A Garden Progress Update – May 2014

A while ago I posted about our garden and what we intended to do with it throughout the course of the year. Well thanks to my AMAZING Mum, progress has, indeed, been made! Here are a few snaps that highlight a few changes so far. There’s still a long way to go, but it’ s been tidied up no end and lots of crap has been pulled from the beds.

1. My Mum has painted our fugly (but oh so loved) outdoor utility room/shed a fresh shade of evergreen. I then painted the fence next to it the same shade a few weeks later. You can’t see this bit of the garden from our main kitchen doors, but you can from one of the kitchen windows and it’s not the prettiest view. Now this has been painted green to match the utility room, I can’t wait to add some trellis to either grow climbers up, or to hang some buckets/pots of flowers from the cheer this corner up.

Before…

…After!

2. This olive tree has been re-potted into a bigger pot. It was clinging on to life in its last, much smaller blue one (you could tell this by the fact its roots were just taking up the pot, there was barely any soil left! Whoops…). It now looks much happier and healthier and it will be interesting to see if it grows bigger now that it has more room to breathe. On a superficial note, the olive-carved design on the pot really compliments the tree! NB in the background of the below pic you can see two geraniums in pots that are thriving. HOW these survived winter with me looking after them I do not know, but they add a lovely shot of colour, to what is otherwise a bare bit of decking right now. I’m usually rubbish at caring for trees, but you can always get a bit of help and advice, and companies like http://www.placertreeservice.com/loomis/ can help you look after them successfully. 

3. The bed on the left hand side of the garden (facing away from the house) has been cleared of dead and/or woody plants and shrubs. I was sad to see a lavender bush go, but Mum said that it was really on its last legs and that we’d be better off starting afresh- which I want to do as I love lavender! Mum also moved some Forget-me-nots that were on the other side of the garden and drowning in a load of mint, to this bed, along with some Gladioli that were sprouting randomly in a couple of pots. The redcurrant bush needs a good prune, but we’ll leave this now until Autumn when the berries have fallen. The bed looks really fresh now and ready for some new plants, which I can wait to choose! We went to the garden centre yesterday in the rain to do a bit of plant recce, and I got thoroughly over-excited. I am OLD I tell you, OLD! Looking at the pictures below of the redcurrant bush, the ‘before’ picture being taken in March, and the ‘after’ taken in May, shows what can happen in the space of 2 months. Nature is Ker-razy!

Before…

….After!

4. One of the beds on the right-hand side of the garden was teaming with mint, which has now been dug out completely and a small bit saved and re-potted so it can’t spread like crazy. We also got rid of some ‘woody’ rosemary and thyme, and will buy fresh plants to grow in pots. Mum noticed that not one, but two, of our raspberry plants had started shooting, so once the mint was out, these were taken out of their existing pots and positioned in front of the fence in this spot (it gets a great mix of sun and shade). I’m praying these ‘take’, and I can’t wait for fresh, homegrown raspberries!

Before…

….After!

5. The rest of the beds past the newly planted raspberry plants were really overgrown, so Mum trimmed the bushes back and dug out the old plants. We need to get a chainsaw to this old yukka tree stump, to cut it down and destroy the roots, and until we’ve done this we don’t want to put fresh soil or plants down as it will take all the goodness it can. I’m still undecided as to what to grow here- flowers/shrubs or some veg. In the square bed next to the raspberries (you can see the kids gnomes peaking out, cheers, Val!) we’re definitely going to grow runner beans via a cane wigwam and bought some bean plants today to get cracking with. I think i’m veering towards flowers this year, and start some fruit and veg via pots in the meantime. We also got some tomato plants today, and these will be grown in pots.

6. The roses are really blooming now up the side of our garage and the bird box! We need to try and train them some way or other, but it’s not a priority right now.

7. The area where the old shed was is still the same, but with some exciting news for F & S- we ordered them THIS playhouse the other day, so this should arrive within the next week or so and will be erected (not by me, thank god) here!

8. Oh, and finally we took the fence down that sectioned off the decking! It has made the biggest difference to the garden and how it looks size-wise.

Before…

…After!

So that’s our garden progress in May!

Now it’s all about the actual design re where the plants are going to be placed, which again, I will be gratefully receiving my Mum’s help and advice with. I’ve got to admit, i’m surprised at how gradually hooked I’m getting on the idea gardening, I just need to brush up on my plant knowledge and actually find the time to do something myself!

Digging along with Annie & Co over at Mammasaurus Blog!