Over the last five years, as I’ve gotten to know the garden a little bit and gained confidence, there are a few plants that are rock stars. These are the ‘good doers.’ The ones that keep coming back. The ones you can move and they couldn’t care less. The ones that produce a tonne of…
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This page is my best attempt at a sketch of the whole garden. I find having this pretty helpful now. If I compartmentalise each section I can get around it all in endless happy loops. When we first moved in I took a tour with the owner we were buying the house from. A fantastic…
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There are a few key points in the year when it feels really natural and easy to plan. I added bluebells to my ‘to-do’ list after spotting this lovely scene of bluebells under one of the hedges in the garden that merged into a shock of stinging nettles. I have a battle with stinging nettles.…
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Last year we built a couple of raised beds in our veg patch. It’s something we’ve wanted to do for ages and lock down gave us the perfect opportunity. The veg patch is at the bottom of the garden and luckily for us, was already full of delicious and established fruit like rhubarb, strawberries, raspberries,…
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Growing from seed requires a certain amount of patience, which is not something I have in spades. It also requires persistence and occasionally a good sense of humour. I have a window sill in my utility room which gets pretty good sun and is ideally positioned for lavishing attention and expectation on lots of little…
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No-one likes a bald spot right? For any garden big or small there are going to be spots where you might appreciate a plant that will take over like a blanket. This provides cover and interest, but also helps to stop weeds proliferating. These are the scrubby areas next to a building or beside the…
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After chucking a load of seeds around the borders last Spring this beauty of a sunflower popped up. We nicknamed her Farrah Fawcet and I “papped” her every time I went into the garden. After she had gone to seed we collected loads, as I’ve no idea what type she is and can’t even remember…
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Nope not the super cool HBO series, but the need to replace and rejuvenate horticulturally speaking. Kind of scary if like me you moved into an awesome garden and then realised you need to keep it going by doing more than a bit of watering, weeding and pruning. Doing this means taking care of: Planting…
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If there is one thing I know how to butcher it’s the trusting, helpless houseplant. I repot them, buy them food, wipe their leaves and have this cute little yellow watering can I trot around the house with. But to no avail, I am the proud owner of some very limp and long suffering house…
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This is the first year in the garden when I’ve truly wondered what clematis I have. It sounds a bit mad, but there are maybe half a dozen clematis here and I don’t know what most of them are. This leads to pruning quandaries and for the first time looking back through dozens of pictures…
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This made me chuckle this morning. I think next year I will plant tulip bulbs in a less windy spot. Maybe something a little more hunkered down for these tubs… any suggestions?
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A note on how robust nature can be: I’m so happy this little Witch Hazel was looking so bonny this Winter. The image below is from about a year ago. He’s in there, but you can’t see him, just a twig. He was squashed completely flat when this wall tumbled. These ancient dry stone walls…
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