Monday 17 December 2012

The mess that is.......

My Polytunnel!

I'm fortunate enough to have a a rather large Polytunnel - 45ft x 14ft to be exact - and while it has helped me grow veggies and plants I would otherwise be unable to, the outside area kinda sucks if I'm being honest.
It's a mish mash of areas, some that were made before the polytunnel was even an idea and others since it's been erected and although each area does the job it was designed for none of them flow together and it's bugging me - big time!


polytunnel
Nothing doing here but I have plans afoot!






This bare land is going to have a Willow fence all the way round. I know Willow doesn't make the best of hedges but this area gets so boggy and I'm hoping the Willow will help a little - they'll thrive if nothing else! I'm also going to plant them in 2's and weave them into a diamond pattern to help with support so they don't just lean to the prevailing winds.
Something like this:-

Picture from Salix Willows Blogspot



The area will also then house a 3 bay compost bin that I'll be building myself and a cold frame that I'll also be making myself.   



polytunnel, veg growing
New recycled sleeper veg beds. These are extra deep as the ground was dug out about 1ft before filling in.


That area is harder to plan because it gets saturated and because it is smack next to a huge pond/mini lake the ground gets covered in Horsetail weed that is simply impossible to control. It wont be long before the stuff is coming up through those beds just as it is in the polytunnel beds - ruddy stuff.
I'm going to have to make some kind of raised walkway so that I can access the area in the winter without needing waders.



Other side of the polytunnel - bleh!


This is the other side of the Polytunnel and leads up to that bare patch of ground in the first photo. I've edged it with Hebe cuttings I took and once they're grown it will provide a lovely hedge, assuming of course they don't like it there too much and grow like triffids like their parent plant has!
This whole area is smothered in coarse Marsh grass and prickly gorse bush, there is very little real grass. Next year I will grass seed the area and hope the mowing will control the Marsh grass, the Gorse and maybe some of the Horsetail.




 

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