Month: May 2008

well its a lovely day out der and i am debating whether to go out and move a few perenials dat need moving!!!!!i will once i can drag myself away from dis sight.im lookin for advise HELP!!!in d winter my garden is water logged and flooded but now it looks dreadful all d soil is cracking up and its like a chip a lot of d flowers ar stunted and dont look healthy i lose interest at times so any help would b appreciated tanks

My neighbour came to chop 3 large spruce trees today. I planted them in the wrong place 15 years ago. See the difference in photos page!
Time to go

Time to go

When we bought our house many years ago we decided on a plan for the garden. It consisted of dividing it into several different areas including a pond ,a sunken garden,a small vegetable and fruit area and a large lawn. We bought a quantity of red sandstone from a quarry near Ardmore. My late husband was not very interested in gardening but he enjoyed laying paths, paving, and walls etc. so he did all of the work himself.We bought some cordon apples and pears and planted a row on both sides of the sunken garden However I don’t think there was much attention given to dwarf stock . They were cordons alright but not on the correct stock . They are still here but I have to keep cutting them. One on the edge of the row grew into a tree. It still bears a good crop of nice apples- Laxton Superb but the birds enjoy most of them as they are too high However  we enjoy the b1lossom.

13/5/08

At that time the only nursery nearby was one owned by the Cork County Council so the choice of plants was not very great. I bought a number of C. macrocarpa trees and planted them inside the front wall . Sometime after a friend who had more experience than I had came to visit us and advised us to remove them which we did and replaced them later with two Cherry trees, one of which we removed last year as it was crowded out by an Acer Osasuki . The other we cut back a little but it still gives me great pleasure every Spring. My next mistake was to buy a Magnolia tree and to plant it in a very windy and draughty spot so of course it died . I tried another  but that also died . By this time Mr Nangle had opened his nursery and many of the first plants which I  bought from him are still in good condition . One in particular comes to mind .It is a lovely red Chaenomeles, which I think is Rowallane .It appeared to have died once but it came to life again . It has been in flower since Jan. and slill has buds on it.

3/4 acre, mostly heavy clay soil (suprise suprise)

Mostly consisting of trees and shrubs.

Selection includes:

– Hydrangeas

– Ferns

– Wysterias

– Ferns

– Rhododendrons

– Hostas 

Up and coming works: reseting the lower lawn and installing additional drainage

 

I had been debating getting rid of the grass altogether but we came to a compromise whereby we are going to build a small curved deck in the corner that gets the sun in the morning and in the boggy corner where the shed is we are going to put in a curved patio and use it for the kids toys etc…

 

Check out my photos section for a mock up of what it should look like…

 

Ronan 

3D Model

3D Model

This must be the most unusual plant I have a Vestia. Bought last year at Lorna’s plant sale, it has, surprisingly survived and flowered !
Vestia

Vestia

I’m not getting much done at all these days due to a Communion and the chickenpox!  However I did manage to make a makeshift ‘green house’ which I am quite proud of as it is totally recycled – it is made out of an old wendy house frame and some plastic wrapping, so I have moved a lot of stuff off the windowsills and out to this.  I always have disasters when I try to harden things off as sooner or later I forget to bring them in at night, so hopefully this will do the job, and it didn’t cost me a penny!
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!

A few weeks ago we noticed every time we passed a certain bush in the garden a bird came darting out. We had a look and sure enough there was a nest in it with 4 beautiful turquise eggs. We watched it for a few days being careful not to disturb the birds – we think they were sparrows. Then to our horror we went out one day to discover the whole nest had been pulled off its perch and there was no sign of the eggs.  We figured a fox must have got at it as it was only about 2 feet off the ground. So my son who is three and a half said ‘Mammy we’ll have to put up a sign saying "No foxes eating pet Birds allowed in this garden".  If only that would work!
The disturbed nest.

The disturbed nest.

 WELCOME TO MOLLYSCOTTAGE KNOCKNAKILLEW 

WE HOPE YOU ENJOY LOOKING AROUND OUR GARDEN

THE GARDEN WAS CREATED OUT OF A ROUGH FIELD IN 1998

WE ARE FOREVER CHANGING OR CREATING NEW FEATURES

I also discovered that a beautiful red poeny rose, which  my sister transplanted to her house from our mothers garden and then divided to give me a shoot, is blooming for the first time since I planted it about four years ago. This is some change of environment as it started its life in a very small walled city garden, passed through a bigger suburban garden and is now doing battle with the Atlantic winds.

Last year my partner put up a framework for me to grow climers on, clematis and honey suckle, and to hang bird feeders from.

It has been a great success, especially from the bird watching aspect. I was able to enjoy the antics of the small birds and get some lovely photos all from the living room window.

This year though we have attracted a couple of magpies. Although they are a beautiful bird, I love their strong graphic  colouring, unfortunately their nature to prey on smaller birds eggs and babies leaves  me with little  sympathy for them. And they have scared off a lot of my other feathered friends.

I’ve put a few of last years birdie pictures in my  Photos, hopefully if I keep chasing off the magpies I’ll see some babies this year too.

Magpie

Magpie

Congratulations on the launch of Garden.ie!…trust the sun will start to shine ..after all its nearly June .. so as I cant be there for Bloom 2008 …here is wishing you well ..for a wonderful sun filled weekend ….Ill be with you all in spirit!