The garden today

Lots of rain over the last couple of weeks but lots of sunshine yesterday and today.

Put some nematodes down in the garden last weekend to try anad get rid of the slugs. One of the four new plants i bought in the hot bed has taken (the other 3 eaten) but didn't write down what they were each called. durrrr.

Raised veg bed

This is our bank holiday project which we managed between the rain showers..

May bank holiday weekend

Well so far this weekend it has mainly rained.

A few flowers have broken out on the clematis but it needs a sunny day.

Lots of jobs to do in the garden have not been done.

photos from today

After no rain for days, it did rain today and some of the tulips lost their petals.

The "hot" bed

plugged some holes

The garden is working really well as a spring garden but there are going to be a few holes when it gets to summer, especially in the"hot bed". Yesterday I bought some more plants for that bed. I just got 1 of each to see what works and is slug resistant. If any of them do well I'll get some more (or divide!). I got:
Tanacetum Robinsons red
Helenium red
Helenium yellow
Geum mrs j bradshaw
and some geriumns to plant when the tulips are over.
I also moved two of the dogwoods from the back of the "woodland" bed to this bed
And put in a grass.

The cottage bed needs a bit of a tidy up. There are a few penstemom cuttings that I took last year that need planting. There doesn't seem to be any sign of the foxgloves, lupins or ?? other things I planted a couple of years ago. And a couple of the bushes look a bit dead but i don't want to disturb the bed when the tulips and forget me knots look so good.

I also got a few more heuchera for the bed by joes. I need to divide the ones I got but wasn't sure how. the man at the nursery told me to look and see if they have formed new clumps but that I should have done it in early spring. I looked when i got home and most have 3 or 4 clumps so if i get a chance I might try dividing a couple even if it is a little late.

I bought another Cordyline as the one I've got has done so well in 2 years. It was destined for joes bed again but i think I'll put it in the cottage bed to give it a bit of structure.

I cleared up the "woodland" bed at the end and water heavily. Some bark coming in a couple of weeks to mulch that bed and I'll put he leaf mould I've been making over last couple of years down first. I've also got a very big wood pile that needs burning. The compost bins are over flowing but some of that should go in to the new veg bed that we plan to make next weekend. Thats the big project for now.

The day the planes stopped

Volcanic ash has grounded all planes in the UK for the last couple of days. We've had beautiful sunny skies though and today the weather was lovely. My tulips look amazing. i didn't really get to appreciate them last year as it rained about a day after they came out and the petals fell off. But check out these beauties.

The garden got its first mow yesterday as well.

its tulip time

we've had a cold few rainy days but the sun is out today and so are the tulips...

Daffodils came out Tuesday

Its been even longer....

Well I didn't manage to post much last year (I wonder why?!). Z and I spent a few days in the garden in summer but not as much as I thought. I did a bit of tidying up at the end of the year but not much. It has been a long cold snowey winter. Today was the first day that I've been out in the garden. Its been 11 degrees and sunny today but its been below 5 degrees for most of the year so far. All the bulbs are much further behind this year than last year.

I did lots of tyding up today but not got any photos yet. The snowdrops are out and some crocuses literly came out as I was in the garden. As I was clearning I found lots of shoots though so we should have some colour in a couple of weeks.

The snow caused one casulty - the orange smelling bush at the back by the hot bed. So I'm really going to have to do some work on that bed this year.

Its been a while

I haven't updated this for 3 months! Been busy and not done much in the garden. It looks great from teh lounge window but there are some big gaps in the garden.

In the cottage bed the foxgloves and aquiligas worked well earlier in the year and the fennel has done really well and the penstemon is good. But the delphinums didn't come up at all and there is a big gap where something else failed (lupins I think). The lavender looks a bit messy and the pinks weren't happy at all this year. At the front I planted some lobila which has (as always) done well. The cosmos went in very late and aren't as good as last year. 2 lily bulbs that are still in a pot have done really well and have looked fab for the last couple of weeks. the coreopis at the front hasn't come up at all. The rose looked pretty in May and June but had no flowers in July. Ther is a really big gap at the back which could do with another shrub or bush. A late flowering rose might work.

The hot bed has just not worked at all. The poppies looked great for about 2 days. The lupins and corepois haven't come up at all and left a big gap. The heleniums are a bit weak. The red hot pokers came out for about a day. The rudbeckias are just starting to come out but don't look nearly as good as last year. I bought quite a lot of annuals to go in this bed and the slugs got them. I grew some sunflowers in pots and the slugs got them as well. So this bed just looks empty and a mess. I was going to get some achillea to go through this bed but haven't. I wonder if the site is sunny enough. But they are meant to be drought resistant. Maybe lots of these would be a good idea. This bed just hasn't worked really and has a big gap at the back as well as at the front.

The bed along the side by Joe's house has been quite successful. Really could do with another 6 or so heuchera. I should def divide the ones I have in spring or autumn to finish this bed off. The hydranger I added last year did well. Maybe a hydranga could work at the back of teh cottage bed. I'd like a purple one with a mix of big and little petals.

The fern garden at the back just does not get enough water. I need to move the dogwood to teh hot bed and move a couple of the ferns that are by the fence forward. One of the laurels at back has died - I assume not enough water and the Japonicas are def not getting enough water.

Didn't mange any lawn care in autum or spring and its now covered in clover.

Planted 3 tomato plants and they certainly haven't done as well as last year. Just beginning to get some toms now. The strawberry plants did well earlier this summer and we had one good crop of salad leaves as well as some from mum.

Tried not to spend to much on annuals this year. Have a few fushias in blue pots and 1 hanging basket that look good. Not had a chance to plant up pots for front steps or the silver containers.

All in all - must do better next year! This autum need to feed the beds and the lawn. In the spring do some dividing and moving of plants and plant up seeds for toms, potatoes, salad etc.