When we first moved in we had a small gravel area and a raised lawn. The raised lawn then made way for raised beds and so began our attempt at veggie growing. However, we were finding that we simply had too much space to fill, not enough time to look after it all and not enough sunshine in the colder months for things to grow well.
A few months ago after a lot of thought, we decided to take a much more practical approach to the garden and make it a nice outdoor space to sit out in an enjoy, as well as having room to grow some of our own fresh organic veggie produce - and that is what we have created.
We now have a 3.5m x 1.3m border (above) which will be devoted to growing our own as well as a lot of space to grow salad, herbs, cherry tomatoes etc in pots. The willow obelisks will be home to climbing beans of various varities and we will definitely be reserving part of the border to grow potatoes again next year.
On the other side of the decked area, there is an almost identical border which is really quite shady. This part of the garden used to be a work area really so we didn't actually grow anything over this side at all. I've now made this into an ornamental border and we have a wood burning chiminea which is wonderful to snuggle around on dry evenings whilst sitting outdoors.
We have also replaced our black plastic compost bin with a new beehive style bin which looks much more attractive. The old one has been given to a friend who has a large veggie plot at the bottom of their garden.
I am thrilled with our 'new' garden and extremely exciting for our veggie plans next year. We now have a space that is manageable with the time we have and a wonderful area to sit in, enjoy with friends and family and generally relax outdoors in our own private space. The garden seems twice as big now too! Along with working I will be studying again hence the limited time to devote to growing masses of veg. However, I will now be able to sit out at the garden table with my books and also grow some tasty organic veggies!
Now on with the planning for what to grow next year!
2 comments:
Love the garden makeover - how are things coming along?
Thanks lottie! It's all coming together nicely. I'm busy making veggie plans for next year and in the meantime I'll be added more ornamental plants to the garden (we have a very shady side return that is going to be home to a collection of ferns, hostas and any other shade loving specimens that take my fancy!)
I'm also going to follow the instruction on last friday's gardeners' world and sow some digitalis seed for my shady border.
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