Oh Helena I do feel for you. Don't worry it will look good when finished, things always look bad when the work starts

Sue

Thanks Sue, I think I'll keep my head down indoors until it's all finished!

If you plant a Eucalyptus Helen-keep it tamed cause it will grow into a monster if allowed.I have one in my garden which funnily enough need to remove cause its gotten too big at 1.5 times the height of my house in 7 years.

Your ideas sound really good and i look forward to seeing the end result!

It'll be gorgeous when it's done just like the rest of your house. It's just the mess in between that gets you downxxxx

That's interesting, thanks Steve, because now that the cherry tree has gone from down by the front gate, I really need to fill the gap on the right hand side in front of the fence with something b-i-g, so a eucalyptus might be my answer? Right next to it would be the horse chestnut tree which I'm keeping. I hear the black bamboo is pretty fast growing too, and pretty expensive at around £80 for one pot of it!!! I have shopped around though and they've got some special offers on at the moment for bamboo. The golden maple I want doesn't like full sun, so I'm pondering on where to put that one! I don't think I will know what I want and where until the turf is down quite honestly and the fencing's up.

I will post more piccies on the progress! If there is any!!!!!

..... and you know all about that too Jackie what with your building works!!! Yes, the initial bit is scarey, but the end result (I hope!) will be just what I have in mind!

I had a couple of landscapers in to give me a quote for what I wanted and both of them came out at around £10K!!! £10K??????!!!!!!!!! This chap is the guy who cuts my hedge, does a bit of fencing and did the car port and he's under half that price - that's what worries me a tad!!! On top of that, his little gofer who you can see with the scaffolding, is the son of an ex-boyfriend of mine!!!!

Most of the plants you've mentioned there Helen are what i have!

Black bamboo (dont ask me to quote its latin name please!) is a reasonbly fast grower,but is also a clump former so shouldnt outstay its welcome-i have a few of them! They like a bright spot with permanetly damp soil (not soaking wet) which is full of nutrients.Dig in plenty of manure,compost and leaf mould if you can get it to give it a head start cause they're greedy.Water the newly planted bamboos every few days copiuously in their first year until its ryzomes have spread out which often takes a year.Dont be too tidy around them either and clear away the naturally falled older leaves they drop because they contain silica which is a vital nutrient for them.Just gently fork over the soil and the worms will do the rest.Snipping the weak and thinner canes every spring will encourage it to grow 1" thick canes which start off green and slowly turn black over 18 months.

Cheapest way of getting multiple bamboos is to buy a large plant in a 10 litre pot for example and slice through the compost its in with a spade.They divide everso easily,but dont expect a garden centre to tell you that!

Exactly, I know how it turned out for us. It's just that mess in the middle that does your head in.
I'm sure he'll do a fine job as will his little gofer

Blimey Steve, you know just about everything about everything (sshhhh, I won't tell Sheree! ). You're just showing off though with those ryzomes!!!! I think where I want to put them sounds absolutely perfect going on what you've said, it's been a haven for creeping ivy and all other forms of rubbish plants, very damp and nutricious soil in that area I can tell you. It's also where I had that magnificent wild rhodedendron which has sadly been flattened with that digger I begged him to save it but he said it was all dead behind and manky so it had to go!!! I asked him if I could give it a hug before he took it, and he laughed his sox off when I did (he thinks I'm mad!!!) Anything grows in my garden, probably because I don't tend to it, it just fends for itself and grows wild out there! We'll see. Hopefully in a year when everything's growing it will look gorgeous. At the week-end, could you possibly post up a piccy of some of your garden areas please and I can see if there's anything else there that takes my fancy, it seems you have the same taste as me! I'll be along with the digger and lorry the following week-end!!!

lol-im passionate about my bamboos amongst others Helen and its experience which taught me all that!