h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I had to look twice there, you've changed your name.
Your grandaughter must be excited at the thought of her own playground My two grandchildren were only allowed into my garden under supervision when they were younger, mainly because the yougest would walk accross flower beds and i'm sure he would have eventually fallen in the pond
They're alot older now and have mostly lost any interest in the garden. The eldest grandaughter still likes to wander the garden with me when she visits, she's always been a 'nannys' girl.
My garden is purely ornamental, with shrubs, trees and perennial flowers. I like to grow unusual plants when i can get hold of them. I have an area at the bottom of my garden thats been taken over by wild orchids, that is my pride and joy Every Spring before i do the first cut of the grass, i have to get on my hands and knees looking for new Bee Orchids. Last year i found 12 new ones. It's making this area difficult to mow, so now i've made alot of that area into wild flower meadow. I'm still reading up on the maintenance and planting of this excuse for a meadow, it'll be fun though.
Sorry to hear about your polytunnel, what a pain Did you have any seedlings in there? Will it be possible to repair it?
I like the idea of fruit trees in theory, but working in a garden centre i see the desease problems that alot of them get, especially apples.
Have you tried growing any exotic fruit trees, like apricot or kiwi?

She's only a baby at moment so I have some time ahead of me to get the garden and playground ready and get it safe for her.

Unusual Plants/Trees, I bought a Monkey Tree last year, had never actually seen one before but then I caught sight of one at a Nursery and thought I had to have it. Also got a couple of Red Acer Tree's which look really nice in autumn.

The Polly Tunnel was destroyed by the wind; all the metal bars just tore like paper in the wind, so looking at getting a stable one setup possibly later this year.

Have read up all about the disease problems with trees but a garden without tree's just doesn’t seem like a garden to me and I am a big fan of tree's, reminds me of my youth climbing trees at the bottom of the garden. Did think about apricot tree's but more at the moment looking at different apple and pear tree's, home made cider

So are you keeping the area as a wildlife patch? Would be nice, get some butterfly bushes in there and get a right little habitat going on. Wild flower bed does actually sound nice, what type of flowers/plants you got in there.

You grandaughter may only be a baby now, but next week she'll be a teenager!! I can't believe how quick my two are growing up, makes me feel bloomin ancient!
I have a monkey puzzle tree, it's getting a good size now. It was just a seedling when i bought it in 2002, now it's 4ft tall. They have some fantastic specimens at Kew, which really show them at thier best.
What a shame that the tunnel is beyond repair. I have seen alluminium greenhouses mangled after strong winds and rain....they don't make 'em like they used to eh!
A garden is'nt a garden without trees. I have three ornamental trees and room for one more. I want a Ginkho Biloba and have just the spot for it, whether i get one or not is a different matter they are very expensive.
How much would you like me to ramble on about how all my garden is done with wildlife in mind? It could take a while
As for the wild flower area i have planted Yellow Rattle as it is parasitic on grass, this will give the wild flowers more room to thrive. I've stuck to native species with Lady's bedstraw, crown vetch, lesser knapweed & corn marigold. There are other wild flowers that were there already like buttercup, self-heal, birds-foot trefoil and the orchids. It will be interesting to see how the area does.
If you want to, you can see my garden and some of the things i like to grow here <./>http://www.venus-garden.fotki.com</.> Its just a collection of some of my many hundreds of photos. There are a couple of my wild orchids too - Bee Orchid & Common-spotted orchid.
If you look on Your page, you will see i've started a new conversation titled 'psst over here!'. I think we should leave this one as we're not talking about terrapins now and it seems a bit rude to the author of 'Terrapins' to talk about other stuff.