PUREWELL before FOXHOLLOW

You definately have a way with gardens Bs, it's lovely :-))))))))

All that in 7 years! Wonderful. :-)) When did your love of conifers emerge? Before this garden?

What a beautiful garden, and when you look not really a huge amount of flowers just different leaf colours and forms, bet it looks good all year round, has certainly opened my eyes to the beauty of conifers,you are a very talented gardener, love it :-)

Thanks for your comments Louise & Simbad.
Barbara - Ever since my first council house garden back in 77-78. Always preferred foliage to flowers from the start, so had a few regular dwarf conifers and a couple of winter heathers planted together back then. But it wasn't until I stumbled across Adrian Bloom's book 'Conifers and Heathers for a year round garden' in 1986, whilst visiting a garden centre I was completely hooked!, that started my passion for actually collecting conifers.

Interesting. You might have answered this in previous places but i'm going to ask anyway ..... ;-)))
Did you bring conifers from Purewell 'to' Foxhollow or are they all new to that garden ?

Louise, we moved two truckloads of plants, mainly conifers from Purewell to Foxhollow back in 98. Very few of those are still in the garden though.

Do you mean they died ?

No, mostly been replaced with better stuff ...I'm forever replanting and changing things around.

You made that garden beautiful too. It seems a bit funny for me to pick out one, but I absolutely love the Picea Kosta. I had one once, but it grew a bit mis-shapen and just never looked right., and then it kept losing needles. Probably my fault. I should love one like your's. A garden nearby has a lovely one, quite squat and chubby, but with the lower part of the trunk bare.
Do you have a favourite Bs? It would be a difficult choice.

Mad - A lot of the upright bluespruces need a bit of extra work with training and selective pruning especially in the early years to get them off to a good start, not to mention keeping a check on Red Spider mite infestations, which would account for the loss of needles. So not the easiest conifer to grow well.
Difficult to list a personal favorite, changes from week to week.
Might be able to come up with a top ten....in no particular order :0)

Fascinating to see your previous garden..
beautiful planting.:o)

Amazing!

stunning developments in this garden too.

Bs....I have to tell you about the tree that my father decorated with lights every year for Christmas through out my childhood and for part of my childrens as well...it was a beautiful BlueSpruce. Each year he had to add more lights. It was so perfect where it stood by the road. The last year he decorated it, you could see it shining a mile away as you came over the crest of the hill...I will never forget the magical White Christmases that tree gave us in the snow...

Truely A Beautiful Garden BlueS :)

Another lovely blog Blue, I was thinking of doing this with my old garden but felt a bit strange cos I would be showing some one else's house. It was an old cottage and the pics are around the front veiw of the house? Was a lovely garden....

It's nice to look back but sometimes I find it rather sad. You had a lovely garden.

Thanks again everyone.
Catfinch - nice to hear the story about the family bluespruce, must have looked a picture with all the lights.
Annella - go ahead and do your blog, as you know it's always interesting to look back, doesn't matter if it's someone else's house now, it wasn't then.
Several years later I managed to get back to Purewell, crept round the back and take a peek at the garden....all gone !! just a large shed and all laid to grass. it taught me a lesson though, never to get too sentimental over plants and gardens

Oh no! That is just awful. There was a similar thing in the village - a man spent years planting a spinney with all kinds of different trees - then after he had to sell up, the next owners destroyed his life's work. How sad was that?

Happens all the time Barbara, there's been many good private gardens and plant collections destroyed over the years. New owners generally have their own ideas no matter how good a garden may have been.

It hurts anyway...I am dreading leaving the trees I have planted and the big pines I have watched grow here over the last 14-15 years. I have such fond memories though of certain trees, like the Bluespruce and your name always conjurs up that mental picture of it glowing at Christmas and dad with his longer and longer ladders..and his multitude of lights.
I have to say, I am glad for the apple orchard my dad planted when I was 8 years old, we moved from there when I was 9 so we never got to eat an apple out of it.....I went back to see if it was there just before he passed. When I went to visit him in his hospital room, I was able to tell him how beautiful the orchard looked...I had not seen his face look more pleased in a long while. I believe it is always worth it to plant, love, and nurture a tree or garden no matter.

What a lovely garden you had..

Amazing Blue......such beautiful colours there all harmonizing.....and the stunning Robinia.....what a wrench to leave it, I know how that feels. We are going back to Catalunya in the Spring after 3 years to have a look at the garden we left there...whether that's wise , I'm not sure...but it is the trees I want to see especially a Melia or Persian Lilac we planted the year we left.......

The Robinia was always a lovely healthy tree Janey from the day I planted it, I think it's still there though....the only plant that is.
Good luck with your visit back to Catalunya in the spring :0)

I was interested to hear your remarks about picea pungens 'Koster'. I tried growing one many years ago and it spent its entire life trying its hardest to be prostrate despite all my efforts to get it to grow vertically

Sounds like you had a particularly awkward plant Andrew, sometimes you can find plants where poor week lateral scions have been used in the grafting process, which makes it even more difficult to grow a good upright plant.

My old garden is not far away and I did go in and look about 4 years ago. All my plants were trying hard but not cared for, you know the one when you want to cut the grass etc :-((((

I have been back to look at your photos..over and over again ....I just cannot get over the depth you have created with so many different textures and shapes..not to mention the colors..just beautiful..you are truly an artist in your landscape work.

I want that Hebe pimeloides - mine died! You've reminded me how beautiful it was, Stephen.

It's a cracking Blue Hebe Barbara.

even in a smalller garden you managed to make an impact blue.. like you said since your first council house you had a interest in foilage, well you certainly have an eye for design there, well done :o))

Thanks, Sandra, Catfinch, Annella.
Barbara, with reference to the Hebe 'Quicksilver' again, my favorite Hebe, and I always used to cut it back by about half every year, kept it more compact and looking a lot better than leaving it to its own devices.

The Ericas are real beauties too Blue....when I saw the Con Underwood name, I was surprised as that used to be my maiden name and you don't come across it very often...:o)

Janey Underwood...lovely name :0) x

Ha..ha ...aw..thanks...without the "y" really though.......:o)

I have Underwoods (from Suffolk) in my ancestry back in the eighteenth century

I assume you're not an Andrew Underwood then ? :0))

Have you really Andrew? There doesn't seem to be too many of us, though it's a really old English name......my Dad was from Sunderland, so we are a northern branch. When we used to do French at school...it was Sousbois...Isn't it daft what things stick in your mind...Lol!

Dear Lynne

I could not believe my eyes when i saw these fantastic pictuures. I james newton now live at 70 purewell with my partner Sam and our little boy Alfie and we are trying to put the garden back to country starting after the summer as i have lots of bulbs arriving this year. I have dug out 3 small beds and seeded the whole lawn because when i moved in the whole garden was pebbles from top to bottom (no grass at all) i had to put a path in from the bottom up to the back gate. Lynne you are very welcome to visit any time. The large shed is still here and i have chicken at the back. We are just putting some raised veg beds in behind the shed. I painted the lovely light cream in the garden as it was blue. I would love to come and see you for a coffe or you could pop in here. Many thanks James sam and Alfie x

Hi James - Lynne is Bluespruce's wife. He is the one who belongs to GoY, although he hasn't been around much lately. I hope he sees this though - what a strange coincidence!