Our new house in the New Forest, Hampshire

[Eric Hardy]

Good luck in your new home, Kathy & Laurie. It must be an intense relief after all your tribulations. What a nail biting finish too:!

Enjoy your new surroundings, they sound delightful.

Our eldest son, Adam, and family  moved into a new house about a week before Christmas. It is an old farmhouse with an acre of garden about 6 miles from Carmarthen. Their troubles began when they were there to receive their furniture from Birmingham. The pantechnicon  couldn?t negotiate a bend in the country lane leading to the house and had to turn back. They put it into store fairly nearby and the next day had to get another firm to deliver it in smaller vehicles! 

That is why we have never moved house in nearly 56 years! Our nerves wouldn?t stand it! 

I look forward to seeing pictures of your new garden when spring arrives.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

From Eric & Anthea.

[NightHawk]

Thanks to everyone for all your good wishes.

Photos of our new garden will be posted soon, with regular updates. 

Kathy and I wish everyone on the Forum a very happy and prosperous New Year.

Laurie.

[NightHawk]

Here's a few photos as the garden appears at the moment, before we do any work on it.

Photo 1 - our first (and only) snowfall to date.  Front garden taken through window on 18 December 2010.


Photo 2 - Front garden.  The bird-bath in the foreground is ours.

The hexagonal flagstones lead to the front gate on the right and our front door to the left.

Photo 3 - Front garden.  Shrubery alongside our front wall.

The yellow/green bush in the foreground is a Choisya ternata SUNDANCE.  (See Photo 3a for close-up.)

Photo 3a - Close-up of Choisya ternata SUNDANCE in above Photo 3.


Photo 4 - same as Photo 3 but from different angle.


Photo 5 - Front garden.  The last of the shrubs alongside the front wall.

The brass wind-spiral is ours, but is temporarily hanging on a pole that had been left behind.

Photo 6 - Front garden - Ivy, Camelia and Hydrangea growing against our garage wall.


Photo 6a - Close-up of Camelia bush in above Photo 6.


Photo 7 - Front garden - 2 unknown plants in border.

Closer view of plants on left side of Photo 6.  Believe the left plant could be a Cyclamen and the right side plant Snowdrops.  We'll need to await flowering to confirm.

Photo 8 - Front garden with Salix caprea 'Kilmarnock' weeping willow tree in lawn.


Photo 8a - Close-up of Salix caprea 'Kilmarnock' weeping willow tree in Photo 8.


Photo 9 - Front garden.


Photo 10 - view of side garden down right side of house.


Photo 11 - Close-up of Choisya ternata in Photo 10 in garden to right of house.
Bush in Photo 10 is just beyond the yellow one.


Photo 12 - view from bottom of garden along right hand side border towards front of house.


Photo 13 - view of bottom end of right hand garden.

We think the unknown brown looking plant is dead so will need to be removed.

Photo 14 - different angle from Photo 13 of bottom right corner of garden.


Photo 15 - Bottom garden.  A striking red-stemmed Cotinus Dogwood in foreground will definitely be staying.


Photo 16 - Garden on left side of house.  This view is from the bottom garden towards the patio area at the front end.


Photo 17 - view from patio towards bottom of garden.

The barbecue-style stove on the right is NOT ours.  That will definitely be going.

As you can see from these photos there is a lot of work to be done in all the garden areas.  It's obvious the previous owners weren't real gardeners.

With lots of tidying, digging up and new planting it will be a work in progress for a while.  It will be fun doing it, and we'll get it looking immaculate with our own stamp of authority and personalisation.

There are still loads of plants and shrubs in the garden that we haven't as yet tried to identify, some that will be staying others that will not.  I've just highlighted some of the bigger and best looking shrubs that we will be keeping and wish to get identified.
A cursory look through some of our gardening books hasn't helped us just yet, so any help on naming the ones I've requested in the photos would be greatly appreciated.

Laurie.

[Eric Hardy]

As you can see from these photos there is a lot of work to be done in all the garden areas.  It's obvious the previous owners weren't real gardeners

Well it will be more fun Laurie, making it your own.  .  I look forward to seeing the progress photographs. Good luck with it.

[Lyn and Malcolm]

Laurie

Picture 6a a Camellia of some sort, will have to wait till flower in early spring

Picture 7 probably not snowdrop as they aren't showing yet

Malcolm

[Trevor Ellis]

Hi Cathy & Laurie,

just had a quick look at your photographs. It's good to see that you're 'under way' at last. The 'unknown' willow in the photograph looks like it may well be a Kilmarnock Willow. I had one at my previous home. Lovely catkins. The top needs to be thinned every so often otherwise they get too congested. Easy enough to do.

Trevor

[NightHawk]

Thanks for that Trevor - we'll look it up.

Laurie.

[NightHawk]

Picture 6a a Camellia of some sort, will have to wait till flower in early spring

Thanks for confirming that Malcolm.

Kathy had a hunch it was a Camelia of some sort but, as you say, need to wait until it flowers for full ID.

Laurie.

[Lyn and Malcolm]

Photo 6 brown shrub is a Hydrangea, see the picture you posted before the move, of the new house, it is in flower on that picture.

Malcolm

[NightHawk]

We'd spotted the Hydrangea one Malcolm, confirming as you did from the flowering photo that was taken by the estate agent in summer last year.

We have another one of those in our right side border as well.

Laurie.

[NightHawk]

Has anyone got a Cotinus Dogwood (Photo 15) in their garden?

According to Alan Titchmarsh it should be pruned back hard in Spring to encourage new growth to get better stem colour in winter.

Not sure we want to cut it back, if anyone else doesn't bother 

Anyway, when exactly is it Spring 

Laurie.

[Trevor Ellis]

It really is worth cutting back your dogwood in early spring Kathy & Laurie. Though it looks in fine fettle now, if left it will gradually lose it's brightness (especially if left for a few years). It's best to be really severe with it and it will reward you with much better colour whether it's the red or the yellow variety. My neighbour at our former home had a large one and asked the same question. I cut it back to an inch or two of the ground and he almost had a heart attack - he was pleased with the resultant colourful re-growth though.

Best wishes,

Trevor

[Lyn and Malcolm]

Photo 5 a Euonymus, need a picture of the leaves to tell which one, and a Pieris to the right, possibly forrestii.


Malcolm

[NightHawk]

Photo 5 a Euonymus, need a picture of the leaves to tell which one, and a Pieris to the right, possibly forrestii.

Thanks for that Malcolm.

Basically, the plants I haven't mentioned for IDing in those photos are the ones we're confident about knowing, but you've confirmed that for us anyway 

There's bound to be more that we find which we're not certain about, so we know we can rely on you to ID for us.

Laurie.

[NightHawk]

It really is worth cutting back your dogwood in early spring Kathy & Laurie. Though it looks in fine fettle now, if left it will gradually lose it's brightness (especially if left for a few years). It's best to be really severe with it and it will reward you with much better colour whether it's the red or the yellow variety. My neighbour at our former home had a large one and asked the same question. I cut it back to an inch or two of the ground and he almost had a heart attack - he was pleased with the resultant colourful re-growth though.

That's good enough advice for us then Trevor.

As we're now in the south, what is the 'early spring' definition down here.  Up north we were doing things much later in spring, whereas the south, being milder, were ahead of us. 

So, for this location what would you advise as the day/month for cutting back.  It's such a beautiful looking plant that we don't want to get it wrong and risk losing it 

Laurie.

[Trevor Ellis]

As we're now in the south, what is the 'early spring' definition down here.  Up north we were doing things much later in spring, whereas the south, being milder, were ahead of us. 
So, for this location what would you advise as the day/month for cutting back.  It's such a beautiful looking plant that we don't want to get it wrong and risk losing it 
[/quote]

Rather than the date, keep an eye on the plant around the time when it feels like spring's arriving, say early March. All of the stems need cutting back to about two or three inches above base before growth starts. It will look pretty well devastated  (it really does look like a good specimen in your photograph) but don't worry - they're tough cookies. If you feel nervous about it there are some images of the plant before and after pruning on this linkhttp://www.gardenseeker.com/pruning/pruning_cornus_dogwoods.htm.
It's just like coppicing willow etc. really. I don't think you'll be guilty of plant-slaughter.

[NightHawk]

Great advice Trevor and thanks for that link.  It's really useful.

We will do the pruning at the suggested time to keep that colourful stem growth for the future.

Laurie.

[Trevor Ellis]

You're very welcome Laurie.

T

[NightHawk]

Just got our computers connected again today.

We've been having some work done at the back of the house, having the main bedroom and adjacent second bedroom knocked into one.
The second half is going to be our office and this has given us so much more space now.  The computers had to be disconnected and moved out of the second bedroom, which was our temporary office to begin with, to allow the work to be done.

We've got more work scheduled a little later but this will be in the bathroom, so won't affect our computers any more.

The other bit of good news is that we pick up our new car tomorrow afternoon.  At last we'll be able to explore our new location in better detail, instead of through taxi and bus windows that we've had to resort to as our only other means of transport.  Will save a lot of money too.  The taxi fares have worked out very expensive these past 4 weeks.

Laurie.

[ideasguy]

Its great to read good news from you Laurie.
Exciting times ahead, exploring your location in your new car
Enjoy!

[roiphil]

all good news thats what i like to hear, enjoy your day trips

[NightHawk]

Thanks George and Phil.

Collected our new car yesterday afternoon as planned and she's a little beauty.
Suzuki Grand Vitara SZ4, 4 wheel drive, 5-door petrol, black.  Not as big as the Land Rover/Range Range Rover models, but the smaller size is just what we wanted for our rural location.

Came home in drizzle and it's rained heavily since then, and is torrential rain here as I write.  Strong winds too.  Typical. 

We won't be driving too far in this weather though (as much as we'd like to be out there trying her out and sight-seeing), but the forecast reports rain stopping from about 2pm today.

We're just so pleased to be independently mobile again.

Laurie.

[roiphil]

nice a little 4x4 and trust me you will it very handy in the winter plus suzukis are meant to be very good off road so when is the suspension and body lift planned bigger wheels extra lights bullbar, rock sliders etc someting like my jeep 

[NightHawk]

I agree Phil.  Although we don't plan to go off-road driving, it's still nice to have that ability should it be needed.

Certainly it will give us much more traction control during icy/snowy conditions, which is essential in rural locations.

You're in the perfect location for off-roading too, so you can definitely see the benefits.

Did some mundane shopping today, and being higher up off the road than a normal saloon car is brilliant.  Much better driving vision, ahead and over hedges which gives a much safer driving experience.  A bonus in our case, for reasons mentioned in another topic that you're aware of (and which I won't bring up again here  )

Just waiting for some nicer weather now to do some proper sight-seeing.  Still windy here with occasional drizzle, but not too cold though.

Laurie.

[roiphil]

Much better driving vision, ahead and over hedges

Thats the good bit you get to see whats on the other side of a hedge  all of the wildlife you wouldnot normally see