Monday 3 April 2017

Spring is in the air....

It really is...we had a glorious day here yesterday...and one last weekend too. The weather is pretty sporadic at the minute but I'll take what I can get!!

So although we've had a few good days I haven't yet done any work on the allotment...I did manage to get a bee inspection done which was enlightening to say the least..and I've got some stuff done in the garden so I am feeling quite happy about that.

First..lets go to the garden.

So you all know about my package of bulbs and this spurred me into action in the garden...after all I had to find somewhere for them to go so I decided to go a little bit of re-vamping.

I decided to put them in the back flower bed along with lots of other plants which would come back or self seed yearly...this is what I have so far...

The start
So firstly I had to get the bed tidied up. It was a horrific mess with lots of weeds...a few plants but not many so once that was done I could really get to thinking. My garden, front and back, was kind of mismatched so I decided the best thing would be to move the plants from the front garden to fill this bed out nicely straight away and I could then think about my bulb placement.

The bed so far.
So this is what I now have. I really want a bit of a wild feel about it but I'm not very good at being haphazard in my planting but I will let nature take over from now on and self seed and see how it turns out. I'm quite pleased with it, all the plants came from the front garden and spread out quite nicely so all this cost me was a little time....hopefully in the summer I will have some nice colour...I think I do want to add a few more bits but I will look into that a bit later.

The front garden
The front garden though looking a little posh after it's first hair cut is now looking a little bare but this is where I am going to plant the annuals I sow every year..I'm hoping to be a little better at it than last year but also I won't be growing so many...and maybe a wider variety...just a packet of each to give a nice show.

Down the right hand side I am going to get a little lavender hedge going...I would like some heathers in too but I'm not sure how well they'd do here as the soil has quite a lot of clay and so holds the water...Anyone know of anything else I could plant that the bees would love be likes a wetter soil??

The Herb Patch
Whist I was at it I also gave the herb patch a bit of a tidy up. The bare part you can see between the green tubs will soon be full of mint again...I think at the end of the year I need to sort out the lavender here as it is very woody now with very little new growth...also the rosemary is going a little wild so I'm not sure if I should try and tame that up a little too. Should you cut back Rosemary??

So that's it in the 'sorting out of the flowerbeds'. Honestly I thought the post would be longer...it sure took me a long time to get the garden to this stage but it was time happily spent outside.

Oh, and sorry about the quality of the pictures...for some reason that right now I cannot fathom...I took them all from inside through the windows?!?!

11 comments:

  1. Everything looks so neat. My yard is kind of a mess

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    1. Unfortunately it never stays that way for long Ann...hence the cottage garden look for the back flowerbed!!

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  2. Can you add plenty of compost and grit to make the bed better for heathers? Lavender would appreciate that too

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    1. I'm not sure Sue....I tried this for a few years trying to improve the soil but it never seemed to have much effect come the following year. Where I intend to plant the lavender the soil is much better quality

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  3. I don't know why but the thing I noticed the most is the fence. I love a big wooden fence like that. There have been so many places I've lived where the city would only allow a small see through fence.

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    1. I too love my fence Ratty though at times it would be nice to maybe see a little further I ike the security...I also love painting it which is a ob for this summer!!

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  4. We've had some lovely weather just lately, the perfect opportunity to get out and do a bit of gardening. Both your gardens are looking very spick and span and those bulbs will produce a riot of colour when they bloom.

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    1. I'm hoping for great variety and colour this year Jo, I would like to have flowers for as long as possible throughout the year!!

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  5. My bees love Borage. Only problem is once you have it, it will grow all over your garden. Also you can eat the flowers they look lovely in a salad, The honey is very dark and strong o I have been told.

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    1. Borage is going to be one for the bee plot Ron..I have some seed and intend on getting it going this year...though I have so may plans I will just have to see how far I get!!

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  6. I am waiting for someone to answer you about cutting Rosemary back as mine looks decidedly tatty right now! Lovely and neat gardens you have there xxx

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