The last couple of  years have seen some changes in the garden, not huge changes in themselves but they have impacted on the path. The insertion of a rose walk bed on the left and the widening of the sunny border on the right altered the shape of the grass and the path just looked odd. I was loath to suggest we move it, the alteration would be small but a lot of work. We are getting a bit old to be on our hands and knees relaying slabs and replacing turf but we decided to go ahead. The first photograph is the old route. Many men would blow a gasket at the suggestion of relaying a path just six inches or so to the right but my under gardener is wise. He knows I am usually right. It should have taken a few days but, as is becoming usual this cold spring, the weather intruded so it took almost a week of popping in and out when weather and work commitments allowed. We also increased the sitting area in the arbour so we can now walk past the table without muddying the grass in winter an...

  I think we might have made a mistake, a big one! On the sunny side of the garden the border we inherited was overgrown, ramshackle planting with no rhyme or reason. At the rear a very pushy elder tree entangled with a leggy veronica constantly moved in on the other planting. We have never really decided what to do with it. The only photograph I could find of it was the one above with me and the lovely lady, Anthea of Alex Lee Audio who narrates my books (available on Audible.) As you can see it was green and provided privacy but ... that's about it. Last year (see above) I decided to keep it jungly, and add some colour with Canna and dahlias but again the monster alder continued to elbow everything else out of the way. The fence (I use the term lightly) between us and next door was rotten and collapsing beneath the assault. To add to this, next door are not gardeners and we were besieged by encroaching  ivy and bramble  from their side. I am not getting any younger and ...

A couple of weeks ago we had a covering of snow and freezing temperatures. Then we had days of heavy rain. I thought Spring would never arrive yet quite suddenly, with no warning, it visited for just a few days. On Friday the lawn was still under a few inches of water in places, but we knew it was going to stay dry for a few days so we ordered in a ton of compost to mulch the borders. I cannot stress the importance of good soil. At our old garden we were lucky with rich loam and a plentiful supply of horse manure. Here, the soil is thin and sandy and bone dry in the summer. A good thick layer of mulch this time of year helps to trap in moisture, adds nutrients and gradually improves the structure of the soil. It was quite hard work. My trusty under gardener did the wheel barrowing while I weeded, forked the surface and spread the compost. Some people think mulch is unattractive and the surface is liable to dry out but the idea is to get your plants to grow so strongly the soil will not...

The paved area at the back of the house sits in deep shade for most of the morning and then blazing sunlight until dusk. I tried roses, cottage style pots but they didn't like it; the poor things wilted in the heat of the afternoon. The area looked stark and unfriendly with no planting at all so I decided, on a whim, to try more exotic things. I shouldn't really call it a jungle since some of the things I am growing there wouldn't survive in a jungle at all. It is a mix of small palms, bananas, bulbs, fuchsias, anything that enjoys or will tolerate unrelenting sun. I bought cheap palms and bananas from the garden centre department at the supermarket.  When I brought them home they were small plants but I was astonished at how quickly they grew. By the end of teh summer, the four inch high banana plants were taller than me! Since I am new to this style of gardening, I stuck to easy to grow varieties that would put up with growing in pots. Along side the more unfamiliar thing...

 As I promised on one of my other posts I've finally got around to updating you on my rose walk. The idea was inspired by my sister and I had the perfect place for it. A shady corner that we always just walked past. Now it is planted up with roses and clematis there will be a reason to stop and spend a few moments smelling the blooms ... and dead heading, of course. The first photo is the 'before' pic - the one below it, the 'after' pic. The roses you can see in the picture are  Rosa Banksiae Rosea (small pink rambler). Rambling Rosie (red in foreground). Snowgoose (small creamy white on right of seat) The red one near the seat is called JIve and just in the top corner of the last picture you can glimpse Kiftsgate. I've also planted Tottering By Gently pictured below which is great for bees and other pollinators. The generous gardener a (lovely pink climber not pictured) and Lady of Shallot (pictured below) which promises to be a show stopper. While we were at i...

 It is January and I am posting on the blog, hopefully I will keep it up this year. I've already begun the Spring tidy up and am hoping for as lovely a Spring and Summer as we had last year. 2020 was certainly a strange year but I confess I did enjoy being in the garden, no distractions, no pressing engagements. We made a lot of small changes, added numerous new clematis and roses and at the end of the season we extended the sunny border, made it deeper so we can plant even more. At the moment we are just raking up dead leaves, cutting back the spent stems from last year and uncovering the emrging bulbs. For me, Spring is always a time of hope and healing. My head is jaded after being inside for so long and I begin to grow into myself again, like a rather tatty flower. We should pace ourselves though because there are few projects left for us to do, we are running out of space and will only get bored if we finish all the jobs too soon. There is talk of another pergola near the hous...