This year some might say I’ve got a little bit over board, as I’ve planted 24 trees and shrubs in my back garden. It really isn’t as silly as it sounds as we have a rather large garden and I have about half an acre that I’m trying to turn into a lovely natural garden. I’ve been planting trees and shrubs over the past 3 weeks and have plenty of photos to share on this page.
I’m finding it fun to gradually work on this natural garden and to try and imagine how it will look in the future. It’s a bit like a really long term art project that will take many years and has the added complication of needing to work with Nature to achieve the final, living result.
This year, I’ve planted the following;
- Cherry trees (2)
- Crab Apple trees (2)
- Quince tree
- Pear Tree
- Juniper tree
- Blackthorn tree
- Raspberry canes (10)
- Gooseberry bushes (2)
- Loganberry bush
- Tayberry bush
- Dog Roses (4)
and tried to position them all in a way that will produce a nice result when they’ve grown, but I’ve never done this before so it’s all a bit of a guess really.
Our ground is clay above chalk and the clay contains a lot of stone, mostly flint, so it makes digging holes quite a chore. Nevertheless, I quite enjoy planting trees and shrubs and interacting with Nature.
I’ve purchased most of these trees and shrubs from Walcot Organic Nursery because I’m trying to keep my natural garden as close to organic as I can. I find their service and the products I get from Walcot’s to be of excellent quality (I have no affiliation with them, I just like their stuff). What I didn’t buy from Walcot’s was the Juniper, Blackthorn and dog roses, all of which I bought from the Woodland Trust. This is the first year I’ve bought anything from the Woodland Trust, so I can’t really say anything about their products yet.
Below are some photos of my adventures planting trees and shrubs over the past couple of weeks. It will be interesting to see what they all look like in a couple of years.
[Click on the images below to see full size – they have some notes on them to explain]
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