My messy bits for Melchi

Love this Stera !
You have started something now .

Ah I see, well mine is going to be easier than yours I guess, off down the garden with my camera.....

I don't think your last photo is untidy. Surely dying off bulbs don't count? I think my garden is tidy, but you should see the garage. Couldn't put the car in it.
Oh! and the car port has my trays of seedlings under it. Couldn't put the car under that either.

Hi Sue, well it doesn't look that bad, so you have a few weeds you haven't got around to yet, but who hasn't, with the time I get to work in the garden, it takes me all summer to get the weeds down, not to mention some tall hollies and conifers that I've been intending to cut down for the last 3 years, so I'm afraid you don't win this 1, lol, Derek.

Well I guess this is one I don't really want to win Derek!
Trouble at this time of year is that by the time you've got round weeding some of the beds fresh ones have grown in the first ones.

Siris, most of the green behind the bulbs near the front is actually grass and weeds - they don't show up on the photo. Its more or less solid and I keep putting it off.
What looks like bulb foliage behind is very healthy grass...
Our garage too is hard to walk through for clutter but its not my responsibility!

We can't all be perfect Snoop!

Is this going to be the new trend?! Not sure I can join in as I keep the garden tidier than the house (and I'm NOT going to take photos inside the house!). Thanks for making me smile though Sue :))

Good on you, Stera! The messy bits are still garden, aren't they? ?. And I could never claim to be perfect!

I've been pondering the weed growth and thinking seriously about it, I might not get many but thats a bad thing really as I don't get nice veg either which is why I only grow a few and use the rest for flowers and shrubs..I do get couch grass coming through under the fence in the dog area, it doesn't last long, any one who has dogs will tell you they provide a very good weed killer each time they widdle, lol.....
How big is your garden Stera, I've been looking at your pics and cannot really tell, it seems to me that you have what I call a meandering garden, lots of hidden dells, I like ones set out that way whereby you are encouraged to wander to find its treasures because they are not seen in the first glance.....

Not sure how big it is Sue, as its in three bits. The back is about the size of one and a half tennis courts, the front is about one, including the drive etc, and then we have a long triangular bit (the bonfire pic) where I grow my few veg etc.If you cut it up and made it into a rectangle I guess you could make another one at a squeeze, but that's heavily shaded on the west side by big trees and theres a five foot beech hedge on the east side so its not all that good for growing things, with the shade and the roots.

Most of the garden is still lawn though as when we moved here grass was all there was except for a few fairly sad bushes.

I'm gradually removing a long privet hedge in the back and putting shrubs in but its creep and go there. That's where the magnolia and hellebores are in my photos.
On the other side of the privet and ex-privet is the "wild bank" which slopes very steeply down to the road, edged by more sycamores. Access is a bit awkward since I hurt my foot so I don't go down there mucI was interested to hear about your time in the mills. My grandma was a Lancashire mill girl - started work part time when she was 10. How times change!

I like your garden, Stera! I bet your popular with the local wildlife!

My comments are going walkabout again..
Stera that is a big garden you have there, I know what you mean about the weeding now, it must be never ending but you'll get there, being all grass when you moved in you have a challenge on your hands unless you are lucky enough to hire a landscape gardener, no fun in that is there, a bit at a time is the only way isn't it, I love the idea of a wild bank, you sure have the room for one, I think I'd be tempted to just strim a path to wander along and let nature take its course with the rest, I bet its wonderful for the wildlife, shame you haven't got a stream as well, my mind is going into yearn mode again, lol..
I did say mine would be the easiest, we've been here over 40yrs so its well established which does make it a case of just caring for whats already here, unless I get bored, even then I can only change a bit at a time because of the way its set out but I often wish I had a challenge on my hands...

The bank goes very steeply straight down to the road so a stream would just fall off! It would be lovely though. But we do have our little pond now at long last - water makes all the difference doesn't it? The bank is too steep to do anything with. OH pulled out all the cows parsley before it seeded and he strims it once in late summer. But that's all we do. Something, either a badger of a fox or possibly both, we don't see them, walks along the path so we can still see where it is and it does get strimmed once or twice. Its got very uneven though and I have to be very careful for my foot. If we were a lot younger we would pick and shovel it into some sort of order!

The trouble with a landcape gardener apart from all the cost (and they usually want lots of hard landscaping as well which I'm too mean to buy!) is that most of the designs I've seen don't really do it for me. But I'm no good at design, I have to try it and see if it works, and then forget what I was going to move round when Autumn comes...but working in the garden keeps us fitter than housework, or at least that's my story...

I thought your garden was lovely - you could always challenge yourself by changing the contents and feel of one of the beds when you foot's better, but if its not broke, don't fix it!

My garden has virtually nothing in at the moment but still has grotty corners.........two piles of earth (excavated when laying bases for shed and greenhouse) and loads of pots on the patio (plants that I brought from the old house but no borders yet to plant them in)

Yes but you have a valid excuse Paul!

You can come and empty one of my sheds if you like Paul, I could fill the other corners for you and then I could have room to work in them instead of mucking up the g'house...
Its because we haven't moved house you know, my girl has moved four times during her marriage and always says its a good idea cos she has an excuse for a mega clear out... ..

Well, I don't think I'll be moving again.But, I do try to keep my shed nice and clear...don't like clutter!

Only just found this Stera ! I don't know why, but I don't seem to get notified of everyones blogs like I used to !
I only have one tiny hidden corner which is at the side of the garage and now has a trellis across it with Montana climbing up. The garden isn't big enough for hidden corners...or it could be that I'm too particular ! lol
It looks like you have a large garden ! I agree with Mel...its good for the wild life ! lol

Well there is that Rose, but the larger things only come at night and we never see them. I've managed to get a bit of weeding done since the photos were taken but there is way to go yet!

Your garden may be smaller but it is very beautiful, which is probably more important!

Thanks Stera.

Stera - I also have been doing a lot of weeding. I shamed myself into it!