Through the garden gate--February

February started badly, when I went flat on my back on the wet lawn sustaining a fractured ankle . I was on my way down to the bird table with a pot full of seed. The seed ended up all over the lawn and my husband reported that a flock of starlings descended shortly afterwards to consume it all. I do wonder if they missed any and if we will be seeing sunflowers and other things growing out of the lawn later on in the year.

Well, a few weeks later after much rest, ice, painkillers and physio I am now getting about, pottering around the garden. The physio continues, the rest and painkillers are still needed after I've overdone things. I've been told it could be a couple of months before my ankle is fully healed.  But when the sun shines as it has done in the last week, I have to be outside. As therapy we have been out to the garden centre and I have bought pots of bulbs. Quite gingerly I have found that I can kneel down on my kneeler which has handles to hoist me up again. So I have planted spring bulbs and Hellebores. This is a new garden for us and one which didn't have much in it before. So I am trying to bring in some spring colour.

A box of goodies from the garden centre

In the front garden last year I cleared a space under a Weigela shrub, cutting back some of the branches to raise the canopy. This month I planted  crocus and tete a tete daffodils under its canopy. In the back garden I planted snowdrops, crocus, daffodils and hellebores in a new shrub border which we  made in January. It's lovely to see the spots of colour starting to appear. 

Spring bulbs poking through the snow under the Weigela

 Digging I definitely can't do at the moment, so Richard has done some digging out and planting up of bigger things which needed a spade. There is a large border at the side of the house which had a clump of very well established Crocosmia, yellow irises and bluebells. I dug as much of these out as I could in the autumn.  Crocosmia and irises are difficult to get rid of once they get too established and they are not my favourite plants.  Bluebells can take over a space too if allowed. They are better in the wild or in a woodland garden. As I wanted to give this bed a new look, they had to go. I brought  a Sarcococca ( sweet box) from my old garden. It had been in a pot for a few years. This was planted in the new border by the path where hopefully we will get the scent of it as we pass by. It has looked much happier since it has been planted in the bed. At the other end of the bed Richard planted a Brachyglottis.  This plant used to go by the name of Senecio. Why do they keep changing plant names I wonder? I like to grow this plant for the silver/grey foliage which I find useful for flower arranging. In the centre of the bed is a yellow Potentilla which has always been there. This is quite a good sized border and I'm looking forward to adding some perennial plants in the next few months. It gets quite a bit of sun from early morning to midday. I want to plant up some cottage garden plants which will tumble over onto the path.

The snow arrived this week, so no more gardening for a while. I was going to take some photographs of our planting work, but now the garden is covered in snow. I hope it will soon be gone and we can enjoy all that spring colour. I hope too that I will soon be able to get back to gardening properly with a fully healed ankle. In the meantime all I can offer in photographs is that of a snowy garden and a box of the spring plants before they got planted.

I am linking this post to Sarah's blog at 'Down by the Sea' for her monthly 'Through the Garden Gate' post

Our new garden project 3--raised beds and a seating area

We continued working on our new garden throughout the summer last year. After digging out borders down one side and along the bottom of the garden, we then turned our attention to the other side. 

One of the features I wanted in the garden was a seating area where we could put our little table and chairs. I wanted it to be a secluded area with flowers, trees and shrubs surrounding it. We decided early on in our plans that the best place for this would be on the far side. It was away from the house and faced south west and got the last of the sunshine in the evening as well as sunshine for most of the day. On this side of the garden the lawn was quite bumpy and uneven as well as being waterlogged. On a recent visit to RHS garden Harlow Carr we had seen how they had built a raised seating area with wooden sleepers and gravel and thought we could use this idea in our garden. 

First, Richard decided to investigate some of the bumps in the lawn and managed to unearth what was once a large,curved,  brick edged flower bed. We couldn't understand why it had been grassed over, perhaps a previous owner didn't like gardening? We were planning to put a flower border in this area and wondered if we should keep it as it was. It was a ready made border after all, but the more we looked at it the more we thought it wasn't very attractive looking. It would have to go.

old beds found under lawn

Because of the slope of the lawn and the drainage problems the new seating area was going to be raised up slightly with wooden sleepers to level it out and keep it dry. When we discovered the brick edged bed we decided we would still have a flower bed there but instead of the brick edge we would have it raised up with the wooden sleepers and make it bigger. This would then be at a higher level than the seating area to cope with the slope of the lawn and would look better. 

Plenty of bricks

A lot of work followed, digging out the beds. There were a lot of bricks in there, we thought we would never get to the end of all them. They are now piled up in another part of the garden,  I'm sure we'll find a use for them. A base for the shed perhaps?

setting out the timbers

Lots of digging work

Once the beds had been dug over and all the bricks, stones and weeds removed, we incorporated  topsoil and mushroom compost to help improve the soil. The timbers were then put in place.

Adding the topsoil

The raised beds looked lovely with the new soil and compost mixture and I was longing to get planting. Not yet though. It was going to be quite a decent sized flower bed so in the meantime I thought a lot about what could go in there.

muddy work

work progressing

As work progressed I did wonder at times if it would look right. I'm not used to straight lines in the garden, we've always had curves.  But there was no need to worry, once it was finished it looked great. The seating area was finished off with slate clippings.

Planting up the new beds would come later, but we now had somewhere to sit.  We loved this little seating area and throughout the summer and into the autumn we would sit there, even on cooler days wrapped up in coats! Well, having put so much work into building it we had to use it.

It's now a lovely place to sit with a drink, coffee, tea, wine, whatever--a place to take a break from gardening, relax, watch the birds, or plan the next phase of our garden.

Clean up time

A TV weather presenter recently referred to the weather we are having at the moment as 'yo-yo weather'. I think that's a good description, up and down, rain for a few days, then a dry day. If you're a fine weather gardener then I suppose you just sit back with a good book and wait for the spring. But there's lots to be done in our garden and down the allotment, so on fine days I rush outside to get a few jobs done.

We managed to get to the allotment twice last week. The paths were slippy with mud and moss and there was water running out of the gate. The lane outside the plot was really muddy. I was glad that we had finished manuring all the beds so there was no need to disturb them. Richard started work on mending the two of the compost bins which were broken and I set to cleaning out the little greenhouse. I had cleaned out the big greenhouse in the autumn, but the other one still had the dead remains of the chillies, peppers and cucumbers. Once they had been got rid of the greenhouse got a good sweep and scrub down with disinfectant. It's always a good feeling to see the greenhouse spotlessly clean ready for the new growing season.

I am a lists person and my allotment journal always has a current list of jobs which need doing. I was pleased to be able to cross cleaning the greenhouse off the list. The problem with lists though is that you never get to end of them because there are always more jobs to be added. And as we sat having our lunch at the table under the tree I noticed that the cold frames needed cleaning too. Another job to add to my list. A gardener's work is never done!  Also as I sat there I spotted a flash of blue peeping out from the debris under the tree and there was a little iris reticulata in flower. A sign of hope that Spring is not far away.

A sunny start to the new year

January is a rather dreary, dark, and depressive month and I often feel that way myself. We hadn't been to the allotment since November and I hadn't felt inclined to do so, but motivated by a few sunny days, we got down to the plot to start work.

Not having been there since November meant there were quite a lot of jobs to be done. It was quite cold so we took soup and hot drinks to keep us going. I set to work weeding beds whilst Richard followed on topping the beds with manure. It looked much better once we'd finished--all covered up and snug for the winter. The leeks are not looking very big yet, they might need a boost of chicken manure pellets which I usually do at this time of year. I was pleased to see the garlic which I planted in November is coming through now.

My next job was to clear some weeds and cut back the dead comfrey leaves growing under the hedge. Once I'd cleared these I was pleased to see daffodils shoots coming through.

Another job which needed doing was to clean out the shed. This was a job I had been putting off as it had got quite untidy and dusty over the summer and I know that there are some really big spiders which live in the shed. But first I had to sort out the onions which were being stored in there and taking up a lot of space. I decided it would be better and more convenient to store them at home in the garage. There's nothing worse than running out of onions at home just as I'm preparing a meal. So I trimmed the onions and put them in net bags ready to take home.

It was hard work cleaning the shed but it looked much better once I'd finished. It had a lovely fresh disinfectant smell too. I only found a couple of spiders which I swept outside, but they always seem to find their way back in even though there is a step.

I filled up the bird feeders which hang from the conifer hedge. This  hadn't been done for weeks and within minutes of me filling them and putting  them back, the sparrows and blue tits were there pecking away. We sat watching them whilst we warmed up with our soup.

In the last week the weather has turned cold, wet and snowy, so I was glad we managed to get the jobs done. We never know when the next spell of fine weather will be.

End of the year on the allotment

December is the month when there are very few visits to the allotment. We go to pick  a cabbage or some leeks if they are ready and to cut some greenery for my Christmas door wreaths.

Everything is quieter and the pace is slower. There is no rush to get seeds sown and plants in the ground or weeding done. The leaves are now all fallen from the sycamore tree, we have swept them up and put them in the leaf bin. There is a lot of mud and water about because of the heavy rains, so not a good idea to work on the soil. On our few visits to the allotment we always feel it looks really sad, dark and gloomy.

 We have been so busy at home during the last 6 months, making a new garden, doing work on the house so our visits to the allotment haven't been as frequent as usual. It's not looking too bad though. On the last few visits we cleared away all the veg which was finished, weeded and spread a layer of manure on the surface and  planted the garlic. There is still some tidying up and weeding to be done, more compost or manure to put on the beds, the shed and little greenhouse both need cleaning out but I feel we have got most of the important things done for the time being.

I love this time of year on the allotment.  I love the clearing up process and putting the beds to rest for the winter.  There's a sense of slowing down and resting, but at the same time looking ahead to next year and planning. I have a few plans in my head and over the winter I will set them down on paper. I will be thinking about what to grow next year and any jobs which need doing. Mistakes may have been made, but I will try again or do something different.

The seasons come and go and now it's the season to slow down. The allotment will come back to life and will soon look fresh and green again.

Wishing all my followers a peaceful and happy New Year. If you are a gardener I wish you also a productive and bug free New Year.

Through the garden gate--November

If you've been following my blog posts about our new garden project you will know how we are struggling with wet clay soil. There has been quite a lot of rain in November and the garden is now very squelchy. Squelchy is a word I use often to describe our garden. The garden is a bit drab looking too as we haven't got many plants in yet. So not much colour about now in November.

The front garden looks better though.  The weigela  took on some lovely colours before its  leaves started to fall, and the hydrangea by the front door still has dark red flower heads just starting to go brown now. I'm hoping I'll be able to use some for Christmas flower arrangements.

This week I heard a lot of noise coming from a massive chaenomelese by the front gate and spotted lots of sparrows in there. This made me realise that  my bird feeding area is focused on the back garden, so I shall have to start putting food out in the front too.

Because there's not much colour in the back garden, I planted up a couple of tubs for autumn and winter colour.  I used cyclamen, trailing ivy, skimmia and a silvery leaved plant--I've no idea what it is but it looks good.

I've also been planting bulb pots with tete a tete, crocus, puschkinia and chionodoxa, so there should be a colourful display in the spring.

Thank you to Sarah at  Down by the Sea for hosting this monthly Through the Garden Gate post

Our new garden project 2--making plans

Over the last few months since we started working on our new garden, I've spent ages pouring over garden magazines and books on garden design. Although we knew some of the features we wanted in the garden, how to put them all together was difficult. The books said make a plan before you do anything else, so we measured the garden and made an outline plan of the shape.

Having assessed the soil and shape of the garden we knew we had a few problem areas. Clay soil, waterlogging and a sloping plot were not going to to be easy to deal with.  We thought we could see signs that there had once been borders around the perimeter of the plot because of the change in the grass and weeds. There were also some big bumps on the right hand side, an old rockery maybe?

A few weeks after we had moved in to the house, our daughter Sarah came up to visit for a weekend and was full of enthusiasm for getting started on the garden. So Sarah and our other daughter, Helen set to work digging out a border down the right hand side of the garden.  Sarah also drew up a garden design plan.  As I still hadn't done a plan of my own, I found this really helpful to form a picture in my mind as to how it could look. The soil on this side of the plot is easier to work as it doesn't have the drainage problems as that on the other side of the garden.

When Sarah had gone home I continued digging but once I reached the bottom end of the plot I encountered stones, lots of them. It was impossible to dig so I left it for a while.

We then started on the bottom of the garden digging out a bed along the fence. The soil here was really bad and filled with water whenever it rained. We bought grit, topsoil and farmyard manure to try to improve the drainage and soil structure.

I had brought a lot of plants from our old garden and I started to set them out along the newly dug out borders. I decided not to plant up yet as I kept changing my mind on where to put them. It did at least make the garden look a bit more colourful.

As Richard started digging along the bottom of the plot he reached that bottom corner with the stony area and we both decided that this was an impossible area to dig and we needed to make it into a feature of some sort. We decided to put some paving slabs down. First the area was levelled then a membrane was put down. This was topped with some gravel, then the paving slabs were put in place. We weren't sure at the time what we would put on this paved corner, but it looked quite good.

It has now become a bird feeding area. We bought a bird table, the bird bath and  a few potted plant arrangements have been put in place and it looks quite good. The birds like it.  At first we had a couple of magpies, later we spotted blue tits, a couple of sparrows and a blackbird. We now have starlings and a robin. The squirrel likes it too.

Our plans are flexible as we encounter problems, but we are progressing.