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| Ooh, look! It's me! |
There's a garden bloggers meme running - for this weekend only! - hosted by Michelle at Veg Plotting blog. Come join us and check out what other garden bloggers are up to this weekend!
It might not look like much but progress was made in the middle garden yesterday. This is the little garden which I look out on from two floors up and which I started to clear last year. I've been taking my time as there was a lot of ivy and other stuff that needed to be got rid of (mostly on the occasional day off work) but, finally, I'm redoing the layout.
As with all garden design, it was important to get this step completed first before I could introduce new plants but over the last year, I've acquired lots of plants for this space - some bought, some given, some adopted from my mother's garden. These plants have been shuffled around the garden in their pots while I deal with one area or another but timing is now crucial. Spring is here and these plants need to be in the ground, so the layout has to be finished. Yesterday's task was to level off the soil where I'd dug out weeds, bricks and tree roots, hack back some more ivy and clear under the Euonymus (spindle) hedge ready to chop it back more. All done by 6pm, just as the light was fast fading.
Luckily, when I got in, I spotted Michelle's weekend meme #mygardenrightnow; photos were needed so, at 8 am this morning, before taking my garden waste to recycling in the rain, I snapped a (rare) quick pic of me in the garden.
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| 13 months ago - 7ft wide hedges and ivy creeping up to the tiny weed filled oval of gravel. |
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| What a difference a year makes! This morning (when the sun briefly reappeared from behind rain clouds) I'm still deciding whether to keep gravel in the centre or replace with grass or chippings. |
It's funny how we accumulate plants BEFORE their allotted space has been cleared... for months in my case! Thanks for taking part in #mygardenrightnow Caro, it's fun seeing this snapshot in time over the weekend. Now, to get into the garden before it rains... again
ReplyDeleteYour meme was inspired, Michelle and totally great that so many people took part - great fun discovering new blogs and tweeters! Plant buying is addictive when I see a plant that I love (last weekend it was cowslips and clematis) but I'm trying to resist. The next step will be fitting all these plants in so that it all looks intentional and planned - that will be a challenge! Cx
DeleteYou have made progress -=the layout is all the more important when looking from above.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad that I remembered to take photos all the way through and, yes, the aerial view does give great perspective - it's helpful to see the garden from different angles. I'll have to do a more detailed post as there have been many challenges along the way.
DeleteThat's looking really good. Must be nice to almost be ready for planting. Digging up bricks - yep, something I think every gardener has to do. Like a rite of passage!
ReplyDeleteThank you! I'm excited to see the garden in flower this summer as last year it was a dumping ground. Finding buried bricks was one thing (I vaguely remember a brick path bisecting the garden about 15 years ago) but there was also a sunken tree root like a telegraph pole that had to be got rid of! (Yep, it's gone now. I'm very determined!)
DeleteWow, you have been busy. It'll look lovely once you have your plants in situ. I'll look forward to seeing your progress. So nice to see a picture of you as well! CJ xx
ReplyDeleteI suspect that even when the plants are all in, I'll be tweaking the garden by adding more throughout the year! .. and I'll try harder to update as progress happens. Strangely, I didn't mind putting a selfie up on this occasion as I've now met so many bloggers for real that I'm getting used to the idea that people know what I look like! (Although here it's mostly hat as it was jolly chilly at 8a.m.!) C xx
DeleteIt's good to put a face to the name Caro :) You must have been pleased with the results of Saturday's hard graft. That space looks well prepared now for planting. I imagine that you will be excited at the thought of getting those plants into the ground. I would be tempted to stick with gravel or chippings as they don't grow unlike grass. Hope that the rain cleared today allowing you to crack on.
ReplyDeleteHard work but enormously satisfying no doubt. Lawns need too much attention is all I have to say.
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I've been staring down at piles of pea gravel, dips and troughs for weeks so, yes, to get the soil dug, weed free and level was immensely gratifying! I'm hesitating over laying more gravel as local kids tend to scatter it when they get into the garden. I had thought about fake grass (no mow! woohoo!) but it all looks like bright green carpet which is not what I had in mind at all! The rain came and went, one minute sun, the next downpour, but at least there was a rainbow at one point! xx
Delete@backlanenotebook. Wise words, Sue - I'm hearing you on the lawns!
Deletewhat a difference, it looks so much better! You have been working so hard, but soon you will see the results of all your hard work when the plants start flowering. I would keep the gravel or chippings otherwise you will be forever cutting the grass! Nice to put a face to your name Caro!
ReplyDeleteAh, everyone's voting for gravel not grass and I'd hoped for somewhere soft to sit this summer. On the plus side, I can always put pots on the gravel if I overrun (again!). It's a strange feeling to put a photo of myself up - I've been thinking that I need a haircut ever since! (Thank goodness for forgiving hats!)
DeleteLooking good, Caro! I'm impressed with your soil. I agree with Anna about the lawn - then again, I don't like mowing!
ReplyDeleteI'm also impressed with the soil, Sarah! It's the result of being left alone for years with leaves mulching themselves and ivy keeping it all covered - and I found a pile of almost rotted home compost under the ivy, so that got dug in as well. Jury's still out on the lawn, but I'm unconvinced as to gravel.
DeleteGood post and pictures. Well done you're certainly making good steady progress, and it'll be interesting to see it when finished and flowering. Flighty xx
ReplyDeleteIt's a big job and there's just me working on this garden so steady progress is the way to go. You and I will both be interested to see it finished, Flighty! Cx
DeleteThat is real progress! I really like what you've done with the design too. I'd echo Anna's thoughts about the grass. Or maybe I'm just getting old and low maintenance is always the first choice option! Ivy is dreadful stuff. It can run for miles.
ReplyDeleteWise advice about the grass, Jessica. I'll have a constant battle with the ivy without having to mow grass as well. The ivy growing up the lime trees gets a reprieve as a) it looks pretty and b) there are birds nesting in it - robins for sure but also coal tits and sparrows. I even saw a blackbird poking around yesterday, I hope he wasn't nest raiding!
DeleteGosh...progress indeed! Love those pics of you...who knew you were 12!!!xxx
ReplyDeleteHaahaaa! Thanks, Dina, and for the compliments - I don't know about 12 but I'd happily settle for being 22 or 32 again. :o) xx
DeleteNice to see you... and loving the garden - gorgeous semi-circle and the seat in particular.. I'm particularly impartial to a seat in the sun in a lovely private space. Nice to see the before and the after, oh for some warm and sunny weather to get out there some more! x
ReplyDeleteI agree, it does look nice split in two but the semi-circle will become a full circle when it's finished - the gravel half is the remnant of the original oval from the garden's previous look. I'm unsure where to site the bench, in the summer the right side in the photo gets a lot of sun so I think the bench may be placed to take advantage of some shade - fingers crossed we get sun this summer! x
DeleteThat is amazing how different it looks! It was lovely to see you too, it's nice to put a face to a name and blog! Sarah x
ReplyDeleteThanks Sarah! The two garden photos together are quite an eye opener, aren't they! It's been good to show it off a little as part of this hashtag meme. It was a bold move to include my photo (I never look like me in photos, but this one isn't too bad) but needed as part of the meme :o) x
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