Tag Archives: bench

The Making of a Garden continued

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Just a quick wee update on my garden, below is the newly levelled bench/pergola. As you can see we’ve now got it standing on slabs and have added slate around them, after planting honeysuckle behind the bench and a clematis plant at either side. It should look good when they all start to grow over it, I’ve planted small plants like sedums and teeny violas in between the slate to brighten it up.

pergola /bench

Below is a close up of the corner to the left of the bench, the apples on the tree are growing well, I was a bit alarmed when loads of wee apples fell off a few weeks ago but apparently that is a natural self thinning process and should lead to fewer but bigger apples. I’ve planted dianthus, fuchsias, dogwood, lobelia, primula and various other things there too.

apple tree

Below is a raised vegetable box which was the only other thing in the garden when we moved here, apart from grass and the apple tree. It only had some scruffy looking strawberry plants in it, but I pepped it up, added a rosemary bush in the middle, a lot of shallots which are growing well, sowed parsnip seeds and Swiss chard too. Sadly the strawberries turned out to be the alpine ones and I had managed to bring a few of my old alpine strawberries with me from the old garden. Next year I’ll replace these ones with a big luscious variety. I’m not too keen on the wood surrounding this box so I’ve planted boxwood cuttings which I managed to bring with me. They should grow and cover the wood soon. I always have a few pots full of cuttings as I couldn’t resist bunging them into compost whenever I trimmed my box hedge which of course had to be left at the old garden.

veg box orig

Below is a photo of the veg box which Jack made recently. In the middle I’ve planted a tricolour sage plant, I have sown beetroot in a cross shape and added more shallots. The rest of the space has been sown with salad greens such as lamb’s lettuce and rocket and herbs like parsley and borage. I’ve used stones to separate the different plantings. Salad greens are so expensive at the supermarkets and they grow so easily so it’s a real saving if you have the space to grow them, and even if you don’t have a garden it’s worthwhile growing them in a tub or window box.
a veg box

The Making of a Garden

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13

apple tree

The photo above is of the apple blossom on the dwarf tree which was in our garden when we moved here, I took it a couple of weeks ago.

apple tree

And this is the tree now, if you look closely you can see some teeny apples on it, there’s a good crop coming actually but I’m not sure how long this tree will survive as the idiots who planted it staked it and had two tree ties around the trunk, top and bottom. Unfortunately they didn’t bother to loosen them as the tree grew with the result that the trunk bark has split between the two ties, I live in hope of it healing itself somehow, now that I have removed the ties completely.

garden 1

I’ve had requests for some more photos of my new garden as it’s being made. I’ve cut island beds into the grass, it looks a bit municipal park-ish at the moment but in the end the planted areas will probably almost join up. Although our house is newish I’m still going with the cottage garden style as I love plants and like to squeeze in as many as possible.

garden 2

garden 3

The grass is taking every opportunity it can to die anyway.

garden 6

The borders are very rough and ready, I’ve just been in a hurry to get things growing and I’ll tidy the edges eventually. I didn’t take photos of all the borders as a lot of the plants were in shade.

garden 5

As you can see I’ve made a division in the grass at the end of the utility/kitchen area and I’ve planted a wee Christmas tree, hebe, santolina and a couple of heucheras, but you can’t really see them in the shadow. Eventually it’ll be like two separate gardens. Please note my newly erected rotary clothes drier or whirly as I usually call them, it’s wonky of course, it seems to be a family tradition! There’s also a rectangular plastic tub, bought from IKEA and I intend to make a pond from it – copying Stefanie of So Many Books. I don’t want a big pond in this garden, just somewhere for the birds to hang out and have some fun. You can see a raised veggie bed in the distance too, there’s going to be a bigger one joining that one soon.

a pergola 1

Jack has been busy constructing the bench/pergola which we bought recently. I didn’t do much except hold bits of it firm while it was being screwed together. This would have been an impossible job without an electric drill and electric screwdriver as there were no pre-drilled holes.

a pergola 3

But we’re happy with the end result, we just have to get some slabs and slate to put underneath it as I don’t want the wood standing directly on the grass. Then I can plant the clematis plants and the honeysuckle which have been waiting to climb their way up the trellis. I might want to have some cushions on it if I’m going to be sitting reading for any length of time.

What was I reading I hear you say. Well I’m re-reading Jamaica Inn and it’s in an omnibus edition with Rebecca, My Cousin Rachel and Frenchman’s Creek, which is why it is such an awkward size. I’m doing a readalong with Joan of Planet Joan and I’m sure that when we’re finished and blog about it others will be very welcome to stick their tuppence worth in too!