creating a new garden

25 Sep '06 6:40 am

The trees had all been planted twenty-five years ago ,this is how it was ,taken from the house .The gingko is on the right.
Dixie.

25 Sep '06 6:44 am

Jake and his bulldozer -the tree is chained to the bulldozer so that it will fall safely .We were reluctant to cut down this tree ,but it was leaning over the house .
Dixie.

25 Sep '06 6:51 am

This is how it was in early winter .You can see the heap drying out for burning. After I had cleared all the undergrowth away ,I found the rail fence ,so I cleaned years of dirt from it and painted it dark green .Smiley built a seat under the beautiful gingko .The road is in the distance,by the distant pine tree ,and a track comes to our house.
Dixie

25 Sep '06 7:03 am

There is a narrow strip between the two fences ,so I have made a walk through a shady garden .This was taken recently ,just after the buttery autumn leaves had fallen from the gingko. The gingko is on the left in this photo ,and I planted ferns ,hydrangeas bulbs ,and flaxes and begonias ,and in the sunny area ,apricot cannas and artemesia and delphiniums .The borders of the path are campanula which will soon be flowering .I used my final pay as a boarding school Matron to buy three of my favourite rose ,Albertine ,and they have now reached the full length of the wooden fence on the right .
Dwarf agapanthus are around the silver birch ,and at other odd spots in the garden ,as they don`t seem to be fussy about shade or sun .
I will take a photo from this spot in November when the roses will be flowering .
Dixie

25 Sep '06 7:07 am

Here is a photo of the heap being burnt in the summer .
Dixie

3 Oct '06 10:51 am

This photo was taken last week .Iris are flowering on the right ,and bluebells are ringing .I have planted erigeron over the stump of the old tree in the background .The green netting in the left distance is to try and stop the possums from destroying 'Sally Holmes' which grows along the rail .They eat the new growth of roses .In the last couple of weeks ,there have been eight possums killed in the trap .(thank you dear Smiley for being a bloke and burying them )
Dixie

3 Oct '06 10:56 am

We had a Scottish visitor from Ayr, where my Grandmother was born - he told me about the Scottish bluebells which grow in the woods there ,and which attract many visitors when they are flowering .So Iwanted to grow bluebells too in honour of my clan.
Dixie

3 Oct '06 6:09 pm

Dixie!! You did the right thing! Cause this plant is really gorgeous!! And in my favorite sky blue! And the photo is excellent, too!! I love the playful sunshine passing through the leaves!Lovely!

10 Oct '06 6:06 pm

Dear Dixie – I’ve been reading all the posts I copied to CD-Rom instead of working tonight, so at last I get to catch up on what you’ve been up to!

I love the ‘history’ posts we do – don’t you find that sharing helps one to realise just how much one has achieved, and makes one realise how dreams have become reality. Whereas in real life I find too often I see what NEEDS to be done or what HASN’T been done and lose sight of the joy of gardening.

I love your gingko – what a fine specimen of a magnificent tree. Mine is across the dam, 17 years old now, but really too tucked in among other trees to thrive, and its gorgeous autumn foliage – which with us lasts only a week or so – is easily missed unless you go looking for it. Some years I must admit I’ve forgotten. Sad

I adore bluebells but lost most of mine – I don’t know how; they were near the gingko and one year just didn’t appear. Luckily there is a patch near my parents’ house which is coming along nicely!

You have possums, we have deer (‘bokkies’ we call them: ‘little buck’) They are beautiful and welcome, but before there is enough food for them they come right into the garden and nibble at the new rose shoots – which is why any spot with more than a few roses is fenced or enclosed in some way – if only with netting through winter and spring.

Love your old garden with its soft colours. I have only a pure white Clematis montana. I had two ‘degrees’ of red but I lost both, despite elaborate preparations in an attempt to give them a happy home! Clematis is scarce in SA, but I keep my eyes open…

Freesias: I had a lovely rich brick red selection with very good scent. This year some plants formed leaves, but only one flowered… my fault – in this busy year I neglected to water the pots often enough. Being an SA native it can survive neglect, but won’t flourish. I promise it better attention next year! (Actually ALL my pots around the house deserve better next year!)

The ‘flowers in fabric’ thread… wow! I learnt about things I’d never known, although many, many years ago I was involved in organising an exhibition space for the South African Quilters Guild. I was very busy at the time, and this was a sort of side-line project, and what I remember best is some rather daunting and perfectionistic ladies who made me feel quite inadequate whenever they pounced on me with ‘what-about’ questions… not quite the way I picture Dixie or Jacqueline! Very Happy

11 Oct '06 6:38 am

once more you have surprised me with your wonderful gardening skills. I do enjoy the "time laps" effect of post the photos the way you do. Makes me wonder what else you have up your sleeve.

Delightful garden.

Christopher

creating a new garden

creating a new garden

Jake

Early winter

five years later

I nearly forgot

Spring now

Bluebells

Lovely Bluebells!!

Catching up

You did it again!