Before and After

Your garden is lovely Louise,and as for your "minders",they are gorgeous.I like pictures of before and after,and of changing seasons too.My photo's of our "building site" when we first moved in,are,unfortunately,on film,as I didnt have a laptop then,and I have no idea how to transfer them.Just about getting to grips with this! lol

Thank you Bloomer :-)
The 2 girls love their gardens, three years on, the shrubs provide them with great hiding places :-))))

What a difference! Thanks for showing us the transformation. Lovely. :-))) How dull it was at first!

It's developed beautifully - I like the way that fence is gradually disappearing.

Love your before and after Louise, pretty garden :-)))

Thank you all :-)
Yes, the hard lines of the fence 'are' disappearing, i shouldn't have planted a deciduous plant there really - it's a Physocarpus diabolo, it should have been another evergreen, likewise where the Sambucus is ... hey ho !

Its nice to see the difference you have made Louise.Pleased the cats like it they are lovely.

Thanks Mavis :-)

The cats have a great time out there, they play hide and seek and leap out onto each other !!!
They also know the sunny spots and they know the sheltered spots (when it rains), so can enjoy it out there come rain or shine ;-)

You could pop an ivy behind them - Janey's Hedera Helix Buttercup would contrast well with the Physocarpus particularly the dark stems in winter.

Now that's a good idea.
Are there Ivys that are non invasive ? Or am i just being silly there ?

Looks Great Louise i bet your well chuffed u found the Pics to Compare them ? :)

in your 3rd shot, i see seet in corner- i imagin a Miscanthus saccariflorus behind it wiht it cascade rustel in wind leefs at 2mtrs- look fantasik, an in winter youcan cut stems to use as peea stiks next yeer

also behind physocarpus you could hav Solanum Glasnevin if face souht an warm an oh, what butiful flowers!!!

Thank you Jacque, i really was :-)))

Derekf, you did indeed spot a seat ... behind that i now have another Pittosporum tenuifolium Purpureum. That area is now a long bronze coloured border - it faces south and those colours look nice there.

For behind the Physocarpus ... is the Solanum evergreen ?
That fence faces east would that suit the Solanum ?

You've worked your magic Louise, it looks fantastic.

:-)
Thank you Dawn :-))

What a difference Louise...I know you have worked so hard to get it the way it is....your little haven....Its looking marvelous......

Thank you Alice :-)

What a beautiful transformation Louise. Well done. Such a difference you have made. I love your garden "helpers". The last photo is wonderful. :o)

:-)))
Thanks Gilli !
Yes, Maddie's not too keen on being away from my side and here she would have said "oi, open the kitchen door" if she could've !
She had to make do with looking out the lounge window but .... i can't think why the blinds were closed - unless i thought i'd try and get a shot like this !!!

It's quite easy to keep ivies within bounds by cutting back in the spring. Sorry about the gap - had to go out. :-)

I'm going to look into these (Ivys), thanks :-)

What a difference a gardener makes thats a lovely transformation

Thats cats for you Louise1 they know all the best places dont they,I have logs at the back of my garden( my cultivated wild bit)they like to sit there on mouse watch and in the winter they sit there out of the snow.I managed a garden tidy up today and Whiskas was on the fence beside me.

garden l;ook lovely louise and maddie and millie so beautifull :o))

Lovely after shots Louise, they really show the difference from the 'before' ones. Do you fancy coming around here and doing a make over on ours? Lol

I like your pictures~ I really appreciate the hard work it takes to go from picture number one to the present. I just love Maddie and her markings! I could watch her all day! lol :) Lisa

hi ian nice to see you, hope your ok, and carol to ;o))

hi louise- hte solanum is evergreen in mild area face south - i like you idea of pittosporum-wil look good

Hi Louise, this just goes to show how important it is to take photos before you start, no matter what's laid out before you ! You have done a great job. :- )

You have done a great job there Louise, its amazing what a difference 3 years and hard work can make. Love Millie and Maddie too!

We're fine thank San, how are you and Baz?

Thanks everyone :-))
I keep looking at the first two pictures and thinking that i can't actually remember it looking like that !!!

I am quite pleased with how it's come on ..... i change plants around sometimes and move them to the front garden - or give them away .... but mostly i keep the back the same ..... shrubs and lawns.

The front is the cottage garden :-)

Nice blog Louise, always good to see the before and after shots. How about one on the front garden next ? :0)

Funny you should say that ........ !!!
I found some of them too and i've got some recent ones aswell, major changes took place there over the last 12 months :-))))
The problem is Bs, they all show the front of my house and it makes me feel a bit vulnerable putting pics of them on a public forum ..... it's an area that a local person would be able to identify really easily and i get a bit worried about that, for one reason and another.
Do you think i'm being silly ??

Not really Louise, we're all different in what we want other people to see of our lives and homes on the net...I have to admit though, it doesn't worry me,

Is it possible to crop the house out of the photo ? The bottom line is Louise, it's what you feel comfortable with that matters and no one on GOY is going to think you're being silly for that.

Louise you have really worked hard, your garen is a credit to you well done.

Thanks Clarice :-))

Muddy, i don't know how to do cropping of photos and technical stuff like that ... wouldn't know where to start :-/

Great blog Louise only just caught up tonight, love the before and after pic's I wish I'd done that here neve mind. :0)))

Thanks Stripes :-))

you've made such a difference in such a short time, it's looking lovely:)

I love your cats =^..^=

Thanks Grindle :-))

Thank you Hywel, they're such a happy little pair :-))

like you louise i dont post photos of the front of the house, so that it cant be identified.

Very interesting pictures, Louise,

I have often tried to envisage your house!

I can understand your points about photographing the front but would love to see those alstromeiras later in the summer!

Thanks Seaburn.
Rm .... they'll be lots of 'em !!!!
:-)))

Was very nice to see your before and after pics, the garden is coming along very well, it is difficult to cover boundaries, and it does take a long time, like Waggers idea using Ivy, once it gets its feet down it romps away, but I trim ours every spring to keep it tidy.
It is such a good idea to take pictures of our gardens, as they change so much over the years.

What a transformation - you would never know that it was the same garden - your planting is wonderful - It gives me hope that I will have a garden full of plants and shrubs one day!

Thank you Dd and Bl :-))))
I wish it wasn't so cold because i'd love to spend some time out there, i'm a fair weather gardener these days so i'll not be going outside until this cold has passed :-/
It's 11 degrees in the front garden and i could work out there happily but the back's quite shaded in winter and it's only 5 degrees out there .... too cold for me !

Here in Nth Norfolk/Sth Lincs we have had some heavy hale - I ventured out to feed the birds and then ventured back in again very quickly!

Super blog Louise, who is "santa puss" on your avatar? I love it .

Thanks Valadel :-))
Little santa puss isn't one of mine !!!
It's purely a cute picture i took from an avatar site :-))
Sweet isn't it ? :-)))))