GAZEBO

Well thats absolutely lovely!! Well worth the hard work, and what a pretty garden.

That is brilliant, Tetrarch, you must have all worked so hard to do it so quickly. I saw something similar to this at a garden centre recently and fell it love with it. Too large for my small space but lovely to see it in your setting. Bet you all sleep well tonight :)

I agree with Gee it is brilliant. The gravel just sets it off and it looks really professional. Well done all. Love it.

oh, that is lovely, i really like the contrast between the light coloured gravel and the dark gazebo and then the planting is really lovely.
do you have kevin mccloud coming round to examine your grand design?

Well that is absolutely wonderful! What a cracking job OH has made of it, it's so neat and professional looking. Of course I think the planting is top notch and the whole garden is a joy! Well done, a real sanctuary for you to relax and contemplate the beauty of nature. Congratulations!

Looking good .. added to GoYpedia Feature Ideas :o)

Fantastic gazebo Tet. Its will be stunning with all those plants in bloom, what a lovely garden you have and I love the shape of your Lilac tree, beautiful.

All your hard work has really paid off - it all looks lovely.

Oh yes!! That looks lovely, well done all of you.....

What a lovely sight - it really sets the garden off - Well done !

That looks realy lovely, like the photo looking through to the other arch. and the night one's not bad as well.
you should be pleased after all that hard work. you need to post a photo at the end of the summer when its all grown up!

Thank you everyone for your kind comments. It really makes our aching bones worthwhile lol!!! I have passed on your comments to OH, as he is the one that makes things come alive for me. He is really chuffed that you all like it..Ive even seen him go out a couple of times just to look at it and adjust a pebble here and there..he's such a perfectionist! Bless his cotton socks, he's a quiet man that just gets on with things.

Brilliant thats transformed the centre of the garden.well done Ken!!

That gazebo is lovely, where did you get it?
I really fancy an arch or a gazebo when I get my garden finished.

Thanks Brian, your comment was much appreciated. We must get Jamie to sit in the middle and pose for a picture!

Donna, we bought from Fenland Ironworks and as I didnt want a standard size they made it for us specially. They were very helpful and the chap there was very nice. Even helped out with delivery at a reasonable cost. Its absolutely solid, very heavy and excellent quality and price. Can highly recommend. I give below a link
http://www.seriousgardener.co.uk/Special-arches-gazebos-obelisks.htm otherwise Google Fenland Ironworks.
They are in Cambridge which is a bit far from you, but Bristol wasnt an easy delivery either.

I absolutely love that gazebo Tet. Your garden looks beautiful.

Brilliant Tet, well done all of you. Love the planting too!

Thank you Terra, Im really flattered! Thanks Lulu. Annella your garden is fantastic, Id just love to have those banks of flowers by the steps (but shallower steps for me lol!)

You'll be charging entry fee before long ... fabulous gazebo ... well done to all of you for installing it so quickly ... looking forward to the pics of the climbers twining through it. : o ))

I'll pay!! x

I'll sneak you in for free Lou but dont tell anyone!

that looks so good & great set of photo's TT. The iris wont dissapoint in that setting,superb.

It's a date!

What a great job. OH deserves 10 out of 10 for that and it only took four days. It is unbelievable what you did so quickly. Move over all those TV gardeners.

That's a gorgeous garden Tetrach, the Gazebo and all the planting is just lovely! What a lot of hard work, but oh so worth it, just look at the finished result!

What a great idea selling you plants on the drive, sounds like fun. I bet there all snapped up good and fast! I wish I lived on your road!

stunning .................. love that gazebo !! gawjus .......................

Your gazebo was sure worth the wait through winter. It is looking beautiful...standing proud in your lovely garden, M. It is so good when you have a plan in your head of the finished project, the patience to see it through...and then be able to look out from your home to see how wonderful it looks :)

It really blends in well with your garden and with the second arch too, it looks so inviting. Once those flowers bloom and the climbers take off it is going to look so pretty. I'll look forward to your progress shots, M. Ken did a fantastic job making the dream a reality :) Well done!

(Thanks for you message M...I had somehow missed this blog until now...glad you told me you'd written this x)

Thanks J, am sending a pic showing a temporary statue in the middle. We are now on the search...

Just perfect for its setting, and I love the design of your garden . . . well done, you can sit back now, and enjoy your view!!

Not yet Sheilabub, still have 30 or 40 plants to put in the garden..holes dug but now have to finish planting. OH does the hard work of course, I just supervise. Still its hard on the legs all that standing around lol!
Then I will be potting up two clematis, one for by the back door and one for the front.
No rest for the wicked my friend..I must have been very wicked!!

your Gazebo and garden are looking beautiful, well done to you, sorry I missed this when you put it on,

You will have to stop by on your way home Yorkie! Cream tea and beer optional!!

I will have a word with Ralph, not sure what way we will be travelling, I think we pass you on the way to Swindon, but not sure about Littlehampton, I must say it would be very nice to see you, x

If you travel down the M6 and take the M5 thru Wolverhampton, you pass Whistonlass first, Sticki next, Lulu next and then me! Take a week why dont you lol!

your mad, we are away for a week, go down M1 then the A34, easier journey than going around the M25 which I hate driving on, nice thought though to visit all you lot,

Looks like something from a fairy tale, beautiful....all that's needed is a statue in the centre.....perhaps a living one Tet?

Have a look in 5 mins BA, at my latest pics..

Oh this is just the ticket, well done to you both, sets the garden off a treat.

Thanks DD.
Thanks all of you, that I didnt reply to individually, Scotsgran, Sandygirl, Helenium etc. We have been so busy, that the only time I have been getting to catch up is during our "tea" breaks, and in the middle of the night when I cant sleep for an hour or so! And there are such a lot of great pictures to look at.
We have just started revamping the front garden also..soil is hard as rock, but OH managed to get a fork in. He patiently breaks up lumps of dried clay soil by hand, and we have spread a bag of old horse manure around with some feed and gravel and damped it all down waiting for rain!!
We are looking forward to our first "visitors" Friday, Bjs and his wife and Jamie. But guess it still wont be done by then because its so dry. It takes well over 1.5 hours to water the back let alone the front and if this dry spell continues I guess the water board wont be too happy at our usage lol!
I will be posting a blog about the front later.
If any of you are nearby at any time, you will be welcome..cant promise the house will be tidy (or me!) but would enjoy seeing you.

Good luck with the front, dont work too hard, if we were nearer we would be there. We might, just might have some rain!! this weekend.

It must stay fine tomorrow afternoon, but after that, well just not too heavy to damage the blooms. And you never know DD, life can take you places...

Hi Tetra when you said you lived near Bristol I thought I had got the wrong person because I thought, dear knows why, that you and your lovely Gazebo lived in Cheshire. I know I miss blogs etc but I was mystified at there being two beautiful blogs about the same subject and am so glad I was wrong.

Yes I saw from another posting that your rellies live near us, we live south of Bristol centre also. We can see the suspension bridge and Ashton Court and are not too far from either.

You are probably not more than 10 to 15 miles from her then. Does Ashton Court have gardens. I know it is owned by the council and has a very old oak tree and you can book the house for weddings etc. but nothing else.

They have two large borders in front of the main house, but they havent been imaginatively planted over last few years, mainly monkshood, Sea Kale and Globe Thistles.
They have a new rose garden which is contained in wrought iron surrounds with gates. Last year it was riddled with black spot, and I spent an hour quietly dead heading roses lol!

That is a shame. I suppose council cutbacks mean fewer gardeners to look after places like Ashton Court. I'm glad no one bothered you when you were dead heading. maybe you need to ask them to start a "Friends of Ashton Court" support group before anyone starts to think it is looking so tatty it would be better sold off to the developers. Big green spaces like these are so precious to the local community but no one realises how easy it is to lose them until usually it is all done and dusted.

They do hold the balloon festival there, the North Somerset Show and a Classic Car Rally, besides weddings and parties. But they could make more of the woodland walks and the rhododendrons..

Sounds like it is well used then.

I bet the gazebo and surrounds are really filling up now and looking lovely. Have you taken recent pictures, M? I am so far behind in catching up with blogs and photos I may have missed them; sorry if that is the case!

Been out in our garden this afternoon...hubby digging holes and me planting a few new plants. Just about time to begin the shade/woodland area (poor hubby...he's fed up of visiting GC and plant stores and getting out his wallet!...lol...he ain't seen nothing yet!).

Are you all finished with your plant sales for the time being? No blooms on the iris you kindly gave me but they are standing proud in all their greenery...think it will be next year before I see any flowers though.

Hi J, yes the iris will be next year now. Just scrape away the soil to show those knobbly bits in the ground. They absolutely NEED to see the sun or you wont get flowers next year!
Will email you with a pic.
Well, next time Alex sits in his deck chair, remind him there is nothing nicer to look at or more rewarding to watch grow than beautiful flowers. They may not be edible but they are good for the soul! Its one medicine that is easy to take despite the drain on the purse!
Still doing weekend sales, tho if they forecast rain all day (like today) we wont do it. Best and easiest job I ever had, should have done it years ago lol! Got the shifting of plants down to a "T", only takes us about 20 mins, then we sit in the hall waiting for customers, either reading or doing sudokus, what a life lol! We open up the garden and they can go see what some of the plants look like. Helps to sell stuff.
If you want quick ground cover, especially along the front edge, get hardy geranium, most flower all summer and when a flush is over, give them a haircut to about 3" and they will grown and flower again. And they spread (not invasively). Like Helianthemum the top growth spreads out (see my last pic above. bottom by the solar light is one small 9cm pot of Helianthemum that is now about 2.5 feet wide. Just cut back every year. Good value for money and the bees love both plants.

I did not realise you open your garden Tetra. I will need to pay a visit when I am down again. Only fine weekends is that right.

Yep, so come along Scotsgran..and its free! (wouldnt dare trying for NGS)

Often a few gardens get together to join the NGS. If you had a few neighbours who are like minded I think you would easily qualify.Apparently you only need to have enough interest to keep peoples attention for 20 mins. minimum. They are anxious to have gardens open to show owners of smaller garden what can be done. I hope to see you again soon.

Im truly not sure if mine would qualify, its not colour co-ordinated like Spritz's or have such interesting plants as Dottydaisy's. Okay I have a blue border and a pink border and a hot border, but I have a pink in the blue and a blue in the pink and the hot one duh! and the plants are all jumbled...I like it the way it is..wouldnt want to have to change it for some inspector/ress lol. If things arent working or they disappoint me, I change it and try something else.
Im a scaredy cat too of course lol! Its like taking exams..good marks thru the year and flunk the test!!!

I'm sure you would not flunk. The comments you receive on here should assure you that you have a garden which others would love to have. That means you inspire them and that is what the NGS is all about. They do not want carbon copies of what others have and I'm sure Spritz and other NGS owners would hate to think nobody would come because it would be like going down too many high streets in our towns and cities all across the country. Same old, same old. We enjoy the diversity of what others do and we want to see where we could improve on something in our own garden but carbon copies would be a real disappointment.

Goodness Scotsgran, you should be an NGS Inspector!

LOL

I like the colourof your newly painted wall. As you say it does make a huge difference. It is a very soothing colour.

I am really pleased to see one of the Gazebos we have made used to such stunning affect. What a fantastic garden.