My Garden

Perhaps I should get the ball rolling by introducing my garden and share anything I think might be useful.

When we moved in three years ago we had fence to fence grass (not a lawn!) on a surface which sloped diagonally from the house top right to the garden's bottom left corner.  The difference in height being well over two feet.  We began with a huge level patio area so we could at least access the side path, dustbins and the rest of the garden without breaking our necks. We dug out a four foot border all round and I began planting.  I know the 'design' is utterly boring but I wanted something really simple to access and not too much area to actually garden as we are now at the retired stage of our lives.  That said the garden has had three planting plans in its three years.  Year one I planted trees and shrubs for least work. Year two, I couldn't be without flowers so out came the shrubs and in went perennials.  As I always want every plant I see I thought it was a great idea to work through the complete colour spectrum starting with the hot colours - reds, oranges, yellows and working my way through the four borders until I finished with the cool colours of pinks and blues and whites. By  year three I decided it looked like a complete mish-mash and it was changed to three borders of the cool colours and a veggie bed.  The hots have migrated to the front garden. It is now the garden's fourth Summer and other than stripping out the East facing bed in April and replanting it I think it might finally be settled and may even be allowed to grow. Him indoors did suggest I just cultivated triffids and be done with it.

During all this chopping and changing even the poor trees have moved position each year, with the exception of the potentially lovely Chinese Rowan which sat and sulked in the boggy end of my garden. The only part of the Rowan which grew was was the canker. This year I took it out and chucked it away!  Well actually I made labels for my veggie bed with it.   If anyone has any ideas for a small tree which doesn't mind its feet in a lot of water for a longish time each year please let me know. Willows are too large other than the Kilmarnock willow and that's too small. Like Goldilocks I'm looking for one that's just right.

Here's some bits and pieces which I hope might spark off some conversations.

We use strips of decking along the edges of the lawn so the strimmer doesn't hack the plants and I don't have to keep edging up the lawn.  It also allows me to build up the soil bit by bit to improve on the rubbish we seem to have.

The chimney pot is the sort that has two parts to it - the top section lifts off (if you have muscles like Desperate Dan).  To fill it I plant up a 12" pointed hanging basket which then just lowers inside the top.  I've fiddled about with all sorts of ways of planting this pot over the years and this is definitely the simplest and most successful.

Incidentally Home Bargains at the bottom of Brandlesholme Road, near B & Q had those baskets for just £1.99.  Bargain!  Check out their garden stuff.

I have two more chimneys which I've painted green but these have six holes around them so have to be planted through those as well as the top.  My other half, or labourer as he is known, cut three strips of wood to fit across a ledge inside the pot.  I then lined the space with a piece of  weed suppressing fabric making a rough shaped bag to put the compost in.  I cut holes in the fabric where the side holes of the pot are and poked plants through.  An easy way to do this (useful when planting hanging baskets too) is to wrap the plant (not the root) in some thin cardboard making a tube small enough to push the through the hole.  Take the tube off on the other side and, voilà, no damage done to the plant.  I took a risk on the May frost and planted them early.  The garden Gods were good to me and they survived. These pictures were taken 11th June so by now they are coming into their own. I'll post a picture in a couple of weeks when they come to fruition.

We also use decking strips to make the veggie boxes.  I wanted four raised boxes rather than a border because I thought the slope might make it difficult, plus I could add lashings of compost and improve the soil/builders rubble.  It has also turned out handy for crop rotation. The beans were terrific last year but there was a bit of a battle with the wind and six foot wigwams. This year I am trying dwarf runner, French and broad beans and petis pois; as yet I'm not impressed.  The small tripod is for three cucumbers. One box has permanent planting.  It has Timperly rhubarb and I plant herbs in part-buried pots to contain them.

And this is what it is all about!  Today's rhubarb pickings. This is my third harvest this year and there is enough here for three puddings for two people.  I washed and chopped and divided it into three.  Put two portions in the freezer and used the third for a crumble.  (Always make double the topping and freeze half of that too).  So whilst typing this I am replete with rhubarb crumble and cream.