Seed Lists and mutual advice swap

[Aggie]

I've been mulling on (but not intending to attempt) putting together a pixelated garden of low-growing ground covers.  Using plants that bloom during different months, one could make a sort of living animated .gif of plants that spelled out a message over time or had a slowly-changing picture. Especially on a slope, this could be quite interesting.

[Opsa]

Very cool idea! The main problem would be controlling the growth. Plants seem to have no boundaries when they're particularly happy. (And I haven't the heart to subdue them when they're particularly happy!)

I thought of a similar idea years ago, a ground-cover design to replace the lawn. That may be more forgiving than a message, but I still love the idea.

[Aggie]

Lately on urban hikes, I've ran across mat-forming, low-growing perennials that are so vigorous that they start forming mats across the sidewalk.  I am not sure what the plant is; I will do some closer inspections and report back.  I think it has pink flowers (wasn't yet in bloom). That would work for lawn.

Re: growth - one would have to be a bit forgiving, but with low-to-the ground plants it should be possible to tidy them up each year to maintain their ground.  Perhaps if one made the 'garden' with a grid of cinder blocks or the like as a base, to keep the little darlings from invading each others' groundspace, it would be easier to control.

[Roland Deschain]

...and texture, too. It looks like you could wind up with the tapestry look which is tremendously attractive.

This is partly what I wanted, although I did so through not wanting plants that were too similar too close together (need to know what i'm picking). There are a couple of places this falls over due to where the plants needed to be, but overall it follows that general pattern. Oh, what I could do with 10 1000 acres and unlimited money! *drool*

Aggie, that sounds like a great idea. For the message/picture one, you'd have to engage in a little ground cover topiary, I think, but the rewards would be worth it. I can imagine planting a country scene on a slope, with plants representing the sky, trees, etc, and having the trees burst into bloom at certain times of the year. Now that would take some work, but it would look awesome! Check out the links below for some ideas.

Wikipedia
The Guardian
Landscaping About
Lucifer Sam

[pieces o nine]

I liked the photo of a checkerboard of grass/stepping stones!   

[Roland Deschain]

To update on the saga of my herb planting extravaganza, i'll talk about the stuff outside first. Well, the basil didn't like the incessant rain and overcast days we have been having in Blighty, and died. Then yesterday I noticed a little crop of baby shoots coming up at the edge of where it was planted. I can only hope that these are the basil making a comeback. If not, I may replace it altogether. One of the three marjorams also died, but that was because the local cats decided that they loved to dig over that exact spot (they've stopped now it's dead). The other two marjorams are doing fine, though. The rest of the plants have weathered the weather nicely, and with the sun now coming out for them, should soon start to grow vigorously, especially if I water them well.

I found that some whitefly had attacked my parents' lupins, and that a horde of tiny beetles had taken refuge in my wild rocket. There was nothing for it but to buy a spray to kill all of the little buggers, something i've never had to do before in a garden, all my previous efforts being completely organic. Hopefully the little blighters will die soon, as I do not want any other plants being infected, and the rocket has bushed out nicely, meaning that it will succeed if the beetles leave it the hell alone!

After all this, I noticed that the coriander (now 2' (60cm) tall) in one of my window boxes had a small infestation of aphids. For the love of...this really annoyed me, but a small treatment should stop any further infestations, although it does mean that there can be no harvesting for a minimum of 2 weeks, which is probably a good thing, as it gives them more time to establish themselves.

One of the thymes on my windowsill has started to flower, throwing out tiny pink/purple flowers in one area. The jalapeño chilli and sweet pepper plants also have a lot of buds on them, and with my soft-bristled brush standing by, i'm ready to pollinate when they open.

So apart from a few hiccups, it's all doing quite well.

[Opsa]

Sounds like you're doing well. Gardening is a symphony of trial and error.

If the tiny sprouts have little shovel-shaped primary leaves, it's probably basil.

[Roland Deschain]

Sounds like you're doing well. Gardening is a symphony of trial and error.

If the tiny sprouts have little shovel-shaped primary leaves, it's probably basil.

They're tiny at the moment, so have nothing to really define their identity. The coming month should give more information on whether to keep or remove. I hope.

[Aggie]

I tend to let unidentified seedlings alone until they make their identity known.  I know some are weeds, but I figure they have more biomass to use once they get larger (just make sure to pull before they go to seed). Weeds make good compost.

[Opsa]

I leave unidentified seedlings alone, too. Sometimes they have produced nice surprises. Some weeds are easier to pull when they are bigger, too.

[Roland Deschain]

Ha ha, i'm the same too. There are a lot of things growing all over the place where i've let them alone to find out what they are. Most of the time they end up being pulled, but there have been some nice surprises as well, with random plants not originally planted in the garden turning out to be the most beautiful. I've also left a few stinging nettles alone in one area, as I want to attract butterflies to lay their eggs there, if not this year, then next. It's underneath some trees and large shrubs, and gets sort of dappled light, and they're doing well. I specifically want the Small Tortoiseshell, Red Admiral, Comma, Peacock, and Painted Lady butterflies. I know, I don't want much.

Apart from that, i've come up with a cunning plan for an area that is being used to store the rubbish i've collected from all over the garden, and which will eventually contain the inevitable build-up of crud from the garage, before being carted off by some men nice enough to do so for folding money, and before you comment, it's all above board, being organised through the council refuse collection department.

This area is approximately 6-8m long and 2-3 metres deep, and contains a violet (huge), a cherry tree (also huge), a peach tree (currently suffering with peach leaf curl, grrrr!), a wisteria (currently attacking lots of things, but this will be pruned heavily!), and a couple of other random things I don't know the name of. They are all at the back of this area, and it receives a reasonable amount of light throughout mid-morning to evening, so will be perfect for planting.

I have decided upon the cunning plan of growing from seed, and found a wonderful site with some weird and wonderful (to me) seeds for sale. They deliver worldwide apparently, but appear to be based in New Zealand and a few other places. If you can fall in love with a site, I think this is one of them. I have decided to grow the following for later transplant into the bare area:-

Goji Berry
Strawberry Spinach
Myrtus Ugni
Rubus Lineatus
Wonderberry - Not being grown for its narcotic leaves.
Kiwi Fruit - This is going in another area after I clear the Pampas Grass.

I like them because they're pretty and, as I said, unusual to me, but the fact that you can eat their produce is an added bonus. Does anyone have experience with these? I've read a reasonable amount on them all, so i'm prepared for several eventualities.

[pieces o nine]

That sounds like quite a project!

[Opsa]

Why Roland- you've gone fruit mad! You'll have to be brave and patient.

That is a beautiful web site, and very enthusiastic, too. How do you tell though, whether or not a plant will work in your planting zone?

[Roland Deschain]

That sounds like quite a project!

I know. Ambitious is not the word for it, especially growing from seed.

Why Roland- you've gone fruit mad! You'll have to be brave and patient.

That is a beautiful web site, and very enthusiastic, too. How do you tell though, whether or not a plant will work in your planting zone?

I am a patient man, and can wait, although for bravery, look to Rincewind. I know that planting seeds now means i'll have to sacrifice planting in the area until next year, but i'm prepared for that. I also know that any appreciable level of fruit will be the year after, but this is a long-haul project for me. The benefits when they come will be many.

I started out looking at the basic info on the website, then looked up further info on several hopefuls on other, more informative, websites. I am confident that I can safely transplant any successful small plants to the area in the spring after what will hopefully be the predictable last frosts, and then they will be fine after this, establishing themselves before the end of year frosts. I think the worst thing will be preparing the ground, digging in all the compost to enrich the soil. And the weeding. There will always be bloody weeding!

[Opsa]

I kind of enjoy the digging and amending. The weeding shouldn't be too bad either, after the plants are established.

It's nice, growing shrubs. They are less likely to be overcome by weeds after a couple of years.