Gardening Ideas

[deb]

After spending the last year doing work on the house, i am ready to tackle the garden, we have garden on three sides of the house which is a blank canvas now that we have dug up what was there. What i would like to create is three small gardens being able to walk from one to the other. I am thinking my best bet is to use gravel and paving so it is easy to maintain. As i am a novice in gardening i would appreciate any ideas. I live in the campo which can get quite windy at times, so any ideas on what type of plants to use would be great.

[Martin Page]

When I was in the same position as yourself I went to the local parks. This will show you what is the best type of planting suits your local climate and soil conditions.

Do not be tempted to buy what ever the 'garden centres' have in stock - since they buy from such diverse places and typically Holland - and what grows there doesnt necessacerily grow where you are.

And - keep going to the parks as they will show you what treatments and supports and pruning is needed and when. If your Very lucky you may be adopted by the local parks gardener and they will give advice freely and enthusiatically.

Another usefull tip is to do a soil analysis, particularly as to what the pH of the soil is - this effects the types of plants you can grow easily.

[murbisa]

You are so right Martin. We have learn't a lot from wandering round the parks. I love Paloma park in Benamadena and could spend hours there. Especially the cacti garden.
We are in the campo and it gets quite windy and I have learn't the hard way that not everything in the garden centre will survive here. Have lost a couple of plants to the frost this winter and more looking a bit sad. Usually the hibiscus and bouganvillea will recover if they are established but I think i have lost my solandra which was in bud on the fence. Just one night of frost
I have brought a couple of David Austin country roses back from the UK this winter to see if they will survive the heat. I find spanish roses a bit boring!
Now we have started a vegetable patch and are having fun watching the winter veg growing. Peas have just come through and surprisingly red lettuce growing well.
I love gardening out here as things grow so much quicker in the heat.

Muriel

[Martin Page]

My roses are doing briliantly murbisa - now that ihave managed to get them into a regular season buy correct timing of the pruning. If left unchecked they will flower (weakly) all year. I hammer them hard back in November and then a light prune in April - something else gleened from the local parks.
Let me know how your english roses go on - Ive been told they dont stand either the drought or the heat very well. I would love a good full Hybrid T orange rose - they dont seem to have them out here

[El Cid]

I have over 50 English roses with about another 25 Spanish roses.

The English ones have mostly done well but I will be replacing about 5 this year after 5 years.

We have only just pruned them. I would not prune as early as November - we were getting hundreds of blooms then. If you prune in April you will have to wait until June for a good show. We will have them all out in April/May.

Spanish gardeners use the "slash and burn" approach to pruning. Better results can be achieved by following the advice given for the West coast of the USA - California has a very similar climate to Andalucia - in fact my favourite gardening book is one written for the western USA.

Here is a picture taken last year on May 1st. This is only a part of the rose garden but I think you will see my point.



Sid

[murbisa]

Sid, they are beautiful. Have you got any photos of the rest of them? Do I hard prune mine back now? Have been doing a bit of gentle pruning throughout the year but nothing drastic.
The roses I brought back are the "old english roses" - Jude the Obscure is one and can't remember the name of the other one. (too wet to go out and look at the label!) Both of these did well for me in the UK. I also found I could grow cuttings from these sort of roses and they would grow "true".

I wonder if roses grow better in raised beds - they seem to do better here like that.
I had 2 big rose gardens in the UK and never watered them however dry it got.

[deb]

Sid
Your roses are beautiful, think it will be roses i try and grow.

[costapacket]

Roses look lovely. Looks like a nice sheltered spot you have there.

[El Cid]

Sid, they are beautiful. Have you got any photos of the rest of them? Do I hard prune mine back now? Have been doing a bit of gentle pruning throughout the year but nothing drastic.
The roses I brought back are the "old english roses" - Jude the Obscure is one and can't remember the name of the other one. (too wet to go out and look at the label!) Both of these did well for me in the UK. I also found I could grow cuttings from these sort of roses and they would grow "true".

I wonder if roses grow better in raised beds - they seem to do better here like that.
I had 2 big rose gardens in the UK and never watered them however dry it got.

You should prune them now. Cut them back between one third and two thirds. Don't prune them too hard or it will take longer for them to flower and in the mild temperatures here it isn't necessary.

I don't know if raised beds are better for them but they certainly do well in our raised beds. They need a lot of water here - ours are watered daily and fed every month. The only problems we have had are mildew and rust, both of which are easy to control with sprays. Aphids have not been a major problem as we spray with systemic insecticide every couple of months.

Here's another picture from 2007 taken on 28th April after a prune in early January.

Sid

[tabbycats]

What a beautiful rose garden you have Sid, I'm definately going to try my hand at roses now

[murbisa]

I second that. It is lovely. I have been out and pruned my roses and am going to try harder with them this year.

[ken2]

Sid, i saw your roses on here last year, they are a real credit to you, i have copied them to my photos, hope you don't mind, what a picture you get out of bed to, blimey.

[El Cid]

Not at all Ken, I am pleased that you appreciate them. I will post some new pictures later when they are all in bloom again.

Sid