Summertime

Blimey, has it really been over a year since I blogged?

I was pregnant when the garden was being developed and I had dreadful morning sickness. Once everything was planted up, I had to take a step back and let it get on with itself for a while.

I did enjoy last summer with my little girl. She absolutely adored having the new garden and loves having a nice and safe place to play outside. Every day she runs out the backdoor and spends as long as the weather allows her to spend out there!

My son was born on New Year's Day so this year has been very busy and exciting. I loved being able to get back into gardening in spring, with my daughter helping where she could and my son snoozing nearby in his pram.

Watching how the garden grows and changes as each plant gets established and fades has been wonderful and I'm still learning a lot. I made many mistakes when I first planted it up, which I am happy to admit, but have had fun lifting and moving plants and adding new additions and seeing improvements. 

The sweetpeas I planted last year came to nothing and the same happened again this year, so I cut my losses (literally) and hacked down all of it and vowed never to bother again! This year, I bought the same tomato plant as I did last year, but this time I took care of it, fed it regularly  (which I didn't do last year) and I am thrilled to have much better results this time! Lots of healthy full green leaves and masses of clumps of gorgeous little green spheres, just waiting to ripen! Yum.The three strawberry plants continued to provide many lovely specimens last year and this year it threw out its runners (I've made seven new plants) and did nothing else. Roll on next year for the next crop!

Here's a look at how things have been changing.

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PATIO

27th April

15th June

1st August

8th April

15th June

12th August

     

My rubbish sweetpeas!

BACK BORDER

8th April

15th June

12th August

SIDE BORDER

8th April

14th April

26th April

15th June

12th August

      

9 weeks after planting

Well a couple of months have gone by since the garden was planted out. 

In the section in front of the shed, both delphiniums have died. Not surprising as they were mostly in shade. Also the fuchsia has only grown about 2 inches! Both clematis were full and blooming until the snails got to them and had a feast. One day they were both looking beautiful, the next they were stumpy and munched! Everything else seems to be doing ok.

In the long sunny side border, everything is coming along nicely. One of the Knautia Melton Pastels is covered in a white powdery sort of mildew, but it hasn't spread to the other one, nor anything else. It also hasn't stopped the plant growing and flowering so I've left it alone.

My sweetpeas in the pots are just starting to flower, but the ones along the netting haven't yet. 

The tomato plant has turned yellow! It has a few flowers, but nothing to get excited about. I had 2 courgettes growing nicely until they both just snapped and fell off whilst still small! I have put my disappointment aside as there are more starting to sprout! I have never grown veg before and have no idea what I am doing, so any sign of life is good for me!! 

Our strawberries have been doing well! Every day we have been able to pick and eat some and all bar about 3 have been delicious! Our daughter absolutely loves them, so we will definitely grow more of them next year. 

Here's how it's all looking.

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Plants are in!

Wow, what a busy few weeks it's been here! Once the builders had finished, I got out there, turned all that soil over and really dug in some good compost to get the ground ready. All the plants I had bought that were sitting over the road, were carried over and laid out according to my plans. Then I spent a good few, wonderful, exciting hours tenderly and happily planting each one into their new and eternal home.

Well, it turns out that 'eternal' actually meant 'temporary' for some! You know I told you that the back only got some sun? It doesn't. It's in total shade all day. So, up came all the ones that need full sun and they were moved to the side border. I now probably have far too many in the side now, but as cottage gardens are supposed to be full and bursting, it might be ok. I got all the books back out and got back on the internet again to choose some shade loving plants. I'm really gutted as I had a real picture in my head of what that area would look like, but it's just not going to work out that way. 

Plants I have in the shaded back bed;

Alchemilla Mollis x 2

Antirrhinum mixed x 24

Aquilegia vulgaris Winky Blue & White

Astilbe Pink x 2

Astilbe Red

Clematis Carnaby x 2

Delphinium Astolat

Delphinium Cherry Blossom x 2

Digitalis purpurea F1 Dalmation Rose x 2

Digitalis purpurea F1 Dalmation Peach

Dicentrea Spectabilis

Erysimum Muurbloem

Fuchsia Mrs Popple

Gypsophila Pacifica Pink

Hosta Brim Cup

Hosta Frances William

Hosta Twilight

Salvia Caradonna

I've also put in a few old floppy bluebell and white bluebell plants in the hope they take root and come up next year. Here's how all that looks: 

At the side, I now have (deep breath);

Allium Sphaerocephalon x 6

Aquilegia Biedermeier Group

Aquilegia Nora Barlow

Aquilegia Woodside Gold

Aster Little Pink Beauty x 2

Aster Snowsprite

Aubrieta Deep Purple

Aubrieta Magenta

Aubrieta Light Blue

Chives

Digitalis Camelot Rose

Digitalis Foxy

Digitalis purpurea Apricot

Diascia Aurora Apricot

Echinops Ritro x 3

Helenium Moorheim Beauty x 3

Hydrangea hortensis King George

Knautia Melton Pastels x 2

Nemesia Aromatica Scarlet

Nemesia Aromatica Sky Blue x 2

Nemesia sunsatia Blackberry x 2

Penstemon King George V

Penstemon Raven

Polemonium Caeruleum Alba

Potentilla Miss Willmott x 2

Salvia Wendy's Wish

Scabiosa Pincushion Blue

Sedum

Verbena Bonariensis 

Verbena Bonariensis Lollipop

Also have one or two unknown little plants that my sister gave me from her garden. Here's how that all looks; 

As my husband is a roofer, he had a number of chimney pots that had been collected over the years. I have used these as planters for petunias and snapdragons. I also have 2 lavender plants which my mother in law bought as a present. 

I bought 12 pots of sweetpeas. Each pot contained about 25 to 30 individual plants. There was a sign next to them at the nursery, which said 'do not split out, plant whole pot as one', but when I googled and YouTube'd sweetpea planting, most said I should thin them out and plant each one individually. Which meant, if this was correct, that I had up to 360 plants to find homes for!! Ha ha!! I've planted a load individually in 3 long low planters and have attached some netting against the fence, hoping for a nice wall of sweetpeas and have 2 standard pots with bamboo wigwams. The bamboo is pretty short, but I have longer ones if I need them. I still have 3 pots left, each with about 30 plants, that are kind of just sitting together in a bowl. Not sure where to put them. I think I should do another wigwam for these with the taller bamboo and plant the whole lot and see what happens!

I also have some vegetables! I've got 10 x lettuce Lollo Bionda which have grown quite well, a tomato plant 'gardeners delight', courgette plants x 2, and three strawberry plants 'Malwina, Elegance and Sweetheart' varieties. Oh and a large rosemary plant - have to have fresh rosemary and crushed garlic for my roast potatoes! Yummy! 

In front of the patio I have planted 7 box plants, in the hope these will grow over the years into a neat little hedge. 

Against the narrow wall next to the house, I have planted the roses. I have planted one of the 'blooming marvellous' and have given the other one to my mum. Next to it I planted 'pink perpetue' which was originally at the back and was dug up. The fourth one I'd bought, Dorothy Perkins, has also gone in, but I have a funny feeling that it's died as nothing has happened to it since it was bought weeks ago, yet all the others show signs of growth. 

We have also painted the back of the house cream. 

All in all, it's starting to come together and I can get a sense of what things could look like if they all grow and bloom as they should. I'm very impatient and want them all to grow right now please thank you very much, but I have to wait. Still, it's all very exciting!

Now we need to buy a table and chairs and a barbeque, and put up the bunting!

Starting to look like a garden!

It's starting to look like a garden!

The building work started pretty slowly, but they have now picked up the pace and got cracking with things. The patio is really taking shape. I'm pleased with the look of the bricks and how it's being finished. The turf was laid today and I can't believe how big the garden looks now! I imagined it all so much smaller in my head so I'm a happy bunny. The borders are sitting empty and I am just aching to get some compost turned in and to get planting! 

I've been drawing up different plans for the plants I've bought and even tried a drawing a coloured picture of what the end result will look like! I've concentrated on what the heights will be and how the plants will complement each other. What I didn't do, was think about their positions and how much sun they will get, which I think I may come to regret. It's a west-facing garden, so each part does get direct sunshine at some point of the day, but the side gets much more of it than the back. 

I've bought 4 climbing roses. The two which I will plant by the house are called 'Blooming Marvellous'. The tag shows it to be a rich pink colour, but I Googled the name and it says it's a deep red rose? Can you have different colours with the same name? I hope it's not red. Don't get me wrong, I do like a red rose, it's just that I want pink ones. Oh, I'll be gutted if it blooms red and I know I won't have the heart to dig it up once it gets going. But no point in worrying about it. Let's wait and see. At least the two I bought to grow up the shed at the back of the garden are both pink and these are the ones I will see more. They are Pink Perpetue and Dorothy Perkins. Ha ha! Dotty P - it had to be done! 

Day 4. No work done.

Day 5. New manhole covers are in place and the base for the patio is down.

Day 6. Patio starts.

Picking up the pace

Day 7 Patio is getting there and the garden is completely dug over.

Day 8

Day 9

Yay! 

Got the builders in

I'm pleased to say that I've got the builders in! They arrived at 8 o'clock sharp on Monday morning and work on the garden has begun! Horrah!

They are here to refit a soil pipe and build a patio area for me. They will also aerate the rest of the garden and lay some topsoil and turf. The planting and everything else will all be done by moi! 

I want an old cottage style garden so I've opted for old looking bricks for the patio rather than modern limestone rectangular slabs. 

Now that the supporting wall for the patio is done, I can really get a sense of what the finished size will be. It looks a lot bigger than I expected! We want to get a table and chairs and I think a 6 seater will actually fit nicely. 

There will be a step down to a new lawn and there will be 2 borders, which I aim to fill with typical cottage type plants, mostly perennials. 

The landscape work won't be finished until the weekend at the earliest, but I have already started shopping for plants this week! I know, I know, but I couldn't help myself as I am so excited! Thankfully my parents live opposite so all my new garden babies are sitting in their pots over the road, getting ready to move in.  

One or two of the plants were bought because they remind me of when I was little. For example, the hydrangea (I've chosen a young King George). We used to have one in the front garden and I remember laying on the grass next to it, in the warm sunshine during the summer holidays, fascinated by the huge round balls of tiny petals. I knew I had to buy one!

I loved being outside and helping mum and dad in the garden when I was little. Dad used to grow runner beans all along the side fence. I wish I could do the same, but I don't think ours gets enough sunshine. I'll have to make a point of checking this. He gave me and my sisters a little plot each to grow anything of our choice. I chose radishes of all things! I remember the excitement of planting the seeds and then seeing the first signs of green peeping through the soil. When they were ready I ate the first one as soon as I pulled it out, dirt and all. What satisfaction!

I want our daughter to experience all the joys of gardening too, just I did when I was growing up. She is  nearly 17 months old and loves being outside. She has a mini garden tool set and loves to scrap at the dirt and pass me stones, soil or worms! 

I'm so glad the garden plans are finally underway so we can enjoy the summer outside this year in a nice and safe place! 

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3