I'm all excited now

Oh, great to have you back, Sam, And sorry to hear abot rotten last year, let's hope that a corner has been well and truly turned.

Your new plan looks exciting, I can't wait to see it unfold

Could you inset a planter or something betweent he patio and the path? too big to be tripped over, it'd be at ground level and would prove an additional focal point.

lol lights are fine till there's a power cut or wiring prob! and woiuld lights there affect the neighbours? depends how they're aliggned, of course.

Do yo uplan "open plan" type planting, where you can see one end of the garden from the other? or some taller plants to block the view and make the lawns more mysterious as they wind out of sight

lol I'm yabbering too! please do keep us up to date with developments, it's fascinating

Hi,
Im pleased your on the road to having a better time,
the gardens the place to laugh/cry and enjoy,

Your design looks great, "One small idea"

I find no matter if its only a yard or a garden you'll find nothing better on a summers evening or weekend than having a nice seat to sit on with a glass of whats ever your fancy and the smell of the BBQ just ticking over,
After a nice eat, just lay back and chat.

Yes a BBQ would fit in just perfect and after all that work getting the garden sorted you,d welcome a rest.
Welcome back.

Hello and welcome back ! I didn't really get to know you before, but maybe this time ! I would be so so excited like you ! Ooh, I just love new projects and won't you have fun planning it all and then putting your plans into action ! I can feel your excitement as you write ! I'm just planning a better garden here as we left a huge garden in May last year and have downsized to a much smaller garden ( not by choice , but love it here ) and I get so excited when it all comes together ! I , like you get so excited at seeing things grow , even after years of sowing my own !
Keep us posted , won't you ! Best of luck !

Look forward to watching the transformation, my advice is to wait until the major building work is done then think about planting......probably because I find it hard to imagine from a plan lol......

oh, I meant to ask before, but forgot - what did you use to make the garden plan? I've seen some stuff, but I use non-standard PC screen resolution and high zoom, so I've never been able to use any of them - lol or understand some of them!

It all looks good as a design and as Pam says I think once all the hard landscaping is done you can let your imagination run riot. I hope this year is a good one for you and you will keep us up to date with developments.

Hi fran, good to see you. I saw you moved house. How's the new place? Love the planters idea. One either side of the path by the patio sounds fab. As to plants definately taller plants. I do want to try to add some mystery to the garden. I would love an archway somewhere as well. The software I've used is google sketch up. It's quite clever software but not hugely intuitive.

Hi dungy, nice to meet you. There's nothing quite like sitting out in summer with a glass of wine and something cooking on the BBQ is there. I suspect a BBQ won't be far away, but we'll probably go for a portable one we can keep in the garage.

Hi Rose nice to see you again. Glad to hear you like your new house, even if the garden is smaller. I'll look forward to seeing how your garden changes. Growing from seeds really is quite exciting isn't it. Seeing those tiny little green stems and leaves appear. You can't beat it, such an amazing thing and so much fun - not sure my family would agree though lol.

Hi Pam nice to see you again, hope your ok. Hehe waiting may be a good idea. I don't visualise plans all that well, hence building a 3d plan. The key will be not getting carried away when I go plant shopping lol.

Hi stroller, good to see you, hope your ok. Hopefully the plan works well in reality and I can get down to the real fun of planting :-)

Since you've all asked so nicely for updates I will oblige. Promise I'll try not to bore you silly with them :-)

Glad to see you back. the plan looks excellent . take lots of photos of the work in progress. and enjoy.

I think it would take a lot to bore us! It's always lovely to hear - and see - new ideas coming about, how they were done, why, and what other new ideas come from that - ane you never know what might spark an "aha!" from someone ele.

I moved here in December, just in time for the storms! Not done much in the gardens (plural, wow!!) other than plant about 200 bulbs - I need someone to identify what's already there so I know what to do with it.

I want to add some screening plants - a garden that you can see right across is a bit - well, there's no need to actually go and walk around, you can see it all already.

I did try Sketchup for a 3d project, but got hopelessly lost - I'll try it again with something simpler and see if I can get the hang of htat.

Hi Sam - Sorry to hear that last year was a horrible one for you ... thing look set to improve this year though with lots to do in the garden ... I like the layout of the plan and look forward to seeing the progress you'll be making.

Hi SBG good to see you again, hope your ok. Hehe it's safe to say there will be lots of pictures. Can't wait for work to start now.

Haha fran I'll hold you to that :-). Ugh bad timing with the storms, hope it didn't do too much damage by you. Wow 200 bulbs that's a lot to plant, bet they'll look fab when they flower though. Agree with you on the screening plants. It's so much more interesting when you can't see the whole garden from one point. Enjoy your new gardens, all that lovely space to play with.

Hi Shirley, how's things? Thanks, just hope it looks half as good in real life lol.

Hi Sam - I'm in much better health than when we last 'spoke' ... really enjoying seeing all the Spring flowers and the buds ... just love Springtime! :o)

managed to aviod the worst of the storms, Sam, though it got windy enough to send my (empty) composter sailing down the path like a Dalek - and that had been in a sheltered place! At least I do'nt have to spend the rest of the year worrying about what it'll be like here in winter, I found out (unles we get snow(. And this end of town is on high ground, so no worries there, though there were several flood alerts in and around hte town centre.

Hi Shirley glad to hear your in better health now. It's great seeing all the spring bulbs pop up isn't it. There's loads of daffodils coming into flower along the grass verges by me, always makes me smile.

Fran glad to hear you avoided the worst of the storms, although it sounds like things have been entertaining. Must say I've been very glad I live on high ground. Despite the strong winds.

Thanks Sam ... :o)

swings and roundabouts, Sam! one can't have everything, sigh