My Edwardian Townhouse Garden:
The Courtyard Garden:
The courtyard is a north facing small brick-walled garden located at the rear of our Edwardian mid-terraced home. This means that garden spends several months in shade. On a bright sunny day during the first week of March, the first rays of sunshine touch the end wall. Gradually, the amount of sunshine increases as spring turns to summer, but then diminishes until late October when the garden sits the winter out in shade.
The Front Garden:
The front garden is the complete opposite. It is south facing and therefore receives sunlight (weather permittting! ) all year.
Beneficial garden insects and animals include:
Top of PageI do not use slug/snail pellets and instead opt for plants that withstand slugs, snails and other weird and wonderful creatures. The benefit of this is an increase in wildlife.
Hedgehogs, shrews, frogs, toads, spiders, centipedes (not millipedes), ladybird beetles and their larvae, ground beetles, assassin bugs, honey bees, hover flies, slow-worms. Birds do an excellent job feeding on the variety of bugs and aphids.
I have found from experience that if I leave the pests alone and encourage the more beneficial insects, then the garden looks after itself. The only issue I have is black spot on the roses; all the aphids get ate especially by the spiders and ladybirds. Ladybird larvae are voracious eaters of aphids.
The most detested bug in my garden is the vine weevil. Do not confuse with the larger Ground Beetle, which is a good beastie that feeds on slug eggs. Evidence of active vine weevils are irregular shaped notches cut around leaves. Vine weevils walk everywhere and are really good climbers. Unfortunately, by the time you have found the white grubs with orange-brown heads (like a 'C' shaped maggot) it is usually because the apparent healthy plant has suddenly wilted. I've found that the grubs tend to be in pots, so I check the roots of pot plants to remove the problem before it becomes one! The best time to catch the grubs is in winter and early spring. A natural predator of these pests is the centipede.
Garden Diary:
Top of PageJanuary
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Notes: The seed heads on the Clematis tangutica are looking marvellous.
February
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Notes: I'm totally amazed to discover during the last week of February that I have geraniums with flowers. One of my hanging baskets was planted with Arabis (common name Rock Cress), which has small white flowers and a ground hugging or tumbling nature. This plant has survived the winter, although the top has been wind scorched.
March
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Notes: Early March sees the last of the Winter Jasmin flowers. Both the Periwinkle and the Bergenia are looking particularly spendid, although they usually start flowering in April.
April
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Notes: A cold snap early in the month has scorched one of my fuschia's, hopefully it will pull through. The Berberis Darwinii is just starting to flower and it will not be long before the Lily of the Valley will fill the air with scent. The first campanula bell flowers have opened.
Top of PageGeneral view of the current flowering plants in the front garden
