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Posted: Wed Mar 16, 2011 7:40 pm
by GB_Groundworks
Viewed a job today house ringed on all sides by huge trees all super protected, house is called over tress lol. So everything is mossed over green or Alge.
I've was thinking of replacing the grass with artificial grass but it's expensive as it's big area 100m+ and not sure they let us dig around the tress and lay sharp sand anyway.
So any ideas on what plants grow well in shade or better ideas than mine photos to follow
Giles
Posted: Wed Mar 16, 2011 7:53 pm
by rab1
try Crocus for plants, they have a great web site etc. never bought from them but used their info before.
Posted: Wed Mar 16, 2011 8:17 pm
by lutonlagerlout
ferns grow well in shade
I have used this mob successfully in the past for rare or unusual trees and plants
LLL
Posted: Wed Mar 16, 2011 8:43 pm
by henpecked
Pablos your man :;):
Our house is the same, just spent the last week jetting off patio (same every spring) from green to mint fossil sandstone, also belt sanding down oak patios set that gets black mildew from trapped moisture. Will post a pick of the local traffic sign, looks like it was dragged up from the Titanic :laugh:
Posted: Wed Mar 16, 2011 9:05 pm
by GB_Groundworks
Posted: Wed Mar 16, 2011 9:46 pm
by Al Jardin
"So any ideas on what plants grow well in shade or better ideas than mine photos to follow?"
Helabores.
Cyclamen, snowdrops & bluebell bulbs.
Rhododendron if the soil is acidic do well as a secondary layer in woodlands.
Irrigation might help to counter the hungry & thirsty trees.
Al
Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2011 9:38 pm
by lutonlagerlout
very nice giles,lot of work gone into that
did you do all that with google sketch up?
cheers LLL 
Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2011 9:39 pm
by rab1
you know your client (have gut sense) but the fact they have not given you a budget etc I`d walk away as their only looking for ideas at your cost mate. I could be wrong but when anyone asks for a cost and then has know idea of what they want worries me. ???
Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2011 9:42 pm
by GB_Groundworks
yeah about 5 hours on sunday from a rough sketch inc dimensions i did on visit and some photos i took, better get some work out of it haha
i like the big rectangle with the argent in light and dark with the argent walling and some nice lights contemporary and a big job hehe
its my sisters mate, lives up the rd from our last big development its 1.4m house. all the ones i sent her are plastered in copyright notices
Edited By GB_Groundworks on 1300830257
Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2011 10:15 pm
by Pablo
Giles artificial Grass in shaded spots still goes very manky and moss still grows in it and because you can't clean it it'll be a right state in a few years. The areas are to large for planting alone so it'll need balancing with some Grass. If you choose a seed mix that is shade tolerant and tell them to cut it at the mowers highest setting it should be fine. Cut it to short and it'll die and moss Will grow. When i worked in London there were plenty of firms that supplied all kinds of turf for different aspects. You can still crown reduce and root prune a tree with a tpo you just need a surgeon to do a survey and talk to the planning office. Plant wise if it's dry shade then the only thing that'll live is aucuba japonica or something plastic. If you were to improve use soil with masses of manure then water retention Will be better and the Grass will thrive. Set about the neighbours trees that overhang to.
Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2011 10:23 pm
by GB_Groundworks
thanks pablo theres 400m+ so it was about 15k in artifical grass just for the material haha so ill priced a thorough re grade new soil and manure not a problem have a regular manure heap emptying every year for a few horse cutomers. i'll speak to our nursery bloke about planting, its south manchester so dry is not a word used a lot haha. any ideas on the mix for the seed if we lightly rotivate and top dress and re seed.
i'll get our tree guy on the case weve got experience with tpo inc winning in court with the chief arboralist coming up from london and siding with us over local tree officer and almost being arrested on one job hehe oops
the green side of things not my strong point but mum is the green fingered one so get her on the case,
Posted: Mon May 30, 2011 4:02 pm
by michael lowe
GB_Groundworks wrote:so there my design ideas for this house, its tough designing for some one who has no idea what they want lol or any budget indications
as it is now with naff block circle patio
existing front drive
with a light grey block like argent etc
walls replaces with rendered white walls to match house etc
possible extension of block but not a fan of extending the block as its badly laid
I like the rectangular patio, but not the material - with all those trees I'd choose a light coloured material, which will show off better under all that shade. As long as none of the trees are Taxus Bacata or Fagus Sylvatica which make a terrible mess. Our property is surrounded on almost all sides by evergreens and one huge Beech, so just moss, moss and more moss, surprisingly the northfacing part of the garden which has no trees shading it, has a small bit of lawn for the kids to play on. The comment about shade tolerant varieties is noteworthy, sadly I cannot remember the brand I have used very successfully in the past, but if you happen to be browsing the web and see photos of a lawn seed product it comes in white paperbags, and looks very posh - excellent stuff, will try to get back to you on this. As for the client - do they have kids because this will be another factor one should consider when choosing a lawn seed, though not the most important at the moment considering that there is barely a lawn at all anyway.
Another option is to forget lawn all together and create a woodland garden with bark mulch( you will need tons and tons of the stuff to get a good groundcover) If majority of the surrounding trees are an equal ratio of conifers to decid. then they will do the rest of the work for you in terms of mulching. Plants to consider - Buddleja davidii and globosa, Aucuba japonica, Hosta Halcyon, Ferns, Geranium in the south facing part of the garden, most varieties of Vinca, though stay away from variegated anything as unlikey to perform well in shady spot.Woodland anemone, Epemedium, Euphorbia sikkimensis (a good thug) and Euonymus europaeus. That'll be £185 in consultation fees thankyou very much!(he-he) hope this helps, Best of luck if you haven't already completed this job?!
Posted: Mon May 30, 2011 6:03 pm
by lutonlagerlout
welcome to the brew cabin morning glory
you seem to know a bit about plants?
tell us more
LLL ???
