Noel's Garden Blog

Love D. Gavins stupa :D. Thx for showing.

2012-05-31T06:41:46.309-07:00

Love D. Gavins stupa :D. Thx for showing.

Now I know what happened to all the Heleniums I...

2012-05-31T04:13:42.480-07:00

Now I know what happened to all the Heleniums I've planted over the years. I used the diatomaceous earth for hostas, and it did make a difference. Maybe I'll try again with awareness.

Oddly enough this seems to be a poor year for slug...

2012-05-30T23:32:27.978-07:00

Oddly enough this seems to be a poor year for slugs here in Denmark; we're not seeing anything like the normal numbers, and the damage to the garden is correspondingly smaller than the same time last year.

I do feel for you, and I too use a combination of pellets, boots and collecting them in buckets and pouring boiling water over them...

I have the luck or misfortune depending on your po...

2012-05-22T17:44:56.189-07:00

I have the luck or misfortune depending on your point of view to live round the corner from the Chelsea show ground, and have just come back from there.

Very interesting comments - my group of me, a friend and my sister who go every year was, almost immediately on seeing the main show gardens, was how samey everything looked this year. Nothing seemed to stand out, the current obesssion with tapestry planting in a way that would barely last a season on the basis of plant growth. It is starting to look quite contrived.

We quite independently said we'd like to see how some of these gardens would actually mature. I suspect not well, as they'd have to be culled heavily and of course the simultaneous flowering is a complete Chelsea-approved trick.

If push came to shove I was slightly more in favour of Arnie Maynard's effort as best in show - but the homogeneity really made it a difficult call.

Please could someone ask Diarmid not to come back until he is prepared to engage with the majority of visitors, not a select few able to scale his absurd tower.

I am a bit surprised about the natives but I do ha...

2012-05-21T13:10:19.304-07:00

I am a bit surprised about the natives but I do have to admit I like Sarah Price's work a great deal—especially the grasses in the walkway. Seems like it could be the new Western version of minding your step and taking your time while being present in the garden.

Brilliant, absolutely brilliant, in the very first...

2012-05-20T21:47:13.390-07:00

Brilliant, absolutely brilliant, in the very first instance, use it first so that we can get on the ground, otherwise we ain't ever gone grow flowers! Backs will be broke first!

A good read Noel, and I like the way you go on int...

2012-05-20T18:25:46.509-07:00

A good read Noel, and I like the way you go on into the ground without too much preparation with the plugs, after you have done a spray off in April (UK) not disturbing the soil to much, keeping it stable? I guess this is a great way of planning it all out, and going back in at the right time to sort out any dominating species by countering with others? I'm away from my books right now, working on soil in Ontario, I shipped a lot of seed up from Colorado USA, but it is for this area and zone. Hopefully when I get my camera I can take some pics. Squirrels playing havoc with my seed beds, but it is great doing it this way, rather than buying plants individually from a garden centre, I have now got to the stage where I cannot imagine doing such a thing! Now I am back to the blogging I look forward to reading more on your meadow.

c'est si difficile de s'y retrouver entre ...

2012-05-07T04:20:47.706-07:00

c'est si difficile de s'y retrouver entre "naturel", "nature", "naturaliste" pour définir un jardin...je préfère "the new german style" ou encore "the new romantic garden" employé par les Américains....aujourd'hui la notion de jardin naturaliste est aussi difficile à expliquer que de convaincre un client qu'un petit pot de Helianthus salicifolius vous donnera une plante de plus de 2 m de haut et occupant 2 m2 dans le jardin. Le commun des mortels vous regarde les yeux écarquillés.

Fascinating. What would we do without people in t...

2012-05-06T05:57:22.838-07:00

Fascinating. What would we do without people in the garden who have obsessions?

No photo of the bizarre painting? That's a blo...

2012-05-05T02:18:16.200-07:00

No photo of the bizarre painting? That's a blog post in itself! Gosh, wish you could send Duncan and Kate our way. Recently attempted to identify some of our daffodils (http://oxoniangardener.co.uk/daffodil-detection-identification-4985/) but discovered that even with the best of (botanical) advice it is a hugely difficult task! Huge admiration for their quest.

That was a very enjoyable read. I always find your...

2012-05-03T02:29:34.291-07:00

That was a very enjoyable read. I always find your writing very inspirational.

Great discussion. Lots of things to ponder. Alwa...

2012-05-02T07:01:44.404-07:00

Great discussion. Lots of things to ponder. Always fun to see how Americans are viewed from Europe. Extreme? What do you mean???? Had a good chuckle over that one.

very interesting, questions and answers both. Thx ...

2012-05-01T12:50:05.370-07:00

very interesting, questions and answers both. Thx for sharing.

brigitte

What a breath of fresh air, and quite frank about ...

2012-05-01T11:48:04.327-07:00

What a breath of fresh air, and quite frank about those extremist Americans! HA

Hey, nice article! I agree with you that a garden ...

2012-05-01T09:48:03.324-07:00

Hey, nice article! I agree with you that a garden is not 'natural' - so many people would think it's the most natural thing out there, but nothing in nature looks like a garden does! That's not to say gardens are ugly of course...

The link points to a Google Docs page and throws a...

2012-04-30T11:19:02.963-07:00

The link points to a Google Docs page and throws a permission error.

Lovely pictures - I love the logs around the tree ...

2012-04-30T06:54:56.068-07:00

Lovely pictures - I love the logs around the tree too! I would just have thought they were decorative, didn't consider that they can make mowing easier too - wish I'd known that when I lived in my last house and had a million trees in the garden!

Totally agree with Aansy - they should keep it as ...

2012-04-30T06:49:44.375-07:00

Totally agree with Aansy - they should keep it as un-modern as possible! I recently bought a flat in an old Victorian house, it must have looked lovely 'til they built a modern brick conversion on the side of the stone house, and covered the massive garden with an ugly silt driveway!

Truly adorable, i must say that whoever own this p...

2012-04-24T22:33:12.751-07:00

Truly adorable, i must say that whoever own this place must not "Modernized" it. Else, it would lose the eye calming and mind soothing chic of it.

~Aansy Stone

I've a vested interest in mechanical weed cont...

2012-04-19T14:15:07.941-07:00

I've a vested interest in mechanical weed control so maybe I'm biased but if you've ever had a garden with bindweed you'll sympathize with those who hit it hard, once, with glyphosate before taking a more "green" approach thereafter. As has been said, there needs to be balance. A lot of us making small, manageable changes can be considerably more effective than one evangelist sermonizing from their ivory tower.

Thanks for these valuable tips! More power!

2012-04-16T03:33:03.436-07:00

Thanks for these valuable tips! More power!

Thanks for this measured and practical post. I ag...

2012-04-07T10:41:35.251-07:00

Thanks for this measured and practical post. I agree completely.

Hi Noel I don´t agree. Here in Denmark we se still...

2012-04-05T15:33:06.514-07:00

Hi Noel
I don´t agree.
Here in Denmark we se still more toxic-poisend wells each year, and in just a few years we need clean drinkingwater manipulated by chemicals.
Roundup is the worst thinking pesticide I know of, and gardeners have to pay a lot of money to buy it. Søren Ryge Petersen, a danish tv-gardener used the roundup in one of his programes on danish tv, and a rowling choir of wievers, send him protest-letters. I think that the readers of Gardens Illustrated need a little more informations about the future-consequences of using pesicides, and that´s why they still use it, and don´t argue with you, I think.

Anyway; I Like your blog...
it´s one of the best gardenblogs we have.

kindly regards
Kjeld

I agree that Glyphosphate (the generic for Roundup...

2012-04-05T13:52:01.175-07:00

I agree that Glyphosphate (the generic for Roundup), is sometimes the only practical solution in getting rid of aggresive, unwanted plants. But like any poison it needs to be used with care and intellegence.
Isn't that what we're talking about here? As you said, poison is poison whether its' source is synthetic or organic, and what's really important is that pesticides are used responsibly, only when needed & with common sense.

Two websites I find extremely helpful: The National Pesticide Information Center - npic.orst.edu - a cooperative between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Oregon State University, and ipm.ucdavis.edu, which is the Integrated Pest Management website for the University of California at Davis.

Why the constant referal to a brand and not the pr...

2012-04-05T12:37:32.731-07:00

Why the constant referal to a brand and not the principle chemical glyphosate except for para 5?

Interesting all the same even if non conclusive, how could you be?

Keep an eye on the surfactants though.