So in 2003 we moved into our first house, it was great! We had a space of our own, and like any new home owner we couldn't wait to make our mark...
Here's a glimpse of what the garden was like when we moved in just over 7 years ago...
The existing garden was maintained by the gentleman next door. It was neat and tidy, but not really our cup of tea... lots of fuscia's, hundreds of daffodils and some shrubs in the corners that grew like crazy!! Still don't know what they were, we got rid of them pretty quick!
Being new of house and all, we didn't have much cash free for changing things like kitchens and bathrooms. The easiest (cheapest) option we had was the garden... I say we, really it's just me... DH has no interest in the garden at all. Since having the kids he does mow the lawn, but that's pretty much it really, so the current state of the garden is really my fault :-S Sorry Danny xxx
I thought it was brilliant and was really pleased with my progress... Looking back I appreciate the garden as it was before I dug it all up... Oh well!
Fast forward 6 years, and this is what it looks like...
The path never officially got filled in, it just grew over... The navel in the middle of the lawn is where we were going to put a rotary line. That is until we dug the hole only to descover concrete at the bottom... We're still deciding the fate of the line, do we dig another hole elsewhere in the garden? We contacted the counsil and service providers to see if the concrete is some kind of water pipe or whatever else might be lurking under the lawn, but seems we'll have to get a surveyor out to find out what it is...
We did do some work out there the year before last. I deweeded all up the right border and planted a second apple tree, a maple tree and a camelia. You can just make tham out amongst the new weeds...
We also dug up some of the patio near the house, I had some romantic notion of making a herb garden in these two beds nearest the house and growing veg at the back... Only problem being that the newly formed beds became very water logged, very quickly. The veg worked a bit though, I grew some radish, onions and potatoes in the area currently housing the paddling pool...
Around Christmas I was browsing the web, looking for solar powered Christmas lights to go on the bush by our front door... BTW, if you're thinking of being eco-friendly and getting some of these, don't bother... They were up for about a week before somebody decided to kindly remove them for us... On the plus side, they were rubbish, so no great loss, except for the £20... Anyway, while looking at these lights, I stumbled upon the idea of raised beds...
After doing a little research I decided to go with the Link-a-Bord sets as they seemed pretty simple and very low maintenance, which is very important for me :-S Well they took less than 48 hours to arrive and I already have one of the 2x1m beds in place. Only problem is I don't have anything to put in it yet... Really need to get the compost ordered...
Fits quite nicely with my collapsable compost bin. Supposed to work 4x faster than a regular one? The main reason I wanted this one is that it seemed easier to move around if I decide I want it somewhere esle... Plus, can just fold it down and shove it in the shed if the whole veg dream fails...
I subscribed to Grow Your Own mag yesterday, with an offer of 60 plants free (aka, included in the price). Hopefully they will be okayish and will give me an idea of what I like/can grow at home.
P.S. I also hope the bed wont be walking off in the night to join my Christmas lights...
Raised beds are the way to go, in my thinking. I built my own because I wanted monster beds ... they cost £70 each for the timber, plus a few drilled fingers, but I think it's worth the money.
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