Tuesday 30 December 2014

2014 in the garden: things that went well, and things that didnt...

So the year is almost over, and with not much gardening to be done it is a good time to sit and reflect on the year; what has gone well and what hasn’t. Overall it has been a really good year for the garden as we started with a really mild winter meaning that many things that usually die survived. However; this then meant the worst ever year for slugs and snails that decimated everything.

The spring was mild, and the summer warm rather than hot which meant I didn’t have to water as much as usual, but things that needed the heat didn’t get as big as they should have done. We finish the year on another relatively mild winter (we still only just had a killer frosts) and I look forward to 2015.
So overall a good year for.....
Cobea: they survived the winter and are rampant as a rampant thing.
 
 
 
Musa sikkimensis in a giant pot.  This was a huge success to the year as the bananas thrived and gave height and structure to the terrace. I will do this again!
 
 
Friend’s generosity: Patrick has been amazing giving me huge pots and two Cyatheas. Others have continued to willingly be garden slaves and help out on the day. THANK YOU!

Hedychiums: the stars of the year, thriving in pots and not being composted.



Honey; hurrah I had a bumper crop

Bamboos establishing: 3-4 years on the bamboos are now looking amazing


Giant Echiums: after not flowering for about 4 years I had about 3 get to about 12 foot. Amazing plants.

Canna musifolia: This continues to be my favourite Canna, and when happy they look amazing

 
Melianthus major: survived the frosts and had the most amazing exotic flower!
 
Height and Structure: finally the backbone of the garden is really coming together. Fences and neighbours are disappearing.

And a bad year for...

Dahlias: they were decimated by the slugs meaning that many were so late that I lost out on some colour..

Salvias: they sulked and many didn’t flower well...boo.



Carnivorous plants: still suffering from sustained neglect

Datura inoxia: a star of 2013, but they never really got going

 

Finding space for anything: UG! Things have got bigger and I barely have any space...mmm. more pots I think?

Vegetables: a combo of a new job and the snail attack from hell has meant that not much has thrived.

And what will 2015 hold?

  • More things in pots
  • Irrigation systems
  • More cordylines to give fast growing evergreen height. They may be common but they are still very exotic.
  • Vegetables: new design and more energy to actually manage to eat something from the plot!
  • NGS garden visits: I was bad and only really visited local gardens, missing out on the treasure trove of gardens which are open across London. Next year I will visit new NGS gardens, and diarise them in so that I don’t miss them
  • More fiddling and jiggling around. A gardeners work is never done....

 

1 comment:

  1. Looking at your list for 2015 has reminded me about putting irrigation too...

    ReplyDelete