Saturday 19 February 2011

Rain, rockery remodeling, Rain, planting on the plot...and RAIN!!

Well it's certainly been a busy couple of days. I have a rockery in my garden which to be honest was just a hideous mess which I was ashamed of and I have wanting to be taking it apart and rebuild it for a while now so i decided that 2010 was definitely the year and I was going to get on and do it. So my plan was to start it on Friday. The Dave paid me a visit and said that he was going to Homebase and didn't I want to take a ride down to pick up some compost. Well because we don't have a car I jumped at the chance and decided that whilst I was there I could pick up some extra plants for the rockery which I was going to re-build.

So off I went....we got the compost and I got some lovely Alpines, primroses and pansies...I picked up enough to put in my strawberry planter as-well as the strawberries had died over the winter and I wasn't overly impressed with the amount I got from the planter so I figured it would make a lovely planter in the garden instead!

Anyway by the time we got back...had a bite to eat it was getting late but I was still intending to do the rockery...it was a cold damp day but there wasn't any rain. Then I got a phone call from green thumb to say they were going to come and scarify my lawn and so I had to wait a little longer.

As you can imagine it got quite late and I didn't want to start something I couldn't finish so I sorted out the strawberry planter and decided the rockery could wait just one more day!!


strawberry planter
So here is the planter...I forgot to take a before picture so just believe me when I tell you how much better it looks!!


So it was today that was the day to start the rockery...and what a beautiful day for it...not a sun in the sky...and not a dry bit of land in the garden...or the street...or anywhere really. In fact it had rained that much in the night there were huge puddles in the street and it was still pouring outside when I got up...as you can imagine...not the weather I really wanted to see today.


old rockery
This is my hideous rockery which I am ashamed to show you.. :-(

But I was determined not to be beaten...so I thought...I'll wait a while...the rain has got to at least ease off eventually.....and after a few hours it did. It was actually close to lunch than anything when I started but with the help of my son (no matter how reluctant) we soon got it pulled down and then there was no going back!!

As you can see there are plenty of plants on the top of the rockery and I didn't want to lose these so I dug them out and put them to one side to sort out what I was going to plant after I had finished.
Quite conveniently Dave popped in to let me know some allotment business so he was quickly enlisted to help too. This left my son as errand boy and he took the newly bought compost (of yesterday) up to the allotment for me and became tea boy!!

Well I had a general idea of how I wanted it to look on completion and with a little (OK...sometimes a LOT!) of guidance from Dave i managed to achieve the effect I was after and then got my new plants in...I also sorted out the old plants and split some and replanted them .
The garden was a complete shambles after we had finished and I had to wash all the forks and everything down, as well as six pairs of gardening gloves and the slabs...but I have to say I am soooooooooo pleased with my finished rockery!!

new rockery
Here it is in all it's glory...obviously it will look better as time goes by and the plants fill out...but what a difference!

Then to finish the day off I had quite a few plants which had spread so much I didn't want to put them all back on the rockery so these were sorted and I took them up to the allotment to go around the pond and at a little more greenery and life to it...again they will soon fill out...I also put in some sweet peas seeds.

pond plants
A little bit more greenery round the pond!

So although it was wet, cold, muddy and at times pretty gross I have had an enjoyable day outside..well basically just playing in the mud. I am happy that I am getting all these little bits done before the allotment gets really busy at it means after a busy day on the plot I can sit down in my garden, or round the pond...and be totally happy with things!! I just need to buy a couple of packets of wildflower seeds now for round the pond area and I'm set!

I also picked up some more broad beans yesterday as I lost quite a few plants to the extreme cold over the winter...didn't get those in today though...maybe tomorrow weather permitting....or in a day or two!

So how eventful has your weekend been??
Done anything fun??
I now have to start the ironing....have sympathy for me...sigh...

P.S.....I'm sure you've noticed how careful I was with the camera...you got to miss all the mess...but imagine as bad as can be...triple it...and you will have something near the mess I made of my garden!!


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7 comments:

  1. I didn't really know what a rockery was but I love your new tiered rockery. Very nicely done.

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  2. The planter looks really nice and WOW you did a great job on the rockery. It looks fantastic. Can't wait to see it when it's all filled in with plants

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  3. You had a busy weekend and things are looking great in your garden.
    My mom and I have started making plans for a huge garden. I can't wait!

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  4. Your rockery looks fab, definitely worth all the hard work. I did my ironing today after a sponsored dog walk this morning. No allotment visits for me this weekend, we had snow yesterday which has left plenty of mud today.

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  5. WE had snow again this weekend and it is still just so muddy that we stayed inside again!

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  6. The rockery does look better in the second picture, but I like it in the first one too. I love stuff like that, but I've never done it myself.

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  7. Glad you all like my new rockery...I have mad a little tweak since completion and moved the 'granny's bonnet' off the rockery to the side and replaced it with a 'dianthas(?)' as I was worried about the 'granny's bonnet' taking over again...where it is now it will be given a lot more freedom and hide the gap between the back of the rockery and the fence!!

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keep it clean...keep it relevant...I look forward to reading your comments!!