New Year, New Gardens

A very happy New Year to all ... here's wishing everyone a fantastic year of frost for Rhubarb and to trigger Yellow Rattle meadow seeds, of spring showers, sunshine and autumn colour. 

2017 is going to be an exciting new chapter for me. I'm taking a big step to realise a dream I've had for many a year. From the 1st April 2017 I will be devoting full time hours to all my current lovely gardens as well as some gardens yet to be discovered ... bring it on.

Making progress in the kitchen garden ...

From plans ...

... to the lengthy task of removing turf ...

... that seemed to go on forever ...

... to recreating the space ...

The first two raised beds have been installed (albeit the dimensions have been modified to incorporate the raised bed kits), the rounded sleepers are in place for the fruit tree beds and the permeable membrane laid to control the weeds beneath the wood-chip paths means that this kitchen garden is now really starting to take shape. And new opportunities to fully utilise the space are presenting themselves. With the decrease in length of the raised and raspberry beds it enables the introduction of a low planter near the hedge to dedicate to strawberries and blueberries too.

Raspberry beds to edge with rounded sleepers yet to be bedded in, extra raised bed to be installed, wood-chip to be spread on the paths before the real fun begins ... planting the fruit trees, rhubarb crowns and raspberry canes. 

My summer in pictures ...

From meadows to festivals, fruit & veg to floribunda!

 

 

There are days when ...

... I am so grateful that I have a job that I love. Heaven is me in a garden, for sure. And with three adjoining gardens that I'm tending to I have enjoyed variations of a theme in the sunshine over the last few weeks. Who has an office with a view as beautiful as this? Me! :)

Monday Morning's Office

Monday Afternoon's Office

Tuesday's Office

Men & Sheds

Men need sheds ... apparently.

Last year a potting shed was installed in the garden, taking up a mass of space and it wasn't even for me to pot up my seedlings. It was for Chris to potter about in (",)

But this shed has created problems with the original design of the garden. I had not planned on a large shed in the centre of it for a start.

Two problems arose: firstly the original planned depth of the flower border opposite the shed would make the garden appear very straight and narrow if dug at the same depth from the fence the whole length of the garden, and secondly, the garden path disappeared slightly under the shed making it very narrow and difficult to get to the bottom of the garden, past the shed, without walking on the lawn (a very muddy option in the winter).

The path I will need to find a solution for later, my first priority is the flower border.

To prevent the optical illusion of a very long and narrow garden I decided to make the flower border narrower in the middle section, opposite the shed. In the middle of this section we planned to place a garden bench so that it was in amongst the flowers (although the unmissable view of the shed is not my idea of a focal point). However, this is the shadiest part of the garden in the heat of the midday sun (which can be too hot to sit out in on the patio) so a perfect spot to sit in the summer. Clematis montana 'Elizabeth' will be planted either side so that the fence behind the bench can be smothered in blooms filling the senses with the vanilla scent.

However, since ordering the obelisks for roses and clematis to climb, I have realised that the flower beds are too narrow to comfortably house them so that the plants are free to grow up it as well as the lavender hedge in front. There is just not enough space between the fence, obelisk and brick lawn edging that I laid last summer. It would just look cramped. So the design requires a rethink.

The solution: the garden bench section can remain narrow to break up the long straight line but the flower beds either side will become deeper so it really does feel like you are sitting in the thick of it. Basically the flower borders either side need to be the depth that I originally intended. The brick lawn edging will have to be shifted out and more of the lawn (just a small bit) will have to be removed. The obelisks should create interest and height and the plants will fill the borders creating a 3 dimensional depth that distracts the eye from the long narrow garden, I hope.

Well that's the plan now, anyway.  Move the lawn edging ... job for next week (",)

For every problem there is a solution ...

It is amazing how solutions present themselves. I'd never seen wire anchors that clamp to fence posts before but Chris, ever the engineer, was determined there must be something out there to provide support for climbing roses that did not require attachment to the fence panels. This was the main aim ... a solution that did not damage the new fence panels installed last year and enabled them to be maintained or replaced without disturbing the climbing plants.

So well done Chris. The wire anchors can be installed easily, attaching to the concrete posts leaving space between the wire and the fence panel for the plant to flourish.

Yay, the fence can be disguised, smothered with roses (",)

Mad Hatters Tea Party

I'm thinking, yet again, I should have planned ahead better. That I should've done this a week ago, perhaps even a year ago!!

I have decided, in honour of a big birthday, and everyone else's very merry Unbirthday, the most fitting way for me to celebrate would be to have a garden party. However, the last three years have been spent methodically removing every weed present, from bindweed, comfrey, borage, ivy, stinging nettles to Stinking Gladwyn, and stripping the garden down to its bare roots as it were. Reconstruction started last year.

I planted up two small shady borders with evergreen honeysuckle, cowslips, hostas, shuttlecock ferns and Alchemilla mollis. The Primulas were a complete disaster due to slugs and snails but everything else has returned this year looking bigger and greener. I have also added various plants to the patio border, dividing up the area with box balls, one area for a beautiful wisteria, another for a Magnolia and another section for Geranium 'Johnson's Blue' and Salvia nemorose 'Ostfriesland'. But the rest of the patio border has yet to be filled with Alliums and Agapanthus, with Lily of the Valley to cover any area of bare earth in any of the sections.

Then there is the long border. This runs the length of the garden from the patio border to the shady borders. Last year it was defined with brick edging. But it is totally empty apart from Rosa 'Rambling Rector', a garden bench, a rose arbour with Rosa 'Iceberg' and Rosa 'New Dawn' to climb it and the fences and an Acer. 

The rest needs to be filled. And there lies my problem.

Time and money have dictated that I will be flying by the seat of my pants to get the garden planted up ready for the garden party in just over three weekends time. The obelisks that I've ordered have a 21-28 day delivery time ... I ordered them 28 days from the party! Eeeek. This means that even if I get the plants for that area I cannot plant them until I receive the obelisks and have them in situ. And I think I need to shift brick edging where the border narrows to accommodate the desired obelisks and plants.

There lies the next problem ... last week a number of plants I wanted were available to order with 2-3 days delivery. Now many of the plants I want are 2-3 week delivery or NOT AVAILABLE!! When is the party ... in 3, yes 3, weeks time. I'll be planting by moonlight at this rate.

After this experience I will have a better understanding of the pressure Chelsea Flower Show exhibitors have of getting their gardens ready. However, unlike Chelsea, it will not look like a mature garden that has been there since the dawn of time. It will be more like Groundforce in my efforts as the planting will have room to grow.

Well the bulk of plants have been ordered. More roses and clematis to order online on Monday if not sourced locally over the weekend. Fingers crossed they arrive on time. Now to source the remaining plants ...