Out damn Leylandii

The first task in the new garden was to get the Leylandii hedge at the back end of the garden removed.

As mentioned in my previous post, I'm not fond of Leylandii and dislike the way they stop other plants from growing under them. They are a lot of work if you want to keep them from growing out of control, and they seem to suck the light, and life, out of the garden.

The Leylandii hedge is at the East end of of the garden. The previous owners planted them as the fence behind was a metal fence and the neighbours could see straight into our garden. However, since the previous owners planted them, the neighbours have put up an additional wooden fence - I think to hide the Leylandii - so that immediate issue was resolved.

I wanted to get the hedge removed quickly as I know it takes time for soil that Leylandii has been growing in, to start to heal. Leylandii is acidic and depletes the soil of the nutrients, making it poor soil for growing fruiting trees or vegetables in. As I'm planning on putting in semi-dwarfing fruit trees in during the coming autumn I need time to get working on improving the soil.

I was fortunate to come across a good tree surgeon, Jon Gibson, who could do the work, and quickly. And wow, was it quick!

Jon already on a good start

Assistant Zack starts taking the branches away

Nearly there...

ta da!

Not only was it gone, but I gained about another metre in the length of my garden! And I now have a perfect place for putting in a large rainwater harvester to make the most of the water that falls on the large garage roof.

Zack then dug out all the remaining tree stumps

I was literally rubbing my hands in glee to see the Leylandii begone

I've now got more space and sense of light in my garden:

I was almost completely pleased. However...

The below picture was taken just before 10am and you can see the shadow the neighbours Leylandii is casting over the garden.

I wasn't too worried about this when we decided to buy the house, as we worked out that it would only cast shade for about 1 hour a day. However, despite this, I secretly harboured hopes that I might be able to convince the neighbour to at least reduce it's height, if not remove it all together. 1 hour of sunlight is pretty important given recent weather trends...

So I was delighted when I saw someone speaking to Jon at the front where he was shredding my Leylandii. Maybe this was my neighbour asking about his tree. Would you believe it - it was! I found out a little later that the neighbour wanted the whole thing gone. Out damn Leylandii! And to answer my dreams, it happened two days later!

Jon getting up to the tippy top

I feel like I'm a rather lucky Gwenhwyfar to get my way so quickly, and without even trying! I'm a completely and utterly pleased bunyip, I have to say.

Of course, the garden looks even barer now, but that is just whilst it is developing. Now that the Leylandii has gone and I see how much more space and light I have, I realise I have room to put my compost bins over at the back where they will get more sun. Originally they were going to have to go alongside the neighbours fence on the right, but being shaded would have meant a much slower composting process. The new position, once I've had the space cleared of rubbish and weeds, will be a much better place for the compost bins. They will get more sun and speed up the composting process, and will be out of the way behind the garage - though of course will be easily accessible by the path I'll put in.

I do need to think about how best to deal with the space between the metal fence, which is the technical end of our boundary, and the new fence the neighbour has put up. It's kind of 'dead space' since I cannot actually push my boundary back. Maybe a simple wildlife habitat, which would be beneficial to the wildlife and both our gardens? It would need to be easy to 'dismantle' if the neighbour suddenly decides to push their fence back to the proper boundary. Another idea to muse upon.

Now that the damn Leylandii has gone I can get started on the next phase. That will be getting the area cleared of rubbish and start sowing green manure to heal the soil, and to start drawing up a base map.

The new garden: a blank canvas

Now that a majority of the boxes have been unpacked and we can now effectively cook in the kitchen, I thought it was time to introduce the new garden here in Sheffield...

Front garden

Back garden

As you can see, they are almost a blank canvas. I'm very excited!

Front garden
The front garden is west-facing, so will get the late morning/lunchtime and afternoon/evening sun all year around. In the short term, i.e. over the next few months, the main change I will make is reducing the size of the hedge and removing the dead small tree in the middle of the lawn. Whilst the hedge does give some privacy, it's actually too tall and also, frankly, boring. And apart from the fact that a square lawn is yawningly boring, I also see that it could be a useful growing space for a mix of edibles and perennials. And I also need to find a way of dealing with the rubbish and recycling bins, a design that is both functional and attractive.

I have some ideas of how I might develop the space. One is to remove the hedge altogether and putting in some step-over apple espaliers in its place. This would retain the structure of the border between the street and neighbours house, but also give flowers for bees, fruit for eating, and allow plenty of light in all year around.

I could build some raised beds to create borders and to help define the space. I have a vague idea of using a mix of perennials, for permanent structure, plus vegetables to make the most of the warmer afternoon sun. And the front of the house is clearly useful for growing vertically, though I do have a desire to plant a wisteria to grow up it for the beauty and scent, and a place that once developed, that birdies might nest in!

Like my front garden in Oxford, I want to continue with the idea of having a front garden that is attractive and at least partially edible.

Back garden
This has an east-facing aspect towards the house, but the side of the garage is south-facing. The side next to the neighbours fence is going to be shadier all year around.

The garage itself has lots of potential. For a start, we are hoping to do a partial conversion, taking out the current south-facing wall and putting in a glass wall. This will make the garage, which will also be my shed, immediately lighter, and importantly, act as a greenhouse space as well. The garage roof is large and not overshadowed, so should be great for rainwater collection. The space behind the garage will take quite a decent sized rainwater tank.

I'm also thinking that building cold frames alongside the south-facing (glass) wall will also be a way of maximising the sun the garden gets. Because shade from the neighbours fence will reach to the middle of the garden in Spring and Autumn, and probably a quarter of it in the summer months (I'll need to observe this carefully over the coming months), I need to make the most of the area that is south-facing. I'm thinking cold frames. Adaptable cold frames where I can remove the lids during the warm summer months, (maybe to sit behind the frames against the glass wall of the 'greenhouse', so the where to store the lids problem is also solved) but have them on during late Autumn and Winter, and as a space to start of seedlings in early Spring.

The 'elephant in the garden' is the Leylandii hedge. No fear, that's on my side of the fence (I wouldn't have bought the house if it wasn't) and it is coming out. In fact, coming out right now (a post about that another day)! I've already found a tree guy to take them all out - 15 trees in all. Leylandii are awful for so many reasons, anti-social, or lots of work so they aren't anti-social, they block out light utterly, nothing grows under them. And they are hideous. Before we put in an offer on the house I read up on how to return nutrition and health to the soil post-Leylandii. Apparently sowing green manure once it's all out will help the restoration process, along with adding compost. So the sooner I get them out the sooner the soil can start healing. And I have much nicer trees planned for that space. Fruit trees! Quince, greengage, damson... Still need to look into root stocks and varieties, but I have plenty of time since the soil needs improving and fruit trees aren't to go in until later autumn.

The shadier fence side might be good for 'woodland' plants, as well as being a place for the compost bins, plus being north-facing, maybe a Morello Cherry?! I also need to think about plants for bees and other insects, and how to also make the gardens attractive to birds and other wildlife. The awful clothes line will go (why don't people put in retractable clothes lines?!) And to make sure there are places in which I can sit and relax, with a book or friends.

And then there is the front of the garage. All that concrete! Yet it also is a great potential growing space whilst also being a way to easily access the garage/greenhouse with our bicycles. We are thinking of bricking it up and putting in a wide door, since we don't need it as a garage. We don't have a car and even if we did, the inside garage space is too important as a gardening shed to let a car in it! And bricking it up would give more vertical wall space that could have plants growing up it.

So where next?
This is all very vague at this stage. Before I get too carried away with jumping in and designing, I need to go back to Permaculture basics. So the first act, other than getting rid of the Leylandii at the back and reducing the height of the hedge at the front, is to undertake observation of the gardens over the coming months. How the light moves across them, where the frost pockets are, how the changing levels effect drainage; there is a slope in the back garden that means it is higher at the back and lower next to the conservatory/house, etc. Where will be the best place for the bird feeders, hedgehog boxes etc (zone 5)? I also need to do a base map of the whole outdoor space (front, side and back) so I have practical plans and measurements from which the designing process can be based and built upon.

The Leylandii is already on it's way out...

In the short-term, because I cannot bare NOT growing, I'm going to grow at least salads, strawberries, and some other veg and flowers in pots. I can also use the vegetables and flowers in pots to move them around the garden to see how the light and changing seasons effect the growing of the same plant in different spaces.

These are smaller gardens than the ones I had in Oxford, and for the time being, I won't be getting an allotment. I'm actually quite excited by this though, as the challenge is to see how I can grow food, flowers and a have a place for wildlife, within a, I think, typically sized urban garden. And of course, to make it an attractive and welcoming space for all of us: Kevin, Merlyn, friends, food, flowers, wildlife, and I.

Welcome to my Sheffield garden.

Oxford, my Oxford

Outside the Isis Farmhouse, Iffley Lock, Oxford

After living in Oxford for c. 15 years, we will be leaving for Sheffield, Yorkshire on Monday. We are planning to go to our favourite Oxford pub one last time tomorrow, and this caused me to reflect in general, on my favourite Oxford places. Here are a few of them. There is a bias towards East Oxford/Cowley/Iffley given this is the area in which I lived.

East Ward Allotment Association: where I  had my lottie for the last few years before leaving. The largest allotment site in Oxford and has a great little shop open on Sunday's (except August) for an hour or so where gardeners can pick up seeds, compost and other key garden items, often cheaper than at gardening centres. If you aren't a member of the lottie site, you can become an associate member for the shocking price of 10p per year(!!!) and take advantage of the lower prices. On the edge of the site is the lovely Boundary Brook Nature Park.

Isis Farmhouse: my favourite pub in Oxford. I hope I'm not spoiling things by mentioning it here. One of the reasons I love it is because it's a great pub but one for locals, not the thousands of tourists that crawl over Oxford every day. It sits by Iffley Lock on the Thames towpath and is only accessible by walking, bicycle or canal boat. Outside in the sun, with the river and the Iffley meadows and birds and sounds of locals laughing, it is absolutely perfect. And when it is raining it is cosy and warm inside. Perhaps the best thing is the amazing home made cakes. Always just fresh out of the oven, they have spoilt me forever as I had my first ever Bakewell Tart at the Isis and it was so amazingly good that nothing else has ever compared. It's a little rough around the edges, which is of course it's charm. I've often caught up with friends and fellow Oxon activists there, held a pub quiz with Oxford WDM there, and sometimes just sat in the sun with a drink and a book. It's just the best.

Rusty Bicycle: Since opening about 3 years ago,we have regularly met friends & had a drink at the Rusty Bicycle. It's hard to beat the Isis Farmhouse on setting (by the river etc), but the Rusty Bicycle is a very close 2nd favourite. It's convenient to Iffley/Cowley Roads, has a warm atmosphere, friendly staff and some lovely food to snack on. I particularly like the cheesy-rosemary chips, and the dips with pitta bread. They now also host the Cultivate Veg Van each Thursday, 4:30pm-7pm. A great local pub.

Magdalen Arms: This one is a bit of a trendy food pub, but it gets top points for being incredibly child-friendly, even on busy Friday and Saturday nights. It's often our first choice if we want to go out to dinner with friends who have children because of this; they even have games and books children can borrow to play with. The food is very meat-based, so not great for veggies, but it is very good, local sourced food and I've always come away deeply satisfied with the food and company.

Iffley Meadows -fritillaries: this is an ancient wet meadow just behind the Isis Farmhouse and Thames towpath at Iffley. For a few weeks every year (mid-April, but depends on the weather), the meadow is full of native snake's head fritillaries. Delightful to wander through and to get up close to one of the prettiest native flowers in the UK.

Oxford Botanic Garden: a lovely oasis in the middle of a crowded touristed city. Small but beautifully formed, sitting by the Cherwell, the other main river in Oxford, and with views to the lovely Magdalen College tower. I sometimes just popped in at lunchtime to get some peace and colour in my busy day, and other times took visitors there to enjoy the blooms and the classic Oxford views.

Barracks Lane Community Garden: a bit of favouritism here, since I worked for the garden for a couple of years... That aside, it's an incredibly inspiring story and space of how local people turned a damaged polluted space into a beautiful garden in the middle of the busy East Oxford community. The garden is open every weekend from March to October, is free, and runs lots of great events for people of all ages. Sitting in the garden, listening to the birds, laughter and communal chatting, one can feel like another, better world, really is possible.

Oxford Permaculture Group: meets the 1st Saturday of each month at Barracks Lane Community Garden. A lovely bunch of people who do practical permaculture projects both at the community garden and together with other local organisations, run courses/worshops, talks, film nights etc. I met and made good friends with this group and will really miss their company and activities.

Cowley Road: from The Plain up to Magdalen Road, Cowley Road offers a wide-range of cuisine, eclectic shops, including The People's Supermarket and UhuruWholefoods, campaigning activists and a funky street scene. Not yet taken over by Clone Town Britain, let's hope it stays that way. It hosts the Cowley Road Carnival each July, as well as the wonderful Restore garden and cafe.

Thames towpath, Donnington Bridge to Folly Bridge: An alternative way of walking or cycling into town. Walking from Don Bridge (as we call it), as you get closer into town you start to see some of the 'dreaming spires'. I once saw a deer jump into the river at Don Bridge and swim halfway across, before being startled to see me watching and and swiming back to the other side! This is a shared walking and cycling path, so respect and be nice to each other.

Oxford walk: whenever I have visitors they inevitably wish to know of a good walk around Oxford centre, taking in the colleges, university and streets. Oxford is a bit of a nightmare to walk around, to be honest, particularly on Saturdays, because it gets such a large number of tourists. This can make it difficult to enjoy Oxford because you are constantly fighting with the crowds. This is the route of my favourite walk. It's not tourist free - that's impossible in Oxford - but it's reasonably relaxed and takes in some key Oxford sights. Download my suggested walk.

Oxford Castle - for Empress Matilda: for history buffs - Empress Matilda, who should have been Queen of England but had her throne nicked by the evil Stephen (you can see my biases...), made an amazing escape from Oxford Castle in 1141. You can climb the tower that Matilda escaped from, and also get great views of Oxford. In my view, Oxford Castle Unlocked, who run the 'attraction', don't make near enough of Matilda's escape, so you should read Sharon Penman's When Christ and his Saints Slept first, then visit the castle, to really get a feel for it. There are other reasons for visiting Oxford Castle, but I only care about Matilda!

East Oxford Farmers Market: kind of obvious. It's a farmers market, it has lots of locally sourced yummy food and is friendly. It was a finalist in BBC Radio 4 Food and Farming Awards in 2011 and for good reason. A great selection of local foods, from Oxford Sourdough and Saffron buns to samosas and pakoras. Plus fresh veg from Sandy Lane Farm, jams, apple juice, cakes, and even someone who sows and repairs clothing. On top of that, a lovely little cafe where you get simple good food at a good price. I'm really going to miss the East Oxford Farmers market. I always ran into a couple of people I knew, it has such a lovely vibe and was a essential part of local life

Cultivate Veg Van: have to admit to another bias here since put a small investment in Cultivate when it opened it's share offer to the local community. What they don't grow themselves, they source from other local suppliers. The van visits several places in and around Oxford each week, from the train station on Friday evenings to the South Oxford Farmers Market on Sunday mornings. Run by an inspiring bunch of young people as a social enterprise, it aims to being good locally sourced food at an affordable price to Oxon residents.

The Plough, Wolvercote: Whilst tourists go to The Trout in Lower Wolvercote, by the river and next to Godstow Abbey, locals go to the Plough. Yes The Trout is in a lovely setting, but if you are lucky enough to get a table you then can wait for up to 1.5 hours to get your food, that isn't that cheap and isn't that special. The Plough is a comfortable pub in Upper Wolvercote with yummy food and a calm relaxing atmosphere.

Port Meadow: this is a large common just on the edge of the city of Oxford (out Jericho way) and has been in existence for about 1000 years. In return for helping to defend the kingdom against the marauding Danes, the Freemen of Oxford were given the 120ha of pasture next to the Thames by King Alfred who founded the City in the 10th Century (cited from Oxford City Council website). It can often get flooded, so the best time to visit is in the Summer. A lovely natural space not far from the busy Oxford streets, but where you are in another world close to nature and light.

Jericho: just outside of central Oxford, Jericho use to be the slum area but of course now is very well-to-do and has a range of restaurants including Ramond Blanc's Petit Blanc, the great Phoenix Picturehouse (which offers cinema beyond Hollywood), the Clarendon Street cafe's and shops, the grand Oxford University Press entrance.

Elder Stubbs Festival: on one day in August each year, the Elder Stubbs Festival is based on the Elder Stubbs Allotment Site, managed by Restore. Fantastic willow sculpture, lots of stalls, food, and you get to look at the wonderfully neat and bounteous allotments.

Ashmolean: first ever museum and holds the lovely Alfred Jewel. Great collection and free, a great way to spend a morning or afternoon. Recently refurbished and now has amazing architecture inside and a great restaurant at the top. Thanks to @wellywomanblog for reminding me!

Other good places to eat: for centre of town, try Turl Street Kitchen (social enterprise, locally source, ever-changing exciting menu), The Nosebag (lots of veggie options), or Mortons (Covered market or New Inn Hall Street - excellent chicken & bacon salad) or G&D's (best ice-cream in Oxford with a great range of flavours). For East Oxford there is Oxfork, Magic Cafe, Mario's (Italian) and the recent 2nd G&D's on Cowley Road.

This has been my Oxford. It won't cover everything that tourists might want to see, it's a personal list of favourite places and the people in them that I'll miss. And who I will return to and enjoy whenever I'm visiting Oxford in the future.

Now, onwards to Sheffield...!

Goodbye lottie, hello garden

The eagle-eyed amongst you may have noticed that there has been a change at Gwenfar's Lottie. I'm now Gwenfar's Garden...

Yesterday I finally said goodbye to my lottie. Kevin and I move to Sheffield next Monday, and yesterday we picked up the last items from the plot. The plot will continue but with new growers, my friend Manishta and friends who joined me last year, have now taken it over.

I admit to feeling mix of sadness and relief. Sadness because I put so much time and love into my plot over the last 4 years and it's hard letting it go. But relief too, as I was struggling with keeping on top of things in the last year due to problems with my back and health generally, and I felt I wasn't giving it the attention and love it needed.

Goodbye Gwenfar's Lottie

I'd loved having an allotment. In part just because I enjoyed the work, the growing and the eating, but also because I enjoyed the community. And I won't be giving up these elements per se, rather downsizing my growing at my new garden in Sheffield, and joining local community gardens/groups once I'm settled.

Garlic coming along nicely.

Varieties include: Persian Star, Music, Georgia Fire & Silver Rose.

I will also be returning to the plot in July this year, to help dig up the garlic. Those who know me know that I'm a bit mad for growing lots of unusual varieties of garlic and I want to continue. So I'll join Manishta and the others to dig up and share the crop in July, and return to Sheffield continue my tradition in my new city.

I decided that since I would no longer have a lottie, it was time to change my Twitter name and the name of my blog. So, say goodbye to Gwenfar's Lottie...

And hello to Gwenfar's Garden.*

As for the new garden, well, you'll have to wait until we have moved.  :-)


*Will look into changing the URL once we have moved. Need to get back to packing now...

Wordless Wednesday 6th March 2013: pollen