Any gardeners among us????

[Smiffy]

We are having a lot of work carried out down the bottom of the garden (as you can see by the photo!).
It's very much "work in progress".
Wife would like some Honeysuckle and Jasmine climbing around the large tree that you can see, but with the root system we are finding it almost impossible to find a spot where the new plants can go to become established.
Any ideas???
TIA
Rob

 

[Beezerk]

Astro turf 😉

 

[chrisd]

I believe all gardening should be done with a pitching wedge!

 

[ScienceBoy]

Pot?

 

[Doon frae Troon]

I suggest the back fence rather than the tree. Why spoil a nice tree?

BTW ...You might find some of your soil moving downhill after the first downpour.

 

[Smiffy]

BTW ...You might find some of your soil moving downhill after the first downpour.

It can't rain any more than it has done recently

 

[jdpjamesp]

I suggest the back fence rather than the tree. Why spoil a nice tree?

BTW ...You might find some of your soil moving downhill after the first downpour.

Have to agree with this. For starters, the trunk of the tree looks too big to easily train climbers up initially without adding wires etc, so would damage the tree. In time you'd probably find the vast majority of the growth would be in the upper reaches of the tree, not around the trunk anyway. Get a trellis up in front of the fence (although don't attach it to the fence itself as the weight of the plants will eventually damage the fence). It will soften the harsh flat line and you should find planting spots easier to locate.

 

[Tashyboy]

Pitching and putting area me finks.

 

[Rooter]

The lad next door was a keen gardener. he is in prison now though...

 

[MegaSteve]

The lad next door was a keen gardener. he is in prison now though...

Reminds me of a neighbour I had many years back.... The plod did some 'gardening', on his behalf, finding his poorly hidden stash... Seeing him doing a further 10yrs at her Maj's pleasure...

 

[User62651]

Not sure what's around the tree from the photo but some modern variegated ivy species are nice and will climb the tree without netting or trellis.
I like Virginia creeper too, brilliant in the autumn.
Both of these are quite aggressive and might need cutting back now and again.

Should be able to find a planting spot somehwere round the tree, tree root network does have gaps, u need a soil probe or an old cut off golf shaft would do for probing for spaces.

Tree is designed by nature to gather water to toward the trunk so any plants at the base will get water ok, should get enough light in from the sides of the tree too.

 

[Smiffy]

Not sure what's around the tree from the photo

Chippings.
We have some netting already attached to the tree, in readiness for something going in there, but don't want Ivy.
Missus hates it. We've had to remove tons of the stuff from the house over the years.
We've had a small(ish) seating area put down right next to the tree, as it is a bit of a sun trap there.
Just thought some nice Honeysuckle and Jasmine would give us some beautiful scents whilst we are enjoying an evening meal or a glass of wine.

 

[Foxholer]

Have to agree with this. For starters, the trunk of the tree looks too big to easily train climbers up initially without adding wires etc, so would damage the tree. In time you'd probably find the vast majority of the growth would be in the upper reaches of the tree, not around the trunk anyway. Get a trellis up in front of the fence (although don't attach it to the fence itself as the weight of the plants will eventually damage the fence). It will soften the harsh flat line and you should find planting spots easier to locate.

Another fan of this approach!

Shrubs in some sort of containers (stand alone pots look contrived; a bespoke wooden surround looks better) near/surrounding the tree would also be my recommendation. That way they can be watered (automatically?) without 'starving' the tree.

 

[Smiffy]

Have to agree with this. For starters, the trunk of the tree looks too big to easily train climbers up initially without adding wires etc, so would damage the tree.

Like I say, we have already got some wire netting up to accommodate climbers of some description. No damage done to the tree and you can hardly see it now, let alone once things start growing on there.

 

[User62651]

We've got honeysuckle everywhere, grows like a weed and a bu&&er to remove, gets into everything. Shouldn't be hard to establish. Not a very exciting flower on it though, dont know much about jasmine, would a funky clematis not be more apt - some very colourful variants around?

 

[Deleted member 21258]

I would suggest going with a very small plant to start with, therefore very small roots(like cell grow size), this will mean you can get the thing planted easier or at worst you can build up the mud at that point or build a little raised bed around the tree.

Honeysuckle grows in hedges in the wild, so should be able to cope, once established.

We planted a honeysuckle at the bottom of a fairly big sycamore tree(40 foot ish) at our place and it grew, had to water it for a year or so and it grew there for 2-3 years fairly happily until me/missus/Adam pulled down the tree, as the tree was sucking the life out of the rockery. Our honeysuckle tends to get a bit woody at the bottom, so have to keep pruning it back hard. May look to change it for something else in time, now the tree is gone(apart from the first 6 foot to support the honeysuckle).

As maxifi says not the most exciting plant, leaves or flowers and it does self seed fairly well.

EDIT Forgot to say I hate flipping ivy, it is a weed, and I hope to never clear another area of it, after our garden being an ivy mecca when we bought it

 

[Foxholer]

I would suggest going with a very small plant to start with, therefore very small roots(like cell grow size), this will mean you can get the thing planted easier or at worst you can build up the mud at that point or build a little raised bed around the tree.

Honeysuckle grows in hedges in the wild, so should be able to cope, once established.

We planted a honeysuckle at the bottom of a fairly big sycamore tree(40 foot ish) at our place and it grew, had to water it for a year or so and it grew there for 2-3 years fairly happily until me/missus/Adam pulled down the tree, as the tree was sucking the life out of the rockery. Our honeysuckle tends to get a bit woody at the bottom, so have to keep pruning it back hard. May look to change it for something else in time, now the tree is gone(apart from the first 6 foot to support the honeysuckle).

As maxifi says not the most exciting plant, leaves or flowers and it does self seed fairly well.

EDIT Forgot to say I hate flipping ivy, it is a weed, and I hope to never clear another area of it, after our garden being an ivy mecca when we bought it

All those 'creepers' are - or at least can be - 'weeds'! I'm certainly no fan of Ivy/Virginia Creeper (hate it really - except during Wimbledon!). Honeysuckle - in spite of interesting flowers/aroma - can easily get out of control and Jasmine, though even more wonderfully perfumed (I can even 'smell' it as I type'!), can be extremely invasive as well - a lesson I was taught for several years! But both (Honeysuckle or Jasmine) can actually be made into a feature when trained around the remnants of a tree. Still better to 'manage' them along (but not on!) a fence though.

Perhaps a radical move....Get someone (independent) to come in and actually plan the planting! I/We did this with our garden 'back home' and it saved us a huge amount of hassle and cost! You certainly have potential for an interesting 'garden' but it could take a lot of trial and error to find out what actually works ! For a relatively low cost, you should be able to almost guarantee a successful planting program - saving you shed loads of both time and money!

And something rather topical....If possible, include Mahonia (where unwanted animals might enter?! ) and Daphne (nearer entrance). Mahonia is flowering now and the perfume is divine! Daphne likewise, but earlier!

 

[rulefan]

For something different, try a passion flower (passiflora)

 

[Smiffy]

For something different, try a passion flower (passiflora)

Mentioned this to her. We've already got one out there apparently!!

 

[Smiffy]

Perhaps a radical move....Get someone (independent) to come in and actually plan the planting! I/We did this with our garden 'back home' and it saved us a huge amount of hassle and cost! You certainly have potential for an interesting 'garden' but it could take a lot of trial and error to find out what actually works ! For a relatively low cost, you should be able to almost guarantee a successful planting program - saving you shed loads of both time and money!

As much as I'd love to get an "expert" in, I hate to say it but I'm not throwing any more money at this project after the amount we've already spent!
We've still got a lot of plants to go in, and my wife has a good idea of where she wants everything to go... tall ones at the back etc.
Got a big barbecue going in on Sunday (weather permitting) which will sit on a concrete hard standing in front, and to the left of the shed as you look at it in the picture.
I think the wife has now admitted "defeat" on her plans to have the climbers going up the tree, and is resigned to having them on the left hand fence. Plenty of room to grow, and still close enough to the seating area to benefit from the scent.
She has now purchased a couple of packs of solar powered twinkly lights that she will adorn the tree with.
Thanks for all your ideas lads.
If you have any more, please keep 'em coming.
Rob (and Sam)
xxxx
.