It is that time of year again when you are clearing out the last of the summer flowerers, but is not yet time for the big winter cutback. Gardeners often complain to me that they have little to do during this period, but I scoff at their ennui and lament their lack of enterprise; on the contrary this is the time for enterprise, imagination and gardening brio. Yes, it is time to look around your garden and start working on your winter projects.
No matter how good your garden is, and how well planned, there is always room for improvement. This is especially the case in Spain. Too many gardens are covered in acres of unrelenting gravel and paving, to the extent that they look more like car parks than gardens, what Americans would term “a yard”, no offence to my USA readers. When I ask people why they have gardens like this they always come up with the same two reasons: 1. it was like this when I bought the house. 2. It makes it easy for upkeep. Now if you are happy with that fine, but if not now is the time to take action.
The starting point for winter projects is to stroll around your garden with a critical eye and ask yourself what can I do to change, improve and alter my garden so that it will bring me more joy and be pleasing to the eye. To assist you in your endeavours I have included in this post some ideas from my own garden and ongoing projects.
Unfortunately this blog cannot just be about gardening as Cruella and her chickens are intent on inflicting more damage to my garden and my psyche. But, more about that later, let’s get on with the joy of winter projects.
6th November 2023. Things I have been doing lately:
- redesigning my little water feature
- constructing planting islands in gravel
- cloud pruning and making trees interesting
- chicken sex lessons
Redesigning my little water feature. A number of years ago I designed and built a little water feature that would burble away whilst I swung backwards and forwards in my adjacent hammock slung between two palm trees. It also served to alleviate the sameness of gravel, by introducing planting and different colour gravel. Unfortunately, this was BC3 (before chickens). Since then my hammock has been removed a fenced area installed and a chicken coop erected in my previous paradise. This has meant that my little water feature has been neglected, and anyway the previous lavender plants never worked out. The photo below shows the state of neglect.
There were a number of stages in reviving this area. First, I had to take out and bin all the existing plants. Then I decided to rework the water feature element to make it simpler and more pleasing to the eye. I then had to decide on the type of planting I wanted around the water feature. I was looking for long stems that would not trap the pine needles and a no nonsense plant that would add interest without being needy.
Looking around my garden it had to be Aeonium of which I had plenty from which to take cuttings. The next stage was to cut through the existing membrane to plant, but only after dipping in hormone rooting liquid to give them a better chance of rooting. Finally I planted alternative Aeonium Schwartzkopf (black head) and Verdi the (green head) to give interest. The photos below show the various stages, I will let you know how it develops in future posts. Click on each photo for a larger view.
Constructing planting islands in gravel. By introducing some plants and different types/colours of gravel you can begin to alleviate the sameness of acres of gravel and paving. I have followed this strategy over a number of years in areas where grass or similar is unsustainable. The photos below, which are all taken from my garden, show how a bit of island planting can enliven gravelled areas.
The photo below shows my rose beds which are planted in different coloured gravel which ensures differentiation even during winter. Click on each photo for a larger view.
The examples below show other areas of island planting that bring greenery into gravelled areas. Don’t be afraid to follow the same strategy in paved areas. You just need to lift a few paving slabs in strategic areas and you will alter the whole feel of your garden. If you are worried or don’t have the skills just get a builder in and it will take about half an hour. The final photo shows my larger water feature which fulfills the same function of being a focal point in an area of the garden. Click on each photo for a larger view.
From all of the above you can see how little projects done over a longer period of time can begin to bring life to gravelled areas.
Cloud pruning and making trees interesting. Trees like gravelled areas, are aspects of Spanish gardens that are often left as uninteresting lumps punctuating uninteresting gardens. But you don’t have to settle for this. Just because you inherited this behemoth of a tree, or, you just let it get out of control doesn’t mean you have to leave it like that. Cloud pruning and shaping your trees will bring amazing levels of interest to your garden. If you are worried about getting up a ladder then just call in the professionals and tell them your ideas.
The photos below show some examples of my various trees that I have shaped or cloud pruned to bring interest. Click on each photo for a larger view.
Chicken sex lessons.This section of the post could easily degenerate into smuttiness, so it will require everyone to be adult. It all started when Cruella said she thought her girls were growing up and they might have unmet needs. When I asked her what she meant she said she needed a “Cock”!. Putting aside the double entendres that the less educated of you may have reached for, she explained that her girls where no longer girls and where young woman with normal urges.
Anyway, it turns out that she was going to start a programme of sex lessons for her girls to gradually introduce them to the facts of life. Aware of her girls sheltered upbringing, she pointed out that they had never seen a male apart from me and Tango the lonely blind Labrador, he is neutered, and she has often expressed the wish that I was. She said she was going to start gradually and purchased a painting of a Cock – stop it! Using the painting of the Cock she has been holding a series of closed women only sessions in the Chicken coop where she is explaining the “facts of life” in chickenese to her girls. The photo of the Cock is shown below.
I have crept up and listened in a number of times, but obviously I don’t speak chickenese, but the clucks, pucks and shrieks, speak volumes. At the end of the 6th session which covered foreplay and the actual mating, a vote was taken. It turns out they have all voted against the Cockerel and have decided to remain “old maids”. Cruella is overjoyed and says it’s for the best as she feels that as well brought up young ladies her girls should not be sullied by brute male company. However, I have noticed her browsing “adopt a chick” on the internet. The photo below shows the end of the 6th session when all the chickens turned away in horror.
Spanish Garden 
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