Helen's Garden Renovation Project

It’s definitely time to start planting. The major job is to get the six big thuja into the ground instead of the Leylandii. I have now removed all but one of the Leylandii, and have partly dug up the remaining one. I took the following picture last week, when I made a lot of progress because I took the week off work and it didn’t rain.

The penultimate Leylandii comes down

The price for the lack of rain is that I have to water all my plants. I have been scooping out the water out of the shallow pond, which will all have to come out because I haven’t sealed the mortar yet, and the chemicals in the water might hurt the frogs. They probably won’t hurt the plants, though.

I was going to paint the pond last week, but I was still unsure about whether it was dry enough yet, as some more water got in and it had black pigment in it. I decided that digging up the Leylandii was more urgent, and it won’t do the pond any harm if it is left until June before it gets painted. So the tarpaulin stays on. You can see it in the foreground of the picture above. I have cut a triangular piece of tarpaulin and hemmed it to stop it fraying, so it is easy to put over the pond and keep in place.

Although the thuja planting is the biggest and most important job, planting some of the smaller plants is also worth doing because it reduces the amount of watering and feeding I have to do. I have removed all the rubble from the area near the camellia and have started on the underplanting. I am going to have some of: viola, primula, aquilegia, geranium sangineum, hellebore and probably honesty, if I recognise the emerging seedlings correctly.

Camellia underplanting

And finally, here is a preview of the magnolia. We may have some overnight frosts in the next few days, but if we don’t… oh wow!

Magnolia in bud

Spring is here. The camellia certainly thinks so.

Camellia just getting going

This means that the grass is going to start growing any minute, and weeds will appear in the patches of bare earth. And I am now having the busiest March for tutoring since 2008 – I am turning people down because I have no space until after the summer exams start. The most important job is still to remove the Leylandii, but I also need to make sure the rest of the garden is as little bother as possible while I carry on with Renovation. So I have cut a straight line across the new lawn, and covered the bare earth section with bits of pond liner and compost bags and a tarpaulin. That should stop any weeds until I have time to dig it over and sow some seed. This won’t be until the autumn at the earliest. Apart from mining the area for additional earth, I can leave it to its own devices until then. Fortunately I correctly chose this week to take off work. The forecast is for dry weather all week, so I hope to get a lot done.

Lawn half covered with tarpaulin

I am carrying out my plan to shorten the middle tree and use it as a support to remove the other two trees. I have removed one of the trees using the same method as I did a few weeks ago, and this week I hope to remove the other two. Then I will still have some roots to dig out of the ground, but when that is done, it will be time to plant the thuja.

Last two Leylandii

The magnolia which I dug up and stuck in a pot is still alive and is just beginning to open its flower buds. I don’t want to get ahead of myself, but it is looking like there will be an amazing show this year. I hope the frosts hold off.