To Finish the Illusion.

20 comments

I would like to live in a rural area or at least create the illusion of living in a green space, with borrowed views.
I have managed to hide my neighbours monstrous car port by growing evergreens up the right hand side of the back fence.
This is the view when seen from the entry by my pear tree pergola, in late Spring.

The semi circular border, below, makes you walk along the diagonal towards the left.

On the back fence at the back of this border are evergreen shrubs, a variegated Eleagnus, Sunshine Daisybush (Brachyglotis greyi) with an evergreen Lonicera japonica growing thro’ them. The Honeysuckle needs hard pruning to keep it more or less under control each year. I only keep Buddleja davidii about 5 -6years before removing them, before they get too big. This one has white flowers.
The pergola has a Clematis ‘Freckles’ on the back left leg, for winter flowers, climbing up the Eleagnus to the heavens, but the white flowers on the pergola in the picture are of summer flowering, Clematis viticella Alba and there is a Rosy Pagoda C. alpina on another leg. Underneath, the bench seat receives evening sun, facing compass point west, ideal to sit to view the day’s exertions.

I have achieved the objective of hiding the unsightly carport on the right, but this is the view thro’ the pear trees, looking to the back left, where the same neighbour has erected 2 sheds.

I can count 5 roof tops in the picture below, taken in 2013. After we had the left fence replaced and concrete posts put in, a lot of damage was done to those plants’ roots on the fence by the workmen, and then new owners, next door put down weed killer to destroy the bindweed, which was rampant in their garden. It affected badly my yellow berried Pyracantha. Since taking this photo, the shrubs were pruned back to help them recover, which they have done.
A second pergola has been place at the start of the stepping stones to the corner, to break up the direct view.
It has a Clematis on each leg, C. Multiblue, Josephine, Piilu and Hyde Hall. My ponds are just below the purple Azalea.

In the shade in the above picture, on the left hand side of the back fence there are Actinidia Kolomikta and Cotinus, which are over 30 years old, and look lovely in summer with foliage of pink and purple. The borders are only sunny for part of the day, depending on the time, as the sun moves from our garage side on the east and shifts the shadows, only the area of the bird bath receiving sun all day.

The stems of Geranium ’Anne Folkard can easily scramble up to the top of the 6ft trellis during the summer.

But the area looks sad and barren in the winter when the deciduous Actinidia and Cotinus have shed their leaves.
I had a Gleditsia ’Sunburst in the corner but removed it after it had reached 20 ft, replacing it with a strippy Phormium division. This next pic taken Dec. 2015, during my renovations, all others previous years during a previous growing season.

I was going to put another Trachelospermum (the 3rd rooted cutting) into the corner, but have decided a different evergreen Climber/ scrambler/lax flat shrub would add more variety, so have put in a scrambling Clianthus puniceus, which has pinnate evergreen leaves, which I have just been given. The Rue, the colour of which I love, has gone, (made another one), replaced with a cutting of Cistus incanum creticus. (The Cistus on the adjacent fence is becoming straggly and they don’t last forever.)

Most of the Iris in this border have been removed, just a few to go after flowering to confirm their colour, to be replaced by Gaura lindheimii, which surprisingly has kept its leaves all this winter, and is showing signs of flower heads developing.
Just to do:- sow the seeds I have just bought of climbing Eccremocarpus. The red Maurandya erubescens and Fuchsia procumbens have germinated surprisingly quickly. Plant out the potted cutting of ‘climbing’ Fuchsia (Lady Boothby?) which has grown quite tall in the conservatory, when all risk of frost has finished.

Then lots of patience, while these backdrop plants grow to hid the roof tops, leaving the borrowed view of the tree tops in the recreation field, 2 bungalows away.
Sit back and relax.

24 Feb, 2016
9 likes

Comments

Dandanspond..

Your garden is absolutely beautiful!!

24 Feb, 2016

Paulspatch

Its a beautiful garden.

24 Feb, 2016

Loosestrife2

Beautiful and most successful effort. Seems you have hid all other signs of civilization aside from your own. Come to think of it, I have seen gardeners obsessed with this kind of thing but have yet to see one attempt to hide their own home with plantings. Does anyone know of one who planted their garden with that objective in mind?

24 Feb, 2016

Siris

Thank you Dan and Paul. Loosestrife, Here in the Uk, some older houses used to have Ivy or Virginia Creeper completely covering the property, but I think it is frowned on now as damaging the mortar between the bricks. I have climbing Roses on wooden trellis on the front of our bungalow, but that is only to give me more growing space, and give it a cottagey feel.

24 Feb, 2016

Lincslass

I agree it really is lovely Siris, I know what you mean about views of rooftops, the ones I see will disappear completely when the leaves on the trees and our old hawthorn hedge is green again, anyway who wants to see a load of rooftops and sheds, I like your selection of planting and I can see you don't go for empty spaces, if I have a gap I always have to pop something in, cannot be doing with painting the fencing I'm a gardener not a DIY person, I hide them with climbers, hides a multitude of sins, plus my rose collection is growing.....Enjoyed seeing your garden...

24 Feb, 2016

Lincslass

I agree it really is lovely Siris, I know what you mean about views of rooftops, the ones I see will disappear completely when the leaves on the trees and our old hawthorn hedge is green again, anyway who wants to see a load of rooftops and sheds, living boundaries are much better, I like your selection of planting and I can see you don't go for empty spaces, if I have a gap I always have to pop something in, cannot be doing with painting the fencing I'm a gardener not a DIY person, I hide them with climbers, hides a multitude of sins, plus my rose collection is growing.....Enjoyed seeing your garden...

24 Feb, 2016

Dottydaisy2

The only thing I was able to recall after visiting your lovely garden was the enormous amount of plants you had growing, and their diversity....( I thought we had a lot of plants) my eyes were certainly not drawn to any roof tops.....so a job well done.!!
Like you after having spent 16 years trying to hide the neighbours and their houses and their sheds, we are now exposed.....yet again, the fencing is only 5 ft! any taller and we would have far too much shade... have ordered several quick growing shrubs, Sambucus, Lavatera, Ribes, Eucalyptus and Camellia, to use as sacrifice planting, hopefully this will work out....only time will tell..

24 Feb, 2016

Simbad

Nice to see your garden Siris :-), its gorgeous! so much crammed in my sort of garden, you've done a great job of hiding the sheds etc.
I have germination today from the aconite seeds you sent me, there's been one lone seedling for quite a while but today there are lots!

24 Feb, 2016

Siris

'Nature abhors a vacuum' Lincslass. If I don't plant it, she will put a weed there.
Thanks Dd, What about a Buddleja, very quick, almost evergreen here, just stick a pruning into the ground and it's away. I expect the Actinidia was in full leaf when you visited, detracts from the sheds, in summer, and you have to look down to see where you are walking! Lol.
Great Simbad, I should have waited a bit longer to start sowing, started getting frosts, and the seedlings are getting etiolated inside. Just germinated your Echinacea Magnus again, cause slugs ate all the 2014 seedling plantlets I put in the garden last year. The Aconitum (white) is showing 6" of new foliage in my garden, a really fresh light green, slugs don't seem to touch, unlike Delphiniums which I can't keep. Liked your blue Maurandyia so much and did well, so have bought seed of red M. erubescens.

24 Feb, 2016

Dottydaisy2

Siris, forgot to add, two Buddleja also purchased...... If they all reach their potential I will be very happy....

24 Feb, 2016

Steragram

Its lovely Siris and I would have thought it was indeed rural - the neighbour's sheds could just as well be farm buildings. You don't really notice the house roofs.What a surprise that you dug out your irises - have you replanted them somewhere else?
Your mixed borders are gorgeous and I bet there's always something interesting going on in them. Its an inspiration.

24 Feb, 2016

Lincslass

Driving me mad here, first my comments won't load and then we have two none of which it will allow me to delete, sorry Siris.

24 Feb, 2016

Siris

Dd, a friend of mine has a variegated buddleia, which I have my eye on for their prunings, also Longstock gardens has the National collection, but one would need a large garden for many.
Thanks Stera, farm buildings would be worse, silage and manure smells as well. The 'tier' in front of the back fence has duplicates of my good-doer Iris, but they have crept into one another. I have all those also in the Iris display border in the front garden. I am going to use the next 'tier' down (only about 9" lower) backed by a rock bank.)
for my Iris seedling crosses.
No, problem L.lass, I have noticed how slowly my tablet is uploading on here, if I go too fast it seems to skip bits, then I repeat the action and find it has either duplicated or missed a bit.

25 Feb, 2016

Simbad

I've been itching to start more seeds too, until yesterday I'd only sown the ones that need a winter chill but yesterday I sowed all my foxglove seeds in the greenhouse, I noticed quite a lot of self sown foxglive seedlings popping up outside so figured it won't harm them.
I didn't know there was a red Maurandya bet that's lovely .

25 Feb, 2016

Siris

Simbad, The foxgloves should be Ok with a bit of shelter outside, if you can keep the slugs off. The Maurandyia, is Red Magic Dragon and if it is as good/easy as the blue, should be good. Only sowed a few from the pkt, really leggy seedlings now, might have to resow in April.
Ps the 'accent plant' Verbascum chaixii near the table is the one those roots lifted the slab in front of it! Be warned!

25 Feb, 2016

Steragram

Re farm buildings - yes but the advantage of yours is that they look like farm buildings but without the smell...
not that I mind a good healthy farm pong in moderation!
It just gets a bit much at muck spreading time. They don't make silage round here any more,its all haylege which doesn't smell.
I'd forgotten your iris border - how could I have?
Just wish I had your ability at design and plant combination...

25 Feb, 2016

Siris

Not so much designed as evolved! And pinching good ideas from Gou members' gardens, and little bits from gardens I have visited over the years.

25 Feb, 2016