Hello folks,

I am, at last, close to getting my first house, fingers crossed!

The garden is long (200 feet) and narrow and fairly bare. The most pressing
thing to sort out is that the right hand border is rather exposed. For the
bottom 60 feet or so the lawn goes all the way up to the neighbour's
boundary fence which is only 3 feet high. His garden is also hardly fenced
at the bottom and there's a public footpath along there which means that
most of our garden has no privacy.

My solution is to get a narrow, low maintenance shrub border going ASAP.
It'll be south facing and, I think, rather clay.

Anyway, this is as far as I've got, given my complete inexperience!

I'd really appreciate some help getting started planning this - particularly
a) nice/vigourous shrubs/combinations of shrubs for my purpose
b) how I lay out the border other than in a straight thin line which'll
probably make the garden look even longer and narrower
c) how to get some instant height in there, so there's some privacy further
up the garden at least.

Phew - thanks for taking the time to read this, and for any ideas...
glen.

In message , Glen Able
writes
Hello folks,

I am, at last, close to getting my first house, fingers crossed!

The garden is long (200 feet) and narrow and fairly bare. The most pressing
thing to sort out is that the right hand border is rather exposed. For the
bottom 60 feet or so the lawn goes all the way up to the neighbour's
boundary fence which is only 3 feet high. His garden is also hardly fenced
at the bottom and there's a public footpath along there which means that
most of our garden has no privacy.

My solution is to get a narrow, low maintenance shrub border going ASAP.
It'll be south facing and, I think, rather clay.

Anyway, this is as far as I've got, given my complete inexperience!

I'd really appreciate some help getting started planning this - particularly
a) nice/vigourous shrubs/combinations of shrubs for my purpose
b) how I lay out the border other than in a straight thin line which'll
probably make the garden look even longer and narrower
c) how to get some instant height in there, so there's some privacy further
up the garden at least.

Phew - thanks for taking the time to read this, and for any ideas...
glen.


Hi Glen,

So where abouts is this garden you're hoping you're getting then?
Nearest city will do.

Also we need to know whether that pesky right hand border faces north,
south east or west. Without this info it will be very difficult to help
you.
--
Chris Boulby National Collection of Diascias

In message , Glen Able
writes
Hello folks,

I am, at last, close to getting my first house, fingers crossed!

The garden is long (200 feet) and narrow and fairly bare. The most pressing
thing to sort out is that the right hand border is rather exposed. For the
bottom 60 feet or so the lawn goes all the way up to the neighbour's
boundary fence which is only 3 feet high. His garden is also hardly fenced
at the bottom and there's a public footpath along there which means that
most of our garden has no privacy.

My solution is to get a narrow, low maintenance shrub border going ASAP.
It'll be south facing and, I think, rather clay.

Anyway, this is as far as I've got, given my complete inexperience!

I'd really appreciate some help getting started planning this - particularly
a) nice/vigourous shrubs/combinations of shrubs for my purpose
b) how I lay out the border other than in a straight thin line which'll
probably make the garden look even longer and narrower
c) how to get some instant height in there, so there's some privacy further
up the garden at least.

Phew - thanks for taking the time to read this, and for any ideas...
glen.


Hi Glen,

So where abouts is this garden you're hoping you're getting then?
Nearest city will do.

Also we need to know whether that pesky right hand border faces north,
south east or west. Without this info it will be very difficult to help
you.
--
Chris Boulby National Collection of Diascias

I'd really appreciate some help getting started planning this -
particularly
a) nice/vigourous shrubs/combinations of shrubs for my purpose
b) how I lay out the border other than in a straight thin line which'll
probably make the garden look even longer and narrower
c) how to get some instant height in there, so there's some privacy
further
up the garden at least.

Hi Chris,

So where abouts is this garden you're hoping you're getting then?
Nearest city will do.

It's just outside Oxford.

Also we need to know whether that pesky right hand border faces north,
south east or west. Without this info it will be very difficult to help
you.

It will be pretty much South facing.

cheers.

I'd really appreciate some help getting started planning this -
particularly
a) nice/vigourous shrubs/combinations of shrubs for my purpose
b) how I lay out the border other than in a straight thin line which'll
probably make the garden look even longer and narrower
c) how to get some instant height in there, so there's some privacy
further
up the garden at least.

Hi Chris,

So where abouts is this garden you're hoping you're getting then?
Nearest city will do.

It's just outside Oxford.

Also we need to know whether that pesky right hand border faces north,
south east or west. Without this info it will be very difficult to help
you.

It will be pretty much South facing.

cheers.

The message
from "Glen Able" contains
these words:

I'd really appreciate some help getting started planning this - particularly
a) nice/vigourous shrubs/combinations of shrubs for my purpose
b) how I lay out the border other than in a straight thin line which'll
probably make the garden look even longer and narrower
c) how to get some instant height in there, so there's some privacy further
up the garden at least.

For fast vigourous screening up to 8ft or more, in the shortest
possible time, I suggest buddlieas. They are cheap and foolproof,
terribly easy to propagate your own if you can find a donor.

A long thin garden like that can be divided into sections, with
hedges/shrubberies/trellis across ways. This can actually make the
garden seem a lot bigger than it is, because you don't see it all at
once. It would also considerably improve your privacy at the house end
of it. Paths and views don't have to go straight down the middle. If you
go to your local library you'll find loads of garden design books with
similar suggestions and details how to do it; the divisions-thing is
commonly called "dividing a garden into rooms".

Janet

The message
from "Glen Able" contains
these words:

I'd really appreciate some help getting started planning this - particularly
a) nice/vigourous shrubs/combinations of shrubs for my purpose
b) how I lay out the border other than in a straight thin line which'll
probably make the garden look even longer and narrower
c) how to get some instant height in there, so there's some privacy further
up the garden at least.

For fast vigourous screening up to 8ft or more, in the shortest
possible time, I suggest buddlieas. They are cheap and foolproof,
terribly easy to propagate your own if you can find a donor.

A long thin garden like that can be divided into sections, with
hedges/shrubberies/trellis across ways. This can actually make the
garden seem a lot bigger than it is, because you don't see it all at
once. It would also considerably improve your privacy at the house end
of it. Paths and views don't have to go straight down the middle. If you
go to your local library you'll find loads of garden design books with
similar suggestions and details how to do it; the divisions-thing is
commonly called "dividing a garden into rooms".

Janet

In article , Glen Able
writes

I'd really appreciate some help getting started planning this - particularly
a) nice/vigourous shrubs/combinations of shrubs for my purpose

Do you mean vigorous = fast growing or vigorous = robust?
Fast growing sounds attractive but you'll spend forever cutting them
back once they've reached the desired size. Everyone would like a plant
which is evergreen, attractive, grows like a rocket to 6ft, and then
remains exactly the same height for the next 20 years ;-)

I'd suggest you choose the sunniest part of the garden for a sitting our
area and make that private, and worry less about privacy along the rest.
Instead, grow shrubs that you like, so that you won't begrudge the
attention that they'll need. Think about all seasons - it's good to have
the witch hazel and viburnum flowers to tempt you out of doors on a cold
february morning.

b) how I lay out the border other than in a straight thin line which'll
probably make the garden look even longer and narrower

When I had a garden which was 150 ft long and 20 ft wide, I divided it
into compartments. The bit nearest the house had 6ft panel fence each
side so was private. It was mainly lawn with daffodils and a few flowers
and containers, and at the end was a huge old apple tree.

Past the apple tree was the greenhouse and an asparagus bed. Next
section was the veg bed, and finally, at the far end, was another lawn
surrounded by young apple trees.

None of the bits looked large by themselves, but they were all a
reasonable shape, and because you couldn't see the garden in one go, it
was a matter of exploring from one mini-garden to another.

I'd suggest with your border you find ways of subdividing it, for
example with a tree, or a shrub which juts into the rest of the garden,
or a trellis at right angles to the boundary

c) how to get some instant height in there, so there's some privacy further
up the garden at least.

Trellis plus climbers. Pyramids of canes plus climbers. Annual climbers
such as sweet peas or runner beans

And put something interesting within the garden so your eye is drawn to
that rather than to the neighbours - absolute privacy is impossible, but
a feeling of seclusion can be obtained without necessarily having an
impermeable barrier.

Phew - thanks for taking the time to read this, and for any ideas...
glen.



--
Kay Easton

Edward's earthworm page:
http://www.scarboro.demon.co.uk/edward/index.htm

In message , Kay Easton
writes
In article , Glen Able
writes

I'd really appreciate some help getting started planning this - particularly
a) nice/vigourous shrubs/combinations of shrubs for my purpose

Do you mean vigorous = fast growing or vigorous = robust?
Fast growing sounds attractive but you'll spend forever cutting them
back once they've reached the desired size. Everyone would like a plant
which is evergreen, attractive, grows like a rocket to 6ft, and then
remains exactly the same height for the next 20 years ;-)
(Snip)

I started writing about the same thing, but this is so much more
succinct Kay. You'll do well to heed Kay's advice Glen.
--
Chris Boulby National Collection of Diascias

Thanks ever so much to Kay and Janet for giving me just the inspiration I
needed!

There's a natural place to make a first division in the garden, 45' down,
which also will nicely obscure the shed. I've done a mockup and it looks
spot on. As for further down, I'll tackle that later...

If I use some 6' trellis panels to do this, d'you reckon it would be nice to
plant bamboos behind them?

Also, if I'm going to get some permanent climbers started off, will they
play nicely if I mix in some annuals (sweet peas etc.) for quick screening?

thanks all!

Thanks ever so much to Kay and Janet for giving me just the inspiration I
needed!

There's a natural place to make a first division in the garden, 45' down,
which also will nicely obscure the shed. I've done a mockup and it looks
spot on. As for further down, I'll tackle that later...

If I use some 6' trellis panels to do this, d'you reckon it would be nice to
plant bamboos behind them?

Also, if I'm going to get some permanent climbers started off, will they
play nicely if I mix in some annuals (sweet peas etc.) for quick screening?

thanks all!

"Glen Able" wrote in
:


If I use some 6' trellis panels to do this, d'you reckon it would be
nice to plant bamboos behind them?

Bamboos do have a reputation for spreading, so be a bit careful which ones
you choose and where you put them. If you can mow all the way round they
will have a harder job escaping, but if they can sneak along the bed you
may want to put in a barrier to contain the roots.

They can do the 'grow to 6 feet then stop' thing though, which is
definitely handy!


Also, if I'm going to get some permanent climbers started off, will
they play nicely if I mix in some annuals (sweet peas etc.) for quick
screening?


Should be OK if not too closely planted and all are well fed, though some
perennial climbers are quite quick in their own right - some of the
honeysuckles for example, and perennial sweet pea is almost as quick as its
annual relative for me.

Another thing to consider- those rolls of brush screening. They don't last
all that long, but they do make quite a good thing to put behind young
shrubs, which will grow up and obscure them as they start to rot away.

Victoria
--
gardening on a north-facing hill
in South-East Cornwall
--

"Glen Able" wrote in
:


If I use some 6' trellis panels to do this, d'you reckon it would be
nice to plant bamboos behind them?

Bamboos do have a reputation for spreading, so be a bit careful which ones
you choose and where you put them. If you can mow all the way round they
will have a harder job escaping, but if they can sneak along the bed you
may want to put in a barrier to contain the roots.

They can do the 'grow to 6 feet then stop' thing though, which is
definitely handy!


Also, if I'm going to get some permanent climbers started off, will
they play nicely if I mix in some annuals (sweet peas etc.) for quick
screening?


Should be OK if not too closely planted and all are well fed, though some
perennial climbers are quite quick in their own right - some of the
honeysuckles for example, and perennial sweet pea is almost as quick as its
annual relative for me.

Another thing to consider- those rolls of brush screening. They don't last
all that long, but they do make quite a good thing to put behind young
shrubs, which will grow up and obscure them as they start to rot away.

Victoria
--
gardening on a north-facing hill
in South-East Cornwall
--

"Glen Able" wrote in
:


If I use some 6' trellis panels to do this, d'you reckon it would be
nice to plant bamboos behind them?

Bamboos do have a reputation for spreading, so be a bit careful which ones
you choose and where you put them. If you can mow all the way round they
will have a harder job escaping, but if they can sneak along the bed you
may want to put in a barrier to contain the roots.

They can do the 'grow to 6 feet then stop' thing though, which is
definitely handy!


Also, if I'm going to get some permanent climbers started off, will
they play nicely if I mix in some annuals (sweet peas etc.) for quick
screening?


Should be OK if not too closely planted and all are well fed, though some
perennial climbers are quite quick in their own right - some of the
honeysuckles for example, and perennial sweet pea is almost as quick as its
annual relative for me.

Another thing to consider- those rolls of brush screening. They don't last
all that long, but they do make quite a good thing to put behind young
shrubs, which will grow up and obscure them as they start to rot away.

Victoria
--
gardening on a north-facing hill
in South-East Cornwall
--

The message
from "Glen Able" contains
these words:

Thanks ever so much to Kay and Janet for giving me just the inspiration I
needed!

There's a natural place to make a first division in the garden, 45' down,
which also will nicely obscure the shed. I've done a mockup and it looks
spot on. As for further down, I'll tackle that later...

If I use some 6' trellis panels to do this, d'you reckon it would be nice to
plant bamboos behind them?

Be sure you choose a non-invasive variety. See Bamboo thread.

Also, if I'm going to get some permanent climbers started off, will they
play nicely if I mix in some annuals (sweet peas etc.) for quick screening?

I can't think of any which won't.

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/