Friday 7 April 2017

In the Garden

It's that time of year again. So much to do. A race against time to get on top of the garden maintenance before things grow wild and weeds take over.
Since the grass had its first cut of the season the rest of the garden looked, quite honestly, a bit of a mess. My good intentions (I have so many of those) of tidying it all up last Autumn went by the wayside as soon as the cold, damp weather arrived, so the dead plants and weeds have been there all through the winter months just waiting for me.
Most of Monday was spent cleaning the moss from the block paving on the driveway. Hard work, but very satisfying results. It looks sooo much better.




The old plants which were in the raised bed for the sole purpose of keeping the cats off got cleared away last week and the soil dug over in preparation for this season's growing efforts. I managed to 'fashion' a barrier to keep any cats off until the vegetables are (hopefully) established.
We have planted carrots, spring onions, spinach and courgettes. Lily really enjoyed this part. Looking at the difference in the seeds and covering them gently with the soil.


This patch of soil was one of the areas I did manage to clear last year of some well overgrown Lavender. I now need some new plants to fill the gaps. The soil is quite stony but does benefit from sunlight for most of the day. Any suggestions welcome.



At the far end of the garden, my favourite feature, the dry stone wall.


The table and chairs are currently being painted in 'Wild Thyme.' Once I've finished painting them this planter will also be cleaned up and painted the same shade. I'm not sure what to put in it yet. We have previously used it to grow strawberries. If I manage to get it finished soon we could maybe manage some for this season too.
This is the first year that I have really made much of an effort with the garden and even though I'm not really sure what I'm doing, I'm doing my best and, surprisingly,  I'm quite enjoying myself.
J. X