Whilst this morning's news is as desperately sad and worrying as we seem to have become used to ... the cycle of the seasons really does just keep on moving as though all was normal with the World.
Our garden, which always looks pretty gloomy at this time of year is starting to spring back into life showing us signs of what is to come ... and jobs that will need doing.
Last year we impulsively added a splash of spring colour, with these bright red primulas, which have really brightened up the bottom of our garden, but looked a little lonely ...
In an effort to add even more spring colour, which is the time that Martin and I struggle to envisage our garden ever looking nice again, I made an impulse purchase of 12 pots of tete a tete from the 'man on the market'. They seemed a real bargain at six pots for £5, though mum told me she would have waited till they were past their best and bought them for 50p a pot 😂
We soon got them planted and they looked so bright that I got mum to pick me up another 12 pots, which I am hoping to get planted today. They definitely add a bright pop of colour to the bottom of the garden, at a time when everything is predominantly green or brown.There are a few bits just starting to come into flower though ... lots of buds on the magnolia and the first of the camellia flowers is just starting to burst into bloom ...
On the job front, we have made a start on a project which will be a big one for us. Our raised beds are starting to drop to bits and this year the aim is to rebuild the one nearest to the house ...We think we've managed to source the wood and have measured up more times than I can count. We just need to bite the bullet and get it ordered now. We did make a bit of a start last week by emptying it of planting. As there is nothing planted at the moment in the two metal beds we have moved everything into them temporarily. The strawberries are in one ...Actually ... I mean half of the strawberries are in one. When we were digging them up they had multiplied again, beyond belief, and half have been transported to mum's to go into one of dad's old vegetable beds.The perennials have all been transplanted into the other one ...
... along with the new plant supports we bought last year. In here we have 'bastard balm', phlox, white valerian, a couple of verbena, some aquilegia, some pinks and a random foxglove.I'm not sure how everything will do in these beds as they are in the 'shady' side of the garden, but I think the long term plan is to transfer them all back once the other bed is rebuilt.
Our next job is to temporarily remove all of the soil and deconstruct the bed, so that we can see exactly how it goes together and whether or not we can salvage any of the wood ...
It seems to be very late for us to be getting started in the garden this year. When I look back I am normally sorting out the strawberry bed mid-February, but I've just not really been feeling it so far this year. The cold weather hasn't helped ... I am definitely a fair weather gardener. Hopefully now that we have finally made a start it will give us the impetus to keep going.
Spring is also a good time for tulips and whilst these are on of my absolute favourites I don't have much luck with them in the garden. They don't seem to be a bulb that comes back after the first year for me ... so I was delighted when Martin came back from the supermarket with a couple of bunches ... they really brighten the place up ... I love having fresh flowers in the house ...
So that's us from a gardening point of view ... we've made a very tentative start. Although I did watch about four episodes of Your Garden Made Perfect back to back last night ... and that's always good for a bit of aspirational inspiration 😀**********************************************************************************
We have the same problem with rotting wood - our gate post at the cottage sheared off at the bottom and keeled over, the fram gate itself has rotted where the metal fastening is and the little blue gate is also on its last legs - so much wet weather has contributed to an early demise. I bet your garden is looking so spring like now - it is nice to see a bit of colour inside and out.
ReplyDeleteWe do keep saying we are not going to have anything else in the garden made of would as it needs so much maintenance … but we keep succumbing The garden is just starting to come back to life … another month and it will start to look more like the garden we know and love. Hope you have a restful, yet productive, time while you are away 💜
DeleteYour garden always sounds & looks lovely and like you I've not had a lot of mojo lately for anything much and now we are headed into autumn/winter. I do like your raised bed and our veg ones need redoing & I've a few ideas too. I also love fresh flowers inside. Thanks for sharing, take care & hugs.
ReplyDeleteThank you. I think the winter weather has definitely got to me more than usual this year. We really like the raised beds too but not the maintenance that comes with them. The new metal ones we had last year seem to be lasting well so hopefully they should be maintenance free. I’m hoping a break from all that is going on next week and maybe a bit of sunshine will help with finding my mojo. You take care too 💜
DeleteA fair bit in our garden is about 20 years old - fencing, posts, some benches etc so they all need either attention or replacing and I honestly don't really know which end to start at! So we just weeded and tidied, got to start somewhere haha
ReplyDeleteI can certainly identify with that Kate … especially at this time of year when just everything seems to need attention … baby steps 😃
DeleteWonderful pink tulips. Our raised beds are falling to pieces too. They don't last. Metal ones seem like a good idea. B
ReplyDeleteI think the ants have made a feast out of the wooden posts … we seem to be inundated with them every year 🙈
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