Beginner Gardening: Front yard / corner lot needs help for British pocket garden, 1 by Twincol

Twincol wrote:
Oh my, dear WeelNel, your weather sounds cranky! even if quietly so. I remember when contemplating our travel to England in Aug/Sep 2003 expecting rainy, autumn-like weather unlike that which we were leaving in the 90-100 degrees F (32-38 C) range. Well, my dear! It was sunny most all of the 21 days we were there, occasional overcast in the mornings, raining only one day as we walked about Portmerion, Wales. And did it rain . . . buckets, straight down in sheets, pouring (LOL). What a hoot that was. Now that was NOT a quiet cranky. I must remind myself that you folks are at a higher latitude than we are, which is easy for me to forget. I never forget the countries in the lower latitudes as suffering different weather than we do, but frequently forget that the northerners do -- heaven knows why it is I forget that. Hopefully you had some of the youngsters thereabouts to help you with some of the backbreaking work. And your grandkids? Last time we talked you were enjoying a visit.

So, OK, here I sit with no change since the above photo was posted, although I applied pre-emergent, which seems to have failed following our first rain. I'll be back out again soon with another pre-e probably this weekend. That said, I have, however, followed your direction to read, read, study, draw, study, read. I have several awesome UK garden planning books and web sites.

The Natl Trust Guide "Borders," by Penelope Hobhouse has helped my thinking about layering the outer section between the sidewalk and the fence.

I have thoroughly enjoyed the Encyclopedia of Gardening (Denna Beverley and Barty Phillips) as an idea-generator and quick overview of the technical aspects of building/planting etc. It gets my creative juices flowing when I'm not willing to think deeply LOL. Moreover, it's delightful in its photos of British ideas which we may not think of here.

I have a significant number of other UK books, the titles escape me at the moment, which fill my creative mind as I work on my planning process.

Town Gardens, by Valeria Bradley, a US designer, has helped with thinking of very very small spaces, which has keeps my thinking small, as I often get off track by thinking larger than is reasonable in this space.

I've written of some of the web sites earlier and they are, of course, just out of this world. And, of course, Dave's Garden Web Site, you've heard of that one, haven't you? (chuckling)

I'm actually planning on planting the two small trees in the outer corners of the fence, hopefully in the next couple of weeks, as I have help available to do so and I really want to take advantage of the seasonal planting benefit. Given all I've read about British garden walls, I've decided unequivocally to use all Star Jasmine around the fence to present a unified background both inside and outside the wall. It will also help in selecting plants and layering plans.

My mother's needs have demanded considerable attention over the past month and all I've been able to muster in terms of emailing is briefer and less "intellectual" thought. Moreover, just last week it was determined that I have a hole in my retina and need surgery next week. I went in yesterday to talk to the surgeon and she was positive about the expected outcome. It seems I've lived with this little tear for several months, so there's no immediate rush. So, I'll be quiet next week as well. It seems we're on the same page, as it were, right? Taking care of ourselves. Your encouragement and ability to communicate planning orientation, WeelNel, has kept me on track. Thanks so much for that. Your thoughts and kindnesses remain in my mind as I contemplate and plan my garden.

Warmly,
Linda

PIC: will you look at the long'ole branch, one of three, having thrown itself off my 5 foot rose tree in the patio? Only three? How odd is that? The are 6, 7, and 8 feet (1.8-2.4 mm) long, respectively. They are just delightful in their responses to the breeze. And with little pink blossoms! So cute!