Gardening/ Landscaping

trueblue1234 · October 10, 2012, 10:17:41 AM

We just recently got a guy in to kirb and sow out the lawn (been in the house 3 years but only getting round to it now). It was just to take the bad look of the site and get things leveled out.
But I was just wondering if anyone here would be clued in on gardening. Firstly I have a large slope opening onto the front of the house that would be too steep to sow out. Been told that I would prob need to get ground cover plants to hold it. Tried to do a bit of googling on it but there's a mass of information out there with conflicting details. So was just wondering if anyone has any ideas on what I should plant there that would look good and stop erosion? Looking something relatively low maintenance and don't want to spend a fortune on it.
Also looking to put up a hedge along the outline of the site. Like the look of Laurel but it seems to be costly (Quite a large area to cover) So would anyone have any other recommedations?
I'm based in Tyrone area aswell in case you want to advise particular gardening nurserys etc.

Hereiam · October 10, 2012, 10:44:05 AM

Concrete everywhere

trileacman · October 10, 2012, 10:53:14 AM

Beech hedge is hard to beat. Avoid lelandi hedges, a f**king weed among plants. Well trimmed Blackthorn hedges can look well too and will grow anywhere but they do need maintenance. Beech require maintenance too but the finished article is a fine job.

Problem I see with beech is
a) need protection from wet ground (make ridges and plant),
b)they need quite a bit of nursing as young growers and
c) fully grown they can become quite, wide 6 foot and more. (but sometimes a good thing if your looking for protection)

Depending on length you can mix in certain other plants to break the pattern- honeysuckle, rhodendums, ash. I know a fella at home who planted a row of thorn adjacent to a row of beech, was tough at first but now there is a nice mix of colour and texture in the hedge. Beech hold their leaves all year round, turning a bronze colour in the autumn, arguably when they look their best. I've planted laurel here and hate them, don't work well with livestock, damage to them is hard to repair and they have gotten very tall and sparse at the ground. That's just me though I'm sure the work better for other people. Portuguese laurel is a nicer plant IMO. Smaller/thicker but susceptible to frost (like lelandi), certain hedges i know haven't recovered since that cold spell two years ago and simply lie rotting now.

As for trees, ash grow quick but can be quite sparse looking, they will grow in poorer soil though. Beech are thick but stumpy, don't have a typical tree shape until they are 30-40 years old, better ground required. Sycamore is a brilliant tree, grow mostly anywhere and will grow strong, true and thick. Oak are picky f**kers, have bother growing them myself but a nice tree at the same time. Chestnut, much the same as Sycamore, look sparser at certain times of the year but a good grower.

For nurseries there's a fella in Greeencastle I used to deal a lot with but talk to some landscapers before you talk to sellers, try a few around omagh, O'Kane etc.

Hardy · October 10, 2012, 11:09:59 AM

A Tyrone man asking advice of the rest of us about bushes!

LeoMc · October 10, 2012, 12:48:48 PM

Quote from: trileacman on October 10, 2012, 10:53:14 AM
Beech hedge is hard to beat. Avoid lelandi hedges, a f**king weed among plants. Well trimmed Blackthorn hedges can look well too and will grow anywhere but they do need maintenance. Beech require maintenance too but the finished article is a fine job.

Problem I see with beech is
a) need protection from wet ground (make ridges and plant),
b)they need quite a bit of nursing as young growers and
c) fully grown they can become quite, wide 6 foot and more. (but sometimes a good thing if your looking for protection)

Depending on length you can mix in certain other plants to break the pattern- honeysuckle, rhodendums, ash. I know a fella at home who planted a row of thorn adjacent to a row of beech, was tough at first but now there is a nice mix of colour and texture in the hedge. Beech hold their leaves all year round, turning a bronze colour in the autumn, arguably when they look their best. I've planted laurel here and hate them, don't work well with livestock, damage to them is hard to repair and they have gotten very tall and sparse at the ground. That's just me though I'm sure the work better for other people. Portuguese laurel is a nicer plant IMO. Smaller/thicker but susceptible to frost (like lelandi), certain hedges i know haven't recovered since that cold spell two years ago and simply lie rotting now.

As for trees, ash grow quick but can be quite sparse looking, they will grow in poorer soil though. Beech are thick but stumpy, don't have a typical tree shape until they are 30-40 years old, better ground required. Sycamore is a brilliant tree, grow mostly anywhere and will grow strong, true and thick. Oak are picky f**kers, have bother growing them myself but a nice tree at the same time. Chestnut, much the same as Sycamore, look sparser at certain times of the year but a good grower.

For nurseries there's a fella in Greeencastle I used to deal a lot with but talk to some landscapers before you talk to sellers, try a few around omagh, O'Kane etc.

Agreed on the Leylandii.
Blackthorn, Ash, Spindle and hazelbut are other good native species to consider. The Conservation Volunteers (cvni.org) could probably provide some advise.

amallon · October 10, 2012, 01:23:59 PM

trueblue1234 - Your planning permission probably won't allow anything other than native Irish hedging anyway. I know native Irish is a condition on my planning. Check yours out beforehand.

Has anyone ever used the garden design services from tobermore or achesson glover? I have a bitch of a site and need a bit of help getting ideas for the garden. The idea of having someone produce a set of plans for the garden sounds good but is it worth it.

Tony Baloney · October 10, 2012, 01:24:50 PM

Agree with the lads above. Stick to native species as "town" plants tend to stick out like a sore thumb in a country garden. You should be able to get thorn slips relatively cheaply. The hedge running along the side of my house is a field boundary and I planted nothing in it but it is a mixture of Ash, Sycamore, Hawthorn, wild roses, blackberry brambles, honeysuckle etc. Admittedly it could do with some TLC but it looks natural and there is a decent amount of texture and colour all year round. The downside is the amount of shade it provides to part of the lawn*.

*That is another subject for me!

Stall the Bailer · October 10, 2012, 02:29:19 PM

Another one you could throw into the mix is holly.

trileacman · October 10, 2012, 03:17:54 PM

Quote from: Stall the Bailer on October 10, 2012, 02:29:19 PM
Another one you could throw into the mix is holly.

Definitely.

Hardy · October 10, 2012, 03:26:12 PM

Hasn't Holly suffered enough on this board? She must be nearly fifteen now.

Stall the Bailer · October 10, 2012, 03:31:21 PM

Quote from: Hardy on October 10, 2012, 03:26:12 PM
Hasn't Holly suffered enough on this board? She must be nearly fifteen now.

Very good..!

trueblue1234 · April 24, 2014, 01:35:27 PM

So hedge finally sorted last year but haven't done anything with the steep slope that I was looking to tidy up. It's growing wild grasses at the minute which I've been just strimming down to take the bad look of it. But really want to get something done this summer with it.
Slope's about 20m long by 3m high sloping down to my lawn. Was thinking about putting down cover and then putting bark over it with a few spreading plants. Would this be a big job or would I be better getting a landscaper in?

theskull1 · April 24, 2014, 01:50:39 PM

Quote from: trueblue1234 on April 24, 2014, 01:35:27 PM
So hedge finally sorted last year but haven't done anything with the steep slope that I was looking to tidy up. It's growing wild grasses at the minute which I've been just strimming down to take the bad look of it. But really want to get something done this summer with it.
Slope's about 20m long by 3m high sloping down to my lawn. Was thinking about putting down cover and then putting bark over it with a few spreading plants. Would this be a big job or would I be better getting a landscaper in?

Quote from: Up The Middle on April 24, 2014, 01:44:41 PM
I had the same sort of issue, killed the weeds of 1st then scrapped the bank back towards the garden (leaving it not as steep), covered the bank then with membrane and covered this with stones and planted it out. Really took the bad look of outside the house and tidyed it up no end. I got a local man to do the work, DM me if you want his details.

Surely gravity starts to play a part if the bank is steep especially if you're going to put down a membrane?

Maybe you can get relatively inexpensive membranes which hold the likes of a really fine tree bark/mulch on a slope?

Walter Cronc · April 24, 2014, 01:56:02 PM

If its an exposed site you'll have issues with the bark blowing away leaving the membrane showing and looking bad. Stone will probably weigh it down better.

trueblue1234 · April 24, 2014, 01:57:29 PM

Cheers UTM.

How steep was your slope? Mine's very steep about 60 degrees. I'd be worried about the stones slipping down to the bottom of the slope. And can't scrape it anymore as my laneway comes across the top of the slope so it's as scraped back as it can be, right to the edge of the lane.

Not going to go to the hassle of getting top soil in to level it as was hoping to do a relatively cheap fix on it. Out of interest how much did it cost to get someone in to do it?