Styles: Contemporary, Suburban, Wildlife
Soil types: Loamy
Soil drainage: Boggy damp conditions, Moist but well-drained, Well-drained
Soil pH: Neutral
Light: Full Shade, Full Sun, Partial Shade
Aspect: North, South, East
Exposure: Exposed
Standard Town Garden - trying to develop woodland border down one side; small shady bog in corner; two large hot dry bedsTip: Click zoom out button above to see entire garden plan
About me
I am a passionate (some would say obsessive) amateur gardener with a liking for unusual plants. I particularly love the endless variety of foliage shapes, textures + colours - throw in a few interesting flowers + happy pollinators + I'm in heaven.
I find gardening the perfect foil for my day job - producing user assistance (online help, computer based training, user guides) for a software company. The job allows me to indulge my flair for communication + logical thinking but doesn't give much scope for my creative side.
Which is where my garden comes in - I look upon it as a constantly-evolving work of art. There's always something new to look at, something that needs tweaking or some innovative combination of plants to try. And nowadays, with resources like Shoot Gardening available 24/7, I can work on it in a snowstorm or at 3am!
And isn't it lovely when friends swoon over your garden?
Gardening expertise
Very Keen
Biggest gardening accomplishments
Turning an area that had been under decking into a vibrant lime-green and grey area with lots of yellow and purple flowers that bees and butterflies love. Yes, I know it sounds garish - but it works! It even looks good in winter.
And the number of friends who have taken seeds, cuttings or ideas is extremely satisfying! Who says gardening isn't competitive?
Biggest gardening frustrations
I appear to be accumulating the national collection of slugs + snails. They eat nearly everything - even things that are usually slug-proof. I expect them to munch eryngium + salvias etc. but they gobble up leathery-leaved plants, plants on gravel - they even crossed six foot of slate chippings to decimate tulips in the spring. I've tried nemotodes, cucumber in aluminium, coffee grounds, eggshells + paper cups full of beer. I even tried slug pellets around an asarum I was particularly fond of - they clambered over dead slugs to get at it. The nemotodes work early in the season but not later, when the garden is too full to water them into the ground properly. Coffee grounds, eggshells + aluminium trays of cucumber look ugly. Buried cups of beer works best but what a ghastly job emptying them :-(
Oh, and I need a bigger garden - sadly, only a lottery win is going to resolve that problem!
The gardening project I am currently working on
I'm turning the shady side of the garden into a woodland area - digging in lots of mulch etc. I'm going to plant a couple more small deciduous trees in the autumn and am going to fill it with gorgeousness - Podophyllum, Asarum, Arisaema, Epimediums, etc.
On the web
Facebook: julie.grant.1481@facebook.com
To add ? to your lists,
login to your account or subscribe.
Find out more about plant lists here
or Login