been fun getting to know you all better. I heard a simple quote once, but I guess it was the Knowledge in which it was said that still moves my heart. "We're all just people here." So simply and yet so sweet. This post was edited by roselee on Thu, Apr 18, 13 at 21:19...See More2 pics from a garden tour today
Comments (1)What a cute little bugger! :0)...See MoreNorth Raleigh garden tour
Comments (47)Tammy: You're smart and nice. :oD Thanks for the sedums! I started them in a pot I have basil in so they get a little bigger before I set them in where the pansies need to come out. I looked up what the cleome plants my sister gave me look like, and I wanted some of those, so I'm very happy. Called my sister to thank her and discovered she couldn't find her original plants. Somebody had given her her original plants last year, and she didn't realize they were annuals, so now she's upset she gave away all the seedlings she found. But I'll just share seeds back with her, now that we know, LOL. Hey - how are those lizards settling in to their new yards? Agrowingpassion: Thursday afternoon or evening would be ideal for me, although I could do other evenings as well....See More
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agomariannese thanked vesfl (zone 5b/6a, Western NY)
6 years agomariannese thanked Cori Ann - H0uzz violated my privacy
6 years ago- 6 years ago
The answer to some questions: I am not gardening alone, my husband does more than his share of the work and spends more time in the garden than I. He spent years of his childhood in his grandparents' garden and as his grandmother was trained as a gardening teacher in Berlin, Germany in 1910 he imbued some of that style of gardening from her. The rose roundel is an homage to her. English visitors have called our garden English but it's really more traditional Swedish and German in style. More Karl Foerster than Gertrude Jekyll.
Our garden is mature after 23 years and the majority of our roses are as old. We don't water established roses after their first year. We had no rain in April and May but got 50 millimeters in June (20 inches) but not a drop since then. Our heavy clay saves our plants and a high water table in places. We don't bother with the lawn that is getting brown by now but we spot water plants that seem on the brink to wither, phloxes, echinaceas, new plants, not whole beds. The vegetables come first. We saved rain water in June and this neutral water goes to the rhododendrons. Our water is cheap but we don't have the time or energy to water everything. We don't have water restrictions locally but everyone is encouraged to preserve water because half of the country has a shortage of water. Several areas not far from here but near the coast where people have their own wells have drinking water brought in by tanks because their water is brackish.
The roses in the south walk are from the left: the pink Blush Boursault followed by the dark striped Commandant Beaurepaire with Tour de Malakoff opposite. Most roses there are supported by an iron tuteur or whatever it's called. We have them in several sizes. This is the smallest:
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