GOING, GOING, GONE!!!!!!

A lovely before and after Olive. There is something very satisfying about digging up grass to make new borders, it was the best part of creating my garden. Your new Roses are pretty colours and would look good with Heucheras :o)

thanks Annie, hard work though. Just catching up on here and then off to shops (after a shower of course) lol :O)

Wow! So that's what you've been up to! That soil looks fab-u-lous! sammie is not going to be too happy! Lol! But that bit of grass was pointless really wasn't it?! Wow! Underplanting....well, I do like blues with peach and orange, and small Veronica's are so pretty. Perhaps not your cup of coffee though....the plant that really looks amazing here through roses is
Geranium pyrenaicum 'Summer Snow' which Kathy sent me, so you could beg some seedlings from her? It self seeds all over the place, which is a boon. it sends up thousands of little white stars...wonderful! Will get a pic for you. Heuchera would give you evergreen, so they would be great too...but I would go for bright green or lime green, or purple hues rather than orangey ones if I were you...you might not like them, as I think they would overpower your delicate peachy roses. Apple crisp is gorgeous! It looks good enough to eat...and lime marmalade, and perhaps even the lovely 'Mysteria' which I could send you if you fancy that one. My absolute favourite combo with peach is lilac...so perhaps some lilac phlox..the ground cover ones, not the tall ones you have. They are also evergreen and make nice mats of colour.

ow Mum, you've really done a cracking job there! I can smell the perfume from here! Brilliant!

Btw, Michaellas garden had a similar effect on me...I was feasting on David Austin's catalogue yesterday too!

lol :O) thanks for the ideas, will have a look and see what I think, no rush really, just enjoying the perfume at the minute and the colour. :O)

I've just looked up Summer Snow, it's lovely. Not seen it before :o)

I must go in the shower, need shopping will look later, thanks girls. :O)

ward Scabious? Flower all summer! You've got me started now! also, those lovely frilly pansies are nice, and in winter you could plant some violas.

My word, instant garden! You must be very pleased with it, its transformed that corner. I had to laugh though, because as I read through the blog I thought, her next question will be suggestions for what to plant under the roses - went on reading and there it was, in the same blog! I like the idea of lilac flowers, they do look fabulous with orangey shades. Have you thought of campanula Portenschlagiana Catherina?

thank you Karen, new it would make you put your thinking cap on. lol :O) all good suggestions.

Stera - after Karen said lilacs and blues I thought Oh no! mainly because I have never liked blues, but I have just been sat in the garden and looked around and I have quite a lot of blues of various shades in the borders. In fact I have Rose Super Trouper, very orange and right next to it is a blue flower (not sure which one think it is cat mint) and it is true the blue does go well with the orange of the rose, so maybe I shall go with that colour and something like the lime green Heucheras which are very nice. Also think a white in there of some sort would be nice, I have an alpine Campanula which is whitish so that would do in there too. Lots of ideas running through my head now. I have that campanula in the front border and really love it. I could split that too and save me some money. lol Thank you for reminding me about it. Pleased you like the transformation. Well worth all the hard work, but my calf muscles are telling me different. lol. :O)

looks really nicely done :) the reward for that hard work i can see is so very much worth it :) much satisfaction in a job well done!!!

can`t help with sujestion on plants under your roses,sorry:( but i see you have had some ideas already :)

your garden does look very lovely indeedy!!!!!!

from jane.

thank you Jane how is the nettle rash hope it has stopped stinging now. :O)

well ive aquired somemore new bumps from yesterday and they are stinging slightly (rino skin would be good) :) NO DOUBT!!!! i will add more too those i have now tomorrow infact iam considering just jumping in the whole patch :) lol. but to answer your question iam sure the first lot of nettle rash has stop stinging.

enjoy your rose scents :) well done again!!!

from jane.

Beautiful job Olive...It will be spectacular when all flowering and filing the air with perfume.And your grass is looking lovely and green!
What about Geums or potentillas(I was thinking the herbaceous sort but even the shrubby ones are nice and lowish growing .Lots of pinks peaches off whites)

Fantastic makeover of boring bit of lawn to a wonderful rose garden! I reckon heucheras would look great under there and provide evergreen colour, but there are lots of other excellent suggestions here:)

Thank you Jane, pleased to hear you are getting on in that garden again :O) Stay away from the nettles lol :O)

Paul - thank you for the suggestions and your kind remarks, think the rain has done the grass good, it isn't anything I do, I just cut it. lol :O) which I hate doing so hence why the grass has diminished over the years. The whole area when we moved here was grass and tree stumps so it has been a long while in the making this garden.

Louisa glad you like my make-over, it has been hard work in the heat but well worth the effort when I can smell those roses, they are beautiful. Yes there are lots of lovely suggestions on here for me to use. I will post more pictures when I have sorted out what to do with and which plants to use. Thanks :O)

That's beautiful, Barbara. It makes me wonder about my lawn... hmmm...

Thank you Melchi, I await with baited breath the removal of your lawn lol :O) My youngest hasn't seen it yet, she will not be pleased she is a sun seeker and loves to lay on the grass which is fast disappearing altogether. Thank goodness she is out this weekend not coming home - she will not be a happy bunny when she sees some more has gone. lol good job I can laugh at her. She can always share the field with the ducks. lol :O)

I have various schemes at the back of my mind which always seem to involve removing a bit of lawn. The trouble is, of course, that I'm fast running out of border - well, I already have, really. The thing is, if I split and gave away some of the rather overgrown perennials, I would create a bit of room. I ought to do that first, I think. (I recently read an article which said we should substitute "I ought to" with "I could" - it does seem to open up more possibilities!) I like the shape of my lawn, so I'd have to think very carefully. I sometimes look at it and think once I start I might end up with no lawn at all!

Oh my goodness!!! This is an absolute WOW!! It looks amazing! Love it so much! Well done Barbara! :)))))

Michaella - it was all down to your inspirational garden, thank you for making me see what was possible. I have always loved roses but was never successful with them but have learned how to look after them and how to prune them from you. So a huge thank you and I am so pleased you like it :O) Now where can I find some more grass that needs digging up - will have a wander around. lol thanks again Michaella. x B

I am lost for words Barbara, it is beautiful! Well done you!

thank you Michaella :O)

Conglatulaions! You made a hard days job! All by yourself?
My littlefront house garden is so difficult to fix because of pine trees and very clay soil, it's hard when it'd dray and chewy when it's wet and I'm not strong enogh to dig it myself!
And I'm not in condition to pay and expert gardener to do it for me, I have to save some money to do that!
Maybe one day......

Two days in the making Lia but yes I do all the gardening myself, oh likes to see it but not into doing. lol He is a sportsfield groundsman and cutting grass and marking out pitches and wickets for a living so when he comes home he doesn't need or want to be gardening. lol. We are heavy clay soil here, but this patch had been well mixed with some nice sand and compost by the previous tenants when he levelled the grass field (which it was,when we moved here 34 years ago,for a putting pitch) I hate cutting grass so bit by bit it has had to be dug out and replaced with flower borders, big job over quite a number of years, little by little, you can do it if you just do a bit at a time I am sure. Thanks for looking in :O)

I'llm try! Thank you for tips!

Hello Oliveoil thank you for getting in touch and likewise it is nice to meet you too. Yes i am sure i will enjoy this web site, i have had help and advice already so i am off to a good start. My word you did a great job on your Rose bed, it looks lovely. You said you got a Rose called Grace, i am glad you mentioned that because i have a little Granddaughter named Grace so am going to get one to plant for her. It will be nice when she comes for a visit for her to help look after it. By for now and thanks again.

oh how nice to have a grand daughter you can buy a rose for with her name she will love that - what a brilliant idea to let her look after it - good way to encourage them in the garden.

as all members have said, you have made a great rose garden oliveoil. scent is important in roses isn't it?I have been trying for ages to get an orange patio rose, what is yours called? I wanted it really orange, not peachy.I agree with karensusan [didnt realise you are her Mother!] heucheras will look good and in Winter you will have something there other than bare rose stems and in Summer they will froth around the bare bits at the base of the roses.

Thank you Freesabird, one of the Patio roses is Genesis the other one is Flower Power, hope you find what you are looking for.

How lovely to be given it by your friend, I have one with my name, (not my name on here my real name) given to me by my daughter Karensusan, it is not flowering yet this year. I had to move it and it upset it somewhat but it is on its way back now and growing well. Thank you for looking in :O)

A first class bish-bosh job, Olive.
Well done to you!!!
My apologies for going awol, too.
Playing catch-up now.
Again, fantastic job & well rewarding, I imagine!

That is all ok Mouldy, I have just had a quick look in and now off out to titivate up my daughters garden, started yesterday and am trying to get it done before they start back at school in September. Yes it is rewarding to get things sorted out and even more rewarding with the grass going going gone. lol. doesn't take me long now to cut the grass, bit fiddly going around the bends but much quicker than it used to be. lol.

show us a picture of the roses now, how have they done? have they grown? I guess they done!

Lia - They have finished, but but but - hopefully there are some more to come have done the deadheading and new growth is about to produce more flowers, hopefully, will post a picture if I get a second flush.

well we'll wait and hope!

I'm told I'm permanently round the bend, Olive. ;-)

Well that makes two of us at least Mouldy :O)

Will post a picture if they do flower again Lia :O)

well Olive, thanks!

Two?
Plus all the members of Goy.
We could topple governments. Lol.

I think you have the right of it there, Mouldy!

We're the real 'Greens'. ;-)

Indeed he has!

Sure are!

Eh? Lol.

I'm sorry, I'll read that again.

Oh, I see.
Two conflabs, two replies.
Gotcha. :-)