Working in the Garden Part One

Since I have been home I have been working on and off in the garden trying to do a bit here and there and get the basics in hand in readiness for next year (needs doing whether here or not) so I am just going for it.

This is what I have started off with not a pretty sight.  Because it has been cold I was not able to get out and get stuck in earlier in the year the garden has ended up like a jungle again.

When it was warm enough for me and when I was able to move free of pain I ended up having a massive session of weeding so part of the issues above have already been addressed and solved although still have a way to go. 

The jungle was initially up to the rear of the shed.  However I have managed to remove a good quarter of the weeds etc by  hand weeding for a few hours on the trot.  It still needs digging over and there are lots of brambles which have self-seeded.  OH will have to help me get them out.  The part I have cleared currently houses all my planters  - some have to be put in position in the herb garden but there is further work going on there and then there are the ones for the patio area, the cutting garden and the Potager style garden.  I may not achieve quite what I set out to with the garden this year but at least it will be further on than it was last.

I am having a patio put down.  Some of the slabs have been purchased from friends at a very good price.  I may need more slabs but at least getting some of them at a real bargain basement price will help.  Some of the slabs have already arrived piecemeal and the rest are yet to follow.  I would like OH to get the patio down before he starts his fishing so that I can sit out in the garden and craft on the really nice days.  There is still a heck of a lot to do in this respect but slowly slowly catch a monkey as the saying goes.

I have also potted up three different types of clematis cannot remember the names as I lost the tags, a purple, a pinky lilac and a red; a honeysuckle, a passion fruit, a creeper that goes red - cannot remember the name at the moment but it does look spectacular.  Virginia Creeper that's the name, a couple of Ivies.  Two Williams pear trees and I have also re-potted my two fig trees.  There are also potted up four rhubarb plants and also about six dahlias.  I intend to have a small cutting garden near the greenhouse and also a Potager type garden at the end of the patio.  All the area before the greenhouse is what I intend to tackle in the coming weeks or so and the area behind later on.  I would like to get a fruit garden established again but that part of the jungle is going to need an awful lot of work.  However whilst I am home I am going to try and address this.  I do actually love gardening and being out in the fresh air.   It is very soothing. Like walking it helps me put things in perspective.

The shed is also at long last receiving a coat of sealant.  I have chosen the pretty Seagrass colourway and also intend to stain some wooden planters I already have. I also could do with some new patio furniture.  I was thinking picnic type benches and tables and then sanded and covered in the same Seagrass colour.  We will see what I can come across cheaply and within budget in due course.  I was not sure what the colour would turn out like but it is a perfect foil for some of the planters I already have and shows their colours off beautifully.

OH has also put in an external tap for me to water up the garden with, which is making my life a lot easier when it comes to doing the watering up and freeing up some time in order for me to do other things.  So that has been a result.

I also have Strawberry hanging baskets and Cherry Tomato hanging baskets as well as some of the mixed flower planters that I have made up myself.  OH has kindly put up the hanging brackets that I managed to obtain from the £ shop.  They have wild birds on them.  I will show those later on.

The herb garden has also been sorted out and planted up.  I have lots of mints, sage, thyme, etc.  Yet again photos to follow.

The growing frames have also received a coat of paint.  They were going a little rusty and losing their colour a bit and as the shed has been tarted up I thought that they deserved the same attention.

Still lots more to report on so will follow this up in another post.

Catch you soon.

Pattypan

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