damage in garden after winter from hell!

Hope the Euonymous survives ... have you scraped a tiny bit of the bark to see if it's green? Re. the gravel and cats ... I haven't found any cat evidence on the gravel we had put down last Spring ... it's bare earth they prefer! Hywel is thinking of slabs or gravel ... see his recent blog. : o ))

I've had no cat problems with my front garden since I put down gravel and you can still plant lots of lovelies to soften it :>))

I have gravelled areas in parts of my garden Sk and my cats won`t go there, its too rough for them,they prefer the soil. As regards Rocky and the lawn, I know what you mean, mine suffers badly if the dogs run on it too much but I can`t keep them off all the time, its simply not fair on them, is there anyway you could fence an area off and use it as a dog run, that is what I have done here and its been a godsend.........

I have never had a cat problem with gravel either,Sk.I love mine and don't miss the lawn at all.I have a couple of non invasive grasses planted in mine,and its great to stand tubs on too,..good drainage for the plants.No slugs or snails either..yippee ! Sorry to hear you haven't been well,and hope you are feeling much better now,take care ...

I'm going to gravel in a few areas myself - one spot is next to the house and can't be planted because there's so much rock underneath, and also the access to the plumbing is there & any plants would just get trampled if I ever had to have repairs done. And I really want to just cement over the messy storage area next to the shed (now a doghouse). I can't keep it neat and if I don't keep up with it it gets very weedy.
I have 3 dogs, so from personal experience i would say there probably isn't much you can do about the lawn....I have just let my dogs have free reign over the back yard & I do my thing in the front. They like to travel between the house and the back fence, where the neighbor's horses like to hang out, and it doesn't take long for them to create a trail.

My 'big' euonymus looks dead aswell
:o( along with several other plants.
Hope you can get your pond sorted out, and something nice to replace the laurel. Those daffs look wonderful. I hope they give you a nice show again this year.
I hope you are feeling better now.

Thanks everybody think the gravel is the way to go, read an article somewhere (prob gardeners world mag) as long as gravel is a large enough size cats won't use it so will make sure its a larger size than pea gravel.
Feeling more like myself now just taken Rocky out for his morning walk nice day some sunshine poking through the clouds makes you feel happy doesn't it?
Will let you all know how the garden goes when i get it done!!!

I've just seen this blog, SK....how are your plans coming along for your gravel garden? Have you come up with some ideas?

Pleased you are feeling better after a rather unhealthy winter....roll on spring eh? Don't overdo things and set yourself back healthwise. Happy planning :)

funny you should ask that Whistonlass, i've just been taking phone calls for quotes for patio's! i have thought of a patio near the lounge picture window then to have a path down to the archway with gravel either side, then i can put a few pots on that for colour, hubby says i have to draw a plan....errrr well i'll have a go!!! lol

That sounds like a good idea Sk.You will have somewhere to sit,if you have a patio there,and look at all your tubs on the gravel,from your window,as well...make it easy for yourselves,it makes life so much easier..:o)