On 2014-04-06 15:12:50 +0000, Bob Hobden said:

"Sacha" wrote
It's a funny year. Some people are saying theirs are over (of course,
so much depends on variety) others are saying their tulips are out and
ours are still just thinking about it - again, variety but also
location and conditions.

Our Dafs are well and truly over as are the primroses, and our tulips
are in full flower although they haven't opened today. Bluebells are
out around here already.

Wild primroses are still sending out their little bunches of clotted
cream in all our hedgerows and probably will do so until May. But
cultivated primulas are starting to look a bit tired. My favourite
Pulmonaria, Blue Ensign, has been in flower for some time. Bluebells
aren't out. And we're in the soppy south west! I hope all these
examples do show the OP that, while we all understand well the desire
to stamp one's own imprint on a new place, it really is worth waiting.
Precisely because the owners before him appear not to have been too
interested in their garden, the ones before them may have put in some
urecognised and undisturbed treasures. It would be a great shame to
dig up and burn something he then goes to the local garden centre or
nursery to replace! First rule of a new garden - tear out NOTHING in
the first year! In January/February, it may be awash with snowdrops,
for example.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon

On 06/04/2014 18:58, sacha wrote:
On 2014-04-06 15:12:50 +0000, Bob Hobden said:

"Sacha" wrote
It's a funny year. Some people are saying theirs are over (of course,
so much depends on variety) others are saying their tulips are out
and ours are still just thinking about it - again, variety but also
location and conditions.

Our Dafs are well and truly over as are the primroses, and our tulips
are in full flower although they haven't opened today. Bluebells are
out around here already.

Wild primroses are still sending out their little bunches of clotted
cream in all our hedgerows and probably will do so until May. But
cultivated primulas are starting to look a bit tired. My favourite
Pulmonaria, Blue Ensign, has been in flower for some time. Bluebells
aren't out. And we're in the soppy south west! I hope all these
examples do show the OP that, while we all understand well the desire to
stamp one's own imprint on a new place, it really is worth waiting.
Precisely because the owners before him appear not to have been too
interested in their garden, the ones before them may have put in some
urecognised and undisturbed treasures. It would be a great shame to dig
up and burn something he then goes to the local garden centre or nursery
to replace! First rule of a new garden - tear out NOTHING in the first
year! In January/February, it may be awash with snowdrops, for example.

The OP asked about growing Swamp Cypress, yes they will grow well in the
UK, but be warned.
Do read this first
http://www.rhs.org.uk/Gardens/Hyde-H...dium-distichum
I know you have made up your mind about getting rid of the contents of
your garden, I just wonder if you had moved into the house during Last
Summer so you have seen the garden before the wet winter hit it.
A lot of gardens have been waterlogged for the last few months that
usually are dry to damp in normal years.
Nothing worse than putting in a bog garden only to find you have to top
it up with water a couple of times a week all summer long to stop it
becoming a desert.
Many of us have been gardening for 40,50 and 60 years or more so do have
some experience, and many of us have learned the hard way.
You learn more by making mistakes than you ever do by listening to others.
What ever you do, enjoy your garden, but do remember that trees and
shrubs grow and keep on growing, so check their final height before you buy.
I remember seeing Silver birch catalogued as an elegant tree to 10ft, no
mention that it will go on to 20ft then 30ft and 40ft and more.
David @ a dull and damp side of Swansea Bay

On 06/04/2014 13:16, Martin wrote:
On Sun, 6 Apr 2014 11:14:40 +0100, Sacha wrote:

On 2014-04-05 14:38:52 +0000, unicron85 said:

kay;1000584 Wrote:
I've planted a swamp cypress in mine ;-)

Try and resist the urge to rip everything out. Especially, don't go
digging up any beds if you can avoid it - a lot of plants will be
dormant at this time of year, so if you can, try not to disturb too much
before the summer, when you may find you have a lot of plants coming up
that you really like.

Meanwhile, watch the garden, see which bits get the sun, which are
always in the shade. Come the summer, you may be glad of the wetness as
it may mean you don't need to spend time watering.

If possible, don't try and do the whole garden at once - choose one bit
to deal with, get that sorted, and when it's functioning nicely, move on
to another bit. Meanwhile, the bits you're not dealing with, just keep
grass mown and edges trimmed and it'll look tidy (and a lot less
offensive that a bit you've dug and haven't had time to plant and which
is beginningto grow a crop of weeds).

Remember too, that you can't make a garden, they need to grow, and it's
in two or three years time that it'll really begin to come into its own.

well as i said we already have a plan for what we would like to do the
garden, ive started in one corner anyway and i plan on ripping out the
horrible eyesore that is there. there is also obviously nothing in this
garden that i would like to keep it wasn't very well looked after before
we moved here. would a swamp cypress grow in the uk??

There's nothing obvious about it, as yet. Several things won't even
have started to poke their heads through the soil in cold areas.
Whereabouts do you live? South Cornwall, Yorkshire, Highlands of
Scotland?

Judging from BBC TV Local news the daffodils have already finished in parts of
frigid Yorkshire :-)

Yes. Mine earliest were just about finished this weekend and the tulips
are now out. Wild sloes are tailing off. Pear blossom and plum now out.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

On 2014-04-06 18:30:39 +0000, David Hill said:

On 06/04/2014 18:58, sacha wrote:
On 2014-04-06 15:12:50 +0000, Bob Hobden said:

"Sacha" wrote
It's a funny year. Some people are saying theirs are over (of course,
so much depends on variety) others are saying their tulips are out
and ours are still just thinking about it - again, variety but also
location and conditions.

Our Dafs are well and truly over as are the primroses, and our tulips
are in full flower although they haven't opened today. Bluebells are
out around here already.

Wild primroses are still sending out their little bunches of clotted
cream in all our hedgerows and probably will do so until May. But
cultivated primulas are starting to look a bit tired. My favourite
Pulmonaria, Blue Ensign, has been in flower for some time. Bluebells
aren't out. And we're in the soppy south west! I hope all these
examples do show the OP that, while we all understand well the desire to
stamp one's own imprint on a new place, it really is worth waiting.
Precisely because the owners before him appear not to have been too
interested in their garden, the ones before them may have put in some
urecognised and undisturbed treasures. It would be a great shame to dig
up and burn something he then goes to the local garden centre or nursery
to replace! First rule of a new garden - tear out NOTHING in the first
year! In January/February, it may be awash with snowdrops, for example.

The OP asked about growing Swamp Cypress, yes they will grow well in
the UK, but be warned.
Do read this first
http://www.rhs.org.uk/Gardens/Hyde-H...dium-distichum

I know you have made up your mind about getting rid of the contents of
your garden, I just wonder if you had moved into the house during Last
Summer so you have seen the garden before the wet winter hit it.
A lot of gardens have been waterlogged for the last few months that
usually are dry to damp in normal years.
Nothing worse than putting in a bog garden only to find you have to top
it up with water a couple of times a week all summer long to stop it
becoming a desert.
Many of us have been gardening for 40,50 and 60 years or more so do
have some experience, and many of us have learned the hard way.
You learn more by making mistakes than you ever do by listening to others.
What ever you do, enjoy your garden, but do remember that trees and
shrubs grow and keep on growing, so check their final height before you
buy.
I remember seeing Silver birch catalogued as an elegant tree to 10ft,
no mention that it will go on to 20ft then 30ft and 40ft and more.
David @ a dull and damp side of Swansea Bay

There is a superb, old swamp cypress just at the entrance to Dartington
Hall. It is simply huge!
http://www.dartington.org/archive/di...E/PH/1/A/1/360
--

Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon
www.helpforheroes.org.uk

On 07/04/2014 09:29, Sacha wrote:
On 2014-04-06 18:30:39 +0000, David Hill said:

On 06/04/2014 18:58, sacha wrote:
On 2014-04-06 15:12:50 +0000, Bob Hobden said:

"Sacha" wrote
It's a funny year. Some people are saying theirs are over (of course,
so much depends on variety) others are saying their tulips are out
and ours are still just thinking about it - again, variety but also
location and conditions.

Our Dafs are well and truly over as are the primroses, and our tulips
are in full flower although they haven't opened today. Bluebells are
out around here already.

Wild primroses are still sending out their little bunches of clotted
cream in all our hedgerows and probably will do so until May. But
cultivated primulas are starting to look a bit tired. My favourite
Pulmonaria, Blue Ensign, has been in flower for some time. Bluebells
aren't out. And we're in the soppy south west! I hope all these
examples do show the OP that, while we all understand well the desire to
stamp one's own imprint on a new place, it really is worth waiting.
Precisely because the owners before him appear not to have been too
interested in their garden, the ones before them may have put in some
urecognised and undisturbed treasures. It would be a great shame to dig
up and burn something he then goes to the local garden centre or nursery
to replace! First rule of a new garden - tear out NOTHING in the first
year! In January/February, it may be awash with snowdrops, for example.

The OP asked about growing Swamp Cypress, yes they will grow well in
the UK, but be warned.
Do read this first
http://www.rhs.org.uk/Gardens/Hyde-H...dium-distichum

I know you have made up your mind about getting rid of the contents of
your garden, I just wonder if you had moved into the house during Last
Summer so you have seen the garden before the wet winter hit it.
A lot of gardens have been waterlogged for the last few months that
usually are dry to damp in normal years.
Nothing worse than putting in a bog garden only to find you have to
top it up with water a couple of times a week all summer long to stop
it becoming a desert.
Many of us have been gardening for 40,50 and 60 years or more so do
have some experience, and many of us have learned the hard way.
You learn more by making mistakes than you ever do by listening to
others.
What ever you do, enjoy your garden, but do remember that trees and
shrubs grow and keep on growing, so check their final height before
you buy.
I remember seeing Silver birch catalogued as an elegant tree to 10ft,
no mention that it will go on to 20ft then 30ft and 40ft and more.
David @ a dull and damp side of Swansea Bay

There is a superb, old swamp cypress just at the entrance to Dartington
Hall. It is simply huge!
http://www.dartington.org/archive/di...E/PH/1/A/1/360



That's a grand tree, Sacha, but I wouldn't want it growing so close to
my house, sucking water out of the ground! I hope it never becomes an
issue at Dartington; that's not a decision I'd like to make.
--
Spider.
On high ground in SE London
gardening on heavy clay

On 2014-04-08 16:18:51 +0000, Spider said:

On 07/04/2014 09:29, Sacha wrote:
snip

There is a superb, old swamp cypress just at the entrance to Dartington
Hall. It is simply huge!
http://www.dartington.org/archive/di...E/PH/1/A/1/360



That's a grand tree, Sacha, but I wouldn't want it growing so close to
my house, sucking water out of the ground! I hope it never becomes an
issue at Dartington; that's not a decision I'd like to make.

Dartington's garden is far too clever for that. The former private
owners, the Elmhirsts, were very experienced gardeners. That photo was
taken in the 60s and the tree is still there. The area in which it's
planted is very enclosed as a quadrangle - extremely beautiful - and
therefore pretty well sheltered. Dartington itself isn't very exposed
in terms of height, so it's hard to imagine that tree causing problems.
It's planted atop an old well. ;-)
--

Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon
www.helpforheroes.org.uk