Newbie from High Wycombe

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Daniel5042
Posts: 8
Joined: Tue Jan 15, 2019 11:30 pm
Location: High Wycombe

Newbie from High Wycombe

Post by Daniel5042 »

Hello, another new member here, from High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire.

We have a small, steeply sloping garden, and our house it built into the side of a hill. There is a large, ugly, retaining wall at the rear of the garden for the road above.
Last October we had some decking installed with a raised bed and a pergola (it took three men three weeks to dig into the solid chalk for all of the post-holes!) to try and add some usable space to the garden.

Over the summer we added lots of tropical plants in the raised bed and climbers over the pergola.
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I love plants with large leaves, and generally foliage plants in general. However, we have quite a few cannas and lilies as well.

This winter I have tried my hand at growing some different varieties of Ricinus from seed. I have one that has sprouted so far out of nine, and they were potted about a week and a half ago. Fingers crossed my success rate improves!
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tatter
Posts: 314
Joined: Tue Jun 19, 2018 7:37 pm
Location: smethwick west mids

Newbie from High Wycombe

Post by tatter »

Welcome to the forum Daniel like the photos looks good
Jim
I'm older than yesterday but younger than tomorrow
GREVILLEAJ
Posts: 901
Joined: Sun Jul 08, 2018 10:38 pm
Location: London

Newbie from High Wycombe

Post by GREVILLEAJ »

Welcome to HTUK, Daniel icon_cheers

Those crib blocks may be ugly but coupled with a sloping garden your plot might well be a local 'hot spot' in an otherwise chilly (at least by night) area. Thanks to the radiated heat that must come out at night and any cold air that drains down the slope you have a perfect spot for tender heat loving plants.

I see you make good use of those assets.
Daniel5042
Posts: 8
Joined: Tue Jan 15, 2019 11:30 pm
Location: High Wycombe

Newbie from High Wycombe

Post by Daniel5042 »

Thanks tatter and GrevilleAJ!

At first I hated the concrete but after a little time it grew on me. Like you said, it retains the heat well. It is also south-facing and due to the angle of the slope it receives the sun all year because it is above the rooflines.
We have softened it by planting some tougher plants within the rocks, with a little bit of soil. We've tried an evergreen honeysuckle up it as well, but that was really unhappy during the the hot summer that we just had. It perked-up tremendously from September onwards though, and no more powdery mildew!

The middle part of the garden has a waterfall to take advantage of the hill. We went for a "sort of" Japanese feel for that area. It's still very much a work in progress and there's a swathe of chalk exposed where we have begun to dig it out to make another seating area.
It's a nightmare though as the only access from the garden is through the living room and down a flight of stairs, which is not at all practical with buckets of spoil! I have no idea what the house-builders were thinking.

The area closest to the house is in shade for most of the time, so that's where we have ferns and two tree ferns. It's pretty sheltered there by the house. I would love to be able to use the tree ferns up on the deck but I think it is just too exposed.
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