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My Little English Country Garden

Posted: Mon Jun 28, 2010 9:54 pm
by RobHed
OK, it ain't pretty and probably not clever and we have also run out of room now but it's our little postage stamp.......and it's south facing ! All the wood for the raised beds has been donated or taken from skips, side of the road, etc...

Re: My Little English Country Garden

Posted: Mon Jun 28, 2010 10:07 pm
by homegrown
I think you have done really well with the space available, but have you thought about planting on you shed roof?

looks great though

Re: My Little English Country Garden

Posted: Tue Jun 29, 2010 5:55 am
by RobHed
homegrown wrote:I think you have done really well with the space available, but have you thought about planting on you shed roof?

looks great though
Now there's a thought......it is not that easy to get up to the roof though - does it require much maintenance ? There is also a solar panel up there which lights the shed but I am sure that could be relocated. I still have plenty of spare wood that could be used. Hmmmmmm....I am glad you like it though ! If only I had more time, etc, etc :banghead:

Re: My Little English Country Garden

Posted: Tue Jun 29, 2010 8:49 am
by homegrown
The photo I saw the guy used recycled plastic bread racks mounted in a wooden frame placed on the roof. you could design this frame to fit around the solar panel and choose plants that require lots of heat and sun and little water and rig up a drip watering and feeding system.

By the way to quote douglass adams "time is an illusion and lunch time especially"

Re: My Little English Country Garden

Posted: Tue Jun 29, 2010 9:17 am
by thesunflowergal
Great use of your space. Love the guinea pigs

Talking of using your shed roof. I was going to use our chicken house roof for extra space next year. The house is 6ftx5ft. I was going to try and grow mache, mizuna, spinach etc in seed trays on it. The only slight problem is its quite sunny there and they might bolt too quickly.

Rob has your shed got the traditional kind of felt on it? If so do you think it would get ruined by putting pots on it?

Nikki

Re: My Little English Country Garden

Posted: Tue Jun 29, 2010 9:42 am
by jim
Wow!!! Isn't it amazing what can be fitted in with a little imagination? Just shows what a resourceful person can do,

Love and Peace
Jim

Re: My Little English Country Garden

Posted: Tue Jun 29, 2010 9:57 am
by Durgan
Where do you sleep and eat?

Re: My Little English Country Garden

Posted: Tue Jun 29, 2010 10:12 am
by RobHed
thesunflowergal wrote:Great use of your space. Love the guinea pigs

Talking of using your shed roof. I was going to use our chicken house roof for extra space next year. The house is 6ftx5ft. I was going to try and grow mache, mizuna, spinach etc in seed trays on it. The only slight problem is its quite sunny there and they might bolt too quickly.

Rob has your shed got the traditional kind of felt on it? If so do you think it would get ruined by putting pots on it?

Nikki
A good point Nikki (and yes, it does) but perhaps the 'bread racks' could be lifted off the roof with a wooden frame so they don't actually rest on the roof. I did have a bit of a damp problem on the inside of the shed roof some time ago which I treated but it never really went away. Hmmmm - need to go away and contemplate my navel on this one........ :scratch: I do like the idea of a green roof though, except that the cat likes to sleep there sometimes when it gets hot !! Oh well, bad luck puss......
:lol:

Re: My Little English Country Garden

Posted: Tue Jun 29, 2010 10:51 am
by Green Aura
Looks great, amazing use of space! :cheers:

What about a bilberry roof - they grow in moorland so often quite dry and you only need to harvest them once a year :lol: They have one at the CAT.

Re: My Little English Country Garden

Posted: Tue Jun 29, 2010 11:57 am
by Millymollymandy
You could have a green roof of the traditional kind planted with sedums and house leeks - OK not edible but in reality that's the only thing that will grow on shallow soil with no water! And the cat can still lie on them without trashing them. You have to think about the weight of soil + water (rain) on your shed roof, if you want to grow veg there you'd need about 6 inches min and that might just collapse your shed roof, plus you'd be up and down on stepladders watering and harvesting etc.

Re: My Little English Country Garden

Posted: Tue Jun 29, 2010 12:21 pm
by RobHed
Green Aura wrote:Looks great, amazing use of space! :cheers:

What about a bilberry roof - they grow in moorland so often quite dry and you only need to harvest them once a year :lol: They have one at the CAT.
Ooooh, Maggie - wish you hadn't mentioned the CAT ! I went there a few years ago and came away really inspired. Now I just had to look at their website and that's me done for.......I saw a turf roof on the site but no bilberry roof. I have sent them an email though.

Re: My Little English Country Garden

Posted: Tue Jun 29, 2010 12:25 pm
by RobHed
Millymollymandy wrote:You could have a green roof of the traditional kind planted with sedums and house leeks - OK not edible but in reality that's the only thing that will grow on shallow soil with no water! And the cat can still lie on them without trashing them. You have to think about the weight of soil + water (rain) on your shed roof, if you want to grow veg there you'd need about 6 inches min and that might just collapse your shed roof, plus you'd be up and down on stepladders watering and harvesting etc.

Mmmm - all good points MMM. Not sure it would be easy getting up there and getting down again on a regular basis every time I fancy picking the veg. I could water it quite easily though with a hose from the garden. No, it would have to be more of a wildlife feature I think so I could give back to nature......bees, birds, butterflies, etc would be the target audience here I think. Time for a quick Google......

:flower:

Re: My Little English Country Garden

Posted: Tue Jun 29, 2010 12:28 pm
by RobHed
Durgan wrote:Where do you sleep and eat?
LOL - in the house behind where all the photos were taken

Re: My Little English Country Garden

Posted: Tue Jun 29, 2010 12:48 pm
by Green Aura
It's probably the same roof - can't remember the name but something like Myfanwy's cottage? Tiny little stone building (not inhabited) with turf growing bilberries on the roof - and a toilet full of rocket as I recall! :lol:

Re: My Little English Country Garden

Posted: Tue Jun 29, 2010 3:54 pm
by theabsinthefairy
Garden looks great - well done!