In the Garden - April

Back at the end of March I let you know that we were planning on some serious garden renovations this year.

Well the time for these to start is fast approaching and we have the landscapers in from next week.

There were an awful lot of bits and pieces that we needed to do in preparation for them coming ... so once our family BBQ on Easter Sunday was out of the way it was time to get cracking.

We have spent a fair amount of time, and energy, getting ready over the last couple of weeks and we are actually progressing fairly well so I thought it was time for a bit of an update.

So ... What have we been up to?

The top patio ....

Looked like this in my last post ...

Currently looks like this ...

The plans for this patio are for it to be extended down a bit further into the garden and fully repaved with a colourful Indian sandstone. We are also having a new brick planter built along the back wall of the house.

It might not look like it but there has been lots of progress ...

• We have had a really good tidy up and the majority of stuff has been shifted, either put away or temporarily re homed until the work has been finished
• The arbour has been moved out of the way but is still awaiting it's new paint job
• The lilac has been replanted in the border, with us having removed both the plum and the apple trees
• We have also managed to pass on some of these slabs, which will be finding a new home as a shed base in the garden of my nephew's new home
• The render repairs to the house have now all been completed and we have a full repaint on the cards for later this week, which should spruce us up no end.

The lower patio ...

Looked like this when you last saw it ...

It is currently looking like this ...

The plans down here are purely for it to be repaved.

We've pretty much cleared this area and the fence down the whole of this side of the garden has been painted, as has the shed and one of the raised beds. We've also managed to find a new home for a whole load of concrete slabs.

The strawberry bed ...

Was looking in need of some TLC when you last saw it ...

I am pleased to say it has had a good tidy up and now just needs painting ...

The greenhouse area ...

Before ...

... and currently ...

All cleared and ready for repaving.

The bottom corner ...

This corner is the spot in the garden that sees the last of the afternoon sun and the plans are for some additional paving to be put in down here, along with a new wooden pergola with some trellising. It should be a lovely spot to sit to catch the last of the sun.

We've done a fair amount of work in this border. We've taken out two fruit trees, replanted the lilac here and just generally moved pretty much all of the plants around. A bit of a reorganisation was long overdue as some of what had been planted had either died off or outgrown it's original spot.

This is how it is looking at the moment ...

Behind the shed ...

This area just keeps ending up getting used as a bit of a dumping ground ...

This area will remain as a storage area and we are planning on extending the paving a bit, to make Martin's beer shed access a bit easier.

We are still debating on whether to perhaps screen it off with either trellis or a hedge of cordon fruit trees.

It is currently being used as a temporary storage area for the BBQ and the bench, but we have done a lot of work here.

We have repainted the shed and removed the compost bin. We managed to fill about ten bags with compost which have been put to good use.

We've also managed to move the water butt a bit more out of the way. So once the garden works are done this will be a really useful space for storing out of season pots.

So, we've just got a week to go before work starts on earnest.

Before then we have a bit more tidying up to do and a few more bits and pieces to move or to dispose of then it will be all systems go.

I'm kind of excited and dreading it a bit all at the same time.  I'll keep you posted 😟 (Worried face!)