back garden

You might have to keep this under control W. or it will get everywhere ! The birds like to nest in this too. We have Robins and wrens in ours.

Yes, we know how much it chokes out other plants/bushes in our garden....it used to grow all along our old fencing and it is now growing into the hawthorn tree and has killed off a beautiful clematis the was weaving it's way through the hawthorn. I'm hoping when the ivy and hawthorn is cut back that the clematis may just have survived!

We had bees in our ivy this summer but I think they moved on when the gardener cleared the back garden. I haven't seen any evidence of their nest for some weeks now.

Oh dear you have a lot of work there Wlass and as you have mobility problems, it won't be easy, will it? Does your OH do/like gardening? I hope so. Mine just isn't a gardener, although he does almost everything that needs doing now, under instruction. He doesn't always follow them though, and my fingers are crossed for our Aubretia next year as he really hacked it - instead instead of lightly trimming it! Its so frustrating.
I look forward to seeing photos of your garden as it progresses. Its so much easier to start from nothing than a mess of overgrowth.

I'm sorry to say OH doesn't participate in gardening or DIY. Bless him, he does his best and I'm not being critical. He just hasn't got the knack for these things. He tried to stop our bath taps from leaking last week and has had a really bad back ever since and yesterday his hip/leg went on him too! What a pair we are! lol

I am seriously considering contacting a neighbour who does garden maintenance to see if he'd take on some of my garden. He did clear our garden a few years ago but we didn't carry on with developing it and so the weeds again took over! This time I want to do the job right.

We'll get there, Mad. Patience is a virtue, so it's said!

i feel for you as i took lots of ivy out to clear fence and pond area, a nightmare, ended up loosing the fence and getting a new one, i have kept a small amount of ivy but will now keep it in check,

We know the ivy will be holding up the fence. The man who came to 'clear' the garden for us (didn't do a great job in my opinion) cut the ivy at the ground level and sprayed it with weed killer but it's stubborn stuff and still thriving!

The fence on that side has just been renewed by shared cost with our neighbour but they chose not to go all the way back where the ivy is....there are birds nesting (out of shot but above the ivy) in the hawthorn tree so we will have to be careful not to disturb them quite yet.

yes i had to wait for birds to finish with nests to, i founds at least half a dozen, so neat and truely lovely, felt a bit awfull taking the ivy but iv got rambling rose and clematis etc now so once grown hope the birds will come back, ;o)