Stormy Weather

[salymap]

Lateralthinking1

I love trees, but at a distance from houses. Maybe the trees concerned have a shorter life span than others and could cause damage to homes in the near future.
My council planted trees on the verge, a few yards from houses in the 1930s. In the 1990s a large lime tree put its' roots under my house and also badly affected next door. It was an upsetting and expensive time for us, with walls pinned with monitors, bad cracks appearing, and as the council cut the tree down after a year or so I never qualified to have the house underpinned. It was repaired but signs of damage are still there.

[Lateralthinking1]

That sounds a terrible experience salymap.

One was very near a house. Two were about 30 feet. A row in next door's back garden was hacked back at about 40 feet as part of a landscape garden design - they actually thought that brown skeletons had artistic merit. Yesterday, I would say that it was about 50 feet away from my house in the garden above me and about 70 feet from their house.

Most of these incidentally aren't Leylandii but they do have a row in the above garden which separates theirs from mine and they are about 70 feet from them. I actually like them but I have a horrible feeling they are going to go next and I will have to put an ugly fence there.

(PS I was thinking of starting an ongoing general gardening thread but do you think this would be too off topic for Platform 3?)

Lat.

[salymap]

Lateralthinking1. We do go from topic to topic on Stormy Weather, do you think it might curb the birds, animals, trees, weather too much? It's up to you but I rather like the'mix'.:smiley

saly

[Lateralthinking1]

I will put any gardening thoughts on here then if that is ok. Thanks. These are the best months I think. I'm looking forward to my annual days out to the bluebell woods and the local rhododendron walk.

[greenilex]

I think on balance I prefer the harvest months (greedy pig).

[salymap]

I have happy memories of Wakehurst Place in Sussex for their rhododendrons and fields of bluebells in the area surrounding Guildford. I also loved Nymans,Sissinghurst and many others. A kind friend recently offered me a day out at one of the great gardens but my walking is not so hot these days and I know my limits.
I love hearing about it all though Lat, so let's hear about your outings.

[amateur51]

I have happy memories of Wakehurst Place in Sussex for their rhododendrons and fields of bluebells in the area surrounding Guildford. I also loved Nymans,Sissinghurst and many others. A kind friend recently offered me a day out at one of the great gardens but my walking is not so hot these days and I know my limits.
I love hearing about it all though Lat, so let's hear about your outings.

Sorry to hear that you're so restricted these days, salymap. Lots of Nat Trust places with gardens have wheelchairs for hire or free. My mother had osteop[orosis and tt was always below her dignity to make use of wheelchairs and I think she missed out on so much as a result.

What say you, saly?

We could organise a gang of foR3/Stormyweatherite pushers to propel you

[salymap]

Thanks am51 but my back pain means It would be agony for me. However, I've just found 'GreatGardensof Britain',a book with some lovely pics, and that's enough for me now. But [B]how kind[B]and you limping along with your dodgy knee.

[Lateralthinking1]

salymap - I hope you do manage to see some of them. I tend to go to Banstead woods for the bluebells and to Leith Hill for the rhododendrons. Both are a bit hilly though. I'm not sure where to recommend but I am sure there must be many places that are flatter in the South East. I will try to put my thinking cap on. - Lat.

[salymap]

Pleeeeease, I'm much happier at home now. I'm sure it would not be good for me but thanks a lot. Keep writing though.saly

[marthe]

I have happy memories of Wakehurst Place in Sussex for their rhododendrons and fields of bluebells in the area surrounding Guildford. I also loved Nymans,Sissinghurst and many others. A kind friend recently offered me a day out at one of the great gardens but my walking is not so hot these days and I know my limits.
I love hearing about it all though Lat, so let's hear about your outings.

Saly, did you know that there is a replica of Wakehurst Place here in Newport? It was built in the 1880s for James J. Van Alen and now belongs to Salve Regina University where it is used as as a student centre and classroom building. http://web.salve.edu/virtualtour/bui...wakehurst.html . Its carriage house is now a computer centre (my husband works there.) Though there are no blue bells and rhodos at this Wakehurst, there are very nice specimen trees (Weeping Beech, Fern Leaf Beech, Blue Atlas Cedar, various oaks etc. These trees are all around 125-130 years old dating to the original installation of the grounds. They are all carefully tended by groundskeepers. There is also a formal, sunken garden with roses and displays of seasonal plants. I was a mature student at SRU not too long ago and took classes at Wakehurst. Loved looking at the diamond-paned windows, plaster ceiling decoration, woodwork, and stained-glass windows...all designed by Charles Eamer Kempe in England!

[Serial_Apologist]

Hi fellow stormy westherites!

Well it's been a while since I was last in touch - and believe me, it's not been for want of trying - but something incomprehensible has taken charge of my computer, and it has taken me all day just to log on, let alone half an hour just to write this message. So you'll excuse me, I hope, if I'm away for the time being until I can get my computer whizz kid, who's not been at all well, to come and fix whatever the problem is.

My best wishes to all in the meantime - especially to Saly; so sorry to hear of your back problems. Anyone's free to email if they wish.

S-A

[salymap]

S-A and Marthe. lovely to hear from both of you. S-A,your computer must be a brother[or sister] ofmine which playes up all the time.Good luck with it. Thought you had run off with Euda at last.

Marthe, that's fascinating. Fancy ,another Wakehurst over there. I shall always remember the rhodos and other plants reflected in the big lakes, the huge trees and what looked like a large shrub or small tree growing out of one of the tall chimneys.

[Eudaimonia]

Hey Sal! I'm still here, and send my good wishes...just staying low-key and waiting for my own personal soap opera dramas to simmer down a little. Besides, it's probably a good idea to get back in the habit of not running my mouth about every little thing online in anticipation of this summer. I'll just save it for an email!

We could organise a gang of foR3/Stormyweatherite pushers to propel you

But ordinary chairs are so boring...don't you think Sal deserves a hand-carried Imperial Chinese sedan?
Here, let's hire this one for the afternoon--I'll take the front left!



Cheers! ~E.

[marthe]

Count me in as a bearer! I'll pair with you Euda and do the front right. Any one else? We need two volunteers for the back end! Don't be shy.

@ Saly, one day I'll visit the original Wakehurst. The grounds and lakes sound lovely. The Newport Wakehurst is crammed onto a 10-15 acre lot so no room for a lake. 20 years ago there was a round reflecting pool in which my children would sail toy boats and pretend to fish.The pool disappeared when the school built a library between the main house and the carriage house. I'm sorry to hear about your painful back and hope that you're feeling better soon. Maybe an excursion in Euda's sedan chair will do the trick.

@S-A, I hope your computer gets sorted out soon. Nothing worse than a malfunctioning computer. A local weather forecaster, the late Art Lake, referred to them as "dastardly computers" anytime there was a glitch in the forecast technolgy!