The cacti gathering, originally uploaded by malyousif.

The weekend has officially started! I’ve taken some time off work this afternoon to come and spend some time in the garden, an activity I haven’t been able to partake in for almost a week - yes, I was suffering from withdrawal symptoms - and I have put the first phase of my plan already in motion.

I’ve relocated these lovely cacti from their erstwhile abode which has been taken over by Mr. Buddha, and potted them and gathered them in this location on the pool deck. I think they look rather fetching now, don’t you?

They were definitely lost in their previous location.

Have a wonderful weekend my friends, I know I plan to

English Border planting plan, originally uploaded by malyousif.

Movement! We have movement!

I’ve had a chance yesterday afternoon to bite the bullet and start planting. The final result is what you see above in the map, and if all that I have planted come through (and they should) this patch will look like a piece of Heaven!

I’ve chosen the plants based on colour, size and height. Other than the Calendula seedlings - which I grew in my make-shift nursery - which have been planted about a foot apart around the whole plot (see area 10), the remainder are all actually seeds which I have dispersed on the ground and then lightly covered with soil. I watered the whole plot with the mist setting on the watering gun in order not to let the seeds run from one area to another, or worse, just collect at the bottom of the hill. I’ve had that happen before! I hope that the drip lines won’t do that to them, they shouldn’t but I will keep an eye on the patch until the seedlings appear.

The plant distribution is as follows:

The "English Border" WIP, originally uploaded by malyousif.

I know. You must be asking yourself “where does he get these weird names from?” Questions which I can’t honestly answer in full as I name areas in my garden in order to think about them “off line” specifically without describing them as “the patch at the end of the garden by the pool by the outside wall.” I think you will agree that “The Frangipani patch” is better, especially if I did a good job in getting other people to adopt them too; particularly my household and gardener. See, there is method to my madness!

Welcome to the “English Border.” The picture above is how it looked after I carted 8 or 9 wheel-barrow-fulls of sand and I was about to mix in two big bags of cow manure. This process took the whole morning and it was - once again - heavy work. I can feel every muscle in my body and my back has been complaining too. Never mind, the end result should be quite beautiful.

Like I said yesterday, I got a couple of lovely cycases from my friend Rami. I planted one in this border after completion and the other in the Buddha Patch.

This is how it looks on completion:

I intend to get this border to have two faces; one to be viewed and enjoyed from the living room, while the other from the garden. So the plantings in it will be low-high-low and you will notice that the hill I created tapers off at the front and the back to allow for this effect.

As the border is small(ish) I will refrain from planting too many perennials and dedicate it instead to mostly annuals. The perennials in there already at both extremes are the lovely tacomaria which I got for my 43rd birthday (two years ago) and I’ve planted the cycas at the other end. I think I will put a bush in the middle as an anchor and will look for something that butterflies like. I might even move the Buddleja davidii my wife brought back from Scotland in this location! Now that’s a lovely idea… onto that tonight!

I was out for practically the whole day in the garden! I accomplished a lot considering I wasn’t working toward a deadline; it was see this, think about it, do it! Brilliant.

For (my) record, let me list what I have done:

1. Southern border extended:

To my surprise, one of my Cassia fistulas broke its tie to the cane (it’s a young plant of less than 2 years) and just collapsed on the ground! Needless to say the warning bells were ringing rather loudly. On investigation I found that the ground around it was not compact at all, it was very spongy and the roots were not penetrating deep into the ground, considering the age of the tree. It could be because of the zillions of ants I have around the garden (suggestions to eradicate them welcome) or even more probably it is because with the ready availability of water, it just didn’t bother rooting at all! That also explains the slow growth I have had with this one and its neighbour.

It’s strange that even after 3 years living in this house and being in the garden countless times, things just don’t hit you as awkward. I guess this is how experience is gained. I looked at the water sources around the tree and I found about 6 sprinklers in an area of about 8 - 10 square meters! One was directly behind the tree, another in front and yet another about a couple of feet to the side! So it was getting far too much water… It wasn’t a good idea to plant them in the middle of the lawn!

I decided the best thing to do is disconnect three sprinklers and move just one to be positioned in between the two Cassias; that would give them enough water to flourish and would water the lawn sufficiently enough - I hope.

So I created a wave:

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Oriental garden, originally uploaded by malyousif.

The plinth is built and Buddha is gracing it with his presence. I’m glad that this phase is over now, the basic construction and infrastructure. Now I can really concentrate on the plants and to bring it to life.

The observant amongst you would have noticed yet another name change to this patch! It is now officially “The Buddha Patch” which I think is much more appropriate and gives me a bit more flexibility as to the overall theme I want to adopt for this area of my garden. It will still be “oriental” in nature, but because of the unavailability of appropriate plants and material to that end in Bahrain, I shall strive to maintain at least the atmosphere of a Japanese/Oriental theme.

Any help/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

In-progress and overhead pictures after the break
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