2011 - Focus

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Thank you for all the lovely comments so far! This will be my last post today, I promise! Though it is kind of long – it brings the story of my garden right up to date :-)

In 2011 I focused my attention on the front garden, and planting up the garage & conservatory beds. Until I can re-fence the back & shade beds as previously mentioned, there is not much I can really do with them. Hopefully this will be getting done before Easter as I can’t cope with another summer of being terrorised by that dog! This is the Shade Garden as it is today (March 2012):

In the front garden I built a rockery at the top, and laid a slate path down the edge of the driveway to stop people walking on the lawn. I planted a small weeping cherry in the centre of the lawn where there had previously been a holly bush (not sure if it was there intentionally!), and planted Mahonias, a Rose & a Peony in the side border, and a mixture of perennials & bulbs in front of the house. In 2012 I will fill out the planting in the side border (though I’m not yet sure what with!), but other than that I’m pretty happy with how it looks.

The ornamental cherry with daffodils around the base:

The rockery as it was in the beginning:

The rockery thinned out a bit:

Front of house bed, including a hardy Fuschia, a small Azalea which has sadly caught the frost, a beautiful Hebe and some bulbs. There’s also a Hydrangea, a couple of Lavenders and an Astilbe which has disappeared for the winter.

I’ve planted the garage bed using pinks & purples. Unfortunately I don’t have any pictures of it during the summer, but this is how it looks now (March 2012). I think I’ll leave it pretty much as-is this year, just filling out any gaps as they appear. I think the bulbs which are appearing are Allium, there’s also a Hebe and Honesty on the right of the picture, a lavender & some Aubretia in the centre, and behind that are the beginnings of Lupins, Holyhocks & dead nettle and there’s also a hardy geranium which has died back for the winter. Sweetpeas grow up the garage wall, clinging to some invisible netting.

The conservatory bed is my “hot bed” and has been planted using yellows, reds & oranges. The concrete drain cover has been hidden benath a half-barrel containing a Kilmarnock Willow, and I intend to plant Clematis “Golden Tiara” over the obliesk to add a bit of height & interest when looking out at the garden from inside the conservatory. There are daffodils underplanted with a couple of bright orange African Lillies, and the rose on the left is Graham Thomas. On the right are some Iris & a Red Hot Poker, and where the drainpipe comes down is a pot filled with water making a small water garden & stopping the soil-splash I was getting

And finally the patio. I have a dwarf bamboo, a corkscrew hazel, a small Acer & some ornamental grasses in the silver pots

And then on the steps is a Passionflower, a couple of Heathers, a Camellia, another small Acer and a pot of Dianthus

I created this small bed from where the overgrown climbers were, I just raised the soil level slightly and have put in some low-maintenance grasses. It stops quite suddenly at the moment and drops about a foot in height, but when I extend the paving across the width of the garden, I’ll continue the bed across.

Thank you all so much for your kind comments so far, I’m off to explore this site a bit more! I’ve lurked for a few years, it’s nice to be able to come out and say hello!

• 6 Mar, 2012
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