The Charming Nook

When the weather (very) briefly broke from a mixture of heavy downpours, cold snaps and brutal winds at the beginning of April 2024, the Mr and I planted some new hedging in what will eventually be a relaxed seating and lounging area of our garden.

It is an area that feels naturally more secluded from our neighbours because it is enveloped on three sides by our garage, the boundary fence and the retaining wall to the top area of our garden. It also gets a good amount of sunshine throughout the day and is protected from the worst of the winds.

This nook is raised off the ground by about 30cm with an old uneven patio and it used to have an old slightly rotten shed on it, which the Mr carefully took apart and I reconstructed into a sturdy mini tool shed in another area, with green roof and water collection.

Here is how the area looked when we moved in:

This area also gives a different view of the garden, because it looks onto the side of the curved staircase wall that takes you to the top of our garden. The stair case wall faces south and I think it would be perfect for training up a flowering and fragranced climber, to give the area a clear focal feature that you can admire and enjoy whilst you relax in this area. As you can see, the wall needs some maintenance and the wood of the staircase handrail is rotten and will need completely replacing before we think about planting.

For the hedging, we decided to pay more for mature hedging to give instant screening and privacy. We purchased the hedges from Hedges Direct Western Red Cedar Hedge | Thuja plicata | Hedges Direct. I chose western red cedar hedges for the site, since we do get some wind through this area, depending on what way the wind is blowing. From my own research, western red cedars are good at filtering wind, noise and smells. The foliage has a slight pineapple scent and is a lighter lime green colour, which ‘lifts’ this area nicely. I also thought that we needed some evergreen vertical structure to the area, since the area looks very sad in the Winter when the lace cap hydrangea loses all its leaves.

Here is the area after digging over the area before planting:

And here it is after planting:

As I like to do with my all garden beds, I mulched it generously with bark chips to suppress the weeds and retain moisture.

Some of you might be wondering why I called the hedges the ‘tree of life’ in the title of this post. Simply put, I love reading about myths and folklore relating to the plants I care for and grow, and learning about the western red cedar has been no exception.

According to Native American mythology, the red cedar tree was said to be so strong that a person could receive strength simply by resting against the tree. It is also known as the ‘tree of life’. Generally, it is highly regarded for its healing and spiritual powers. Was that the reason why I picked it? Of course not, but reading about the folklore sure is interesting to me 🙂 You can read more about the folklore here if you are interested: ‘Field Notes:’ The Power Of The Western Red Cedar | Montana Public Radio (mtpr.org)

On a more practical note, we planted the hedges with a generous gap behind to allow for us to trim them from behind and also to allow for any future maintenance for the boundary wall. I was wary not to give our neighbours the task of having to trim the hedges back when they mature and thicken out in the future if possible. I always prefer to think very carefully about planting hedges and trees near boundaries so as to not to create difficulties for ourselves or our neighbours. We get on very well with our neighbours, but you know what they say about good fences making good neighbours!

I intend to leave the hedges to grow slightly taller before they are trimmed on the top, as I want them to conceal the neighbouring gardens and create a backdrop with just the hedges layered with the trees and the church in the distance.

Well, that’s all for now. I am really happy with how the hedges have brightened up the area and disguised the unsightly boundary wall. We will at some point have to look at re-doing the wonky paving in this area, which is going to be a big job, but one thing at a time…