Nearly five years ago we moved into this house that needed so much work even a hardened DIYer would have wept. As a non-hardened DIYer I constantly wept. When you opened up the back doors onto the garden the top picture is what we were greeted with upon arrival. If you look closely in the bottom right panel on the patio door you can see the boarded over remains of the “rockweiller flap” aka a booted-through door.
On the first night we were sitting outside having a drink in the garden wondering if we had done the right thing (I still wonder sometimes) and had to come in after ten minutes what with all the weird rustling in the dense undergrowth.
The photo below is the same view four and a half years later (in mid-winter) and the garden is now cleared of mummified underpants and kid’s bikes and now is a blank canvas to work on. This is a work in progress and work that’s got be be done on little or no budget and this is what this blog is about!
Last weekend, I just couldn’t stop myself going to the garden centre and purchasing a bag of seed compost to start off those vegetables early. It was the first weekend the shop was open after christmas, I haven’t got much self control have I? Alongside the compost I got some seed potatoes (that will need “chitting” but more on that in another post) Desiree was the variety, by the way.
Now how long will it be before there’s endless seed trays on the kitchen windowsill taking up space and leaking water all over the place? Not long I imagine. I told you I was impatient!
Also in the last post I mentioned I was going to redesign my garden so since then I’ve been doing some research, looking through books and listening to garden design podcasts.
A massive mistake people make is that they decide they want to revamp their garden, go to a garden centre and spend a fortune on plants without any research or thought, stick them all around their garden and wonder why in a couple of months they fail.
What I learnt from only a week’s research is you shouldn’t rush into redesigning your garden, take your time.You should take a year out to gather information about the site. Over the varying seasons look at shadow patterns and what parts get sun and at what times of the day and what are the site’s good views and bad views. Also ask others who live with you what shrubs/flowers/trees they fancy, what are your likes and dislikes etc and the design should start to make itself obvious (so it said on a gardening podcast!). Look at old books, go to parks and gardens, take photographs and get inspired. Rip things out of magazines of plants and gardens you like and keep a scrapbook.
I was looking through “Guerrilla Gardening: A Manualfesto” by David Tracey in the library and came across an interview with an activist who echoed the same sentiments when it came down to garden design and added “in the meantime when you are information gathering, utilise the space and sow some edibles”. Brilliant. So it’s back growing to veg this year then!
Nearly five years ago we moved into this house that needed so much work even a hardened DIYer would have wept. As a non-hardened DIYer I constantly wept. When you opened up the back doors onto the garden the top picture is what we were greeted with upon arrival. If you look closely in the bottom right panel on the patio door you can see the boarded over remains of the “rockweiller flap” aka a booted-through door.
Weeds up to me knees 