Garden developments

Good grief, you have been busy!! Its a wonder you haven't done yourself an injury with all that re-vamping.
What a fab job you have done. My block paving is still waiting to be done, so if you are in the area.........

Hehe....GDad....I had lots of help from my garden lady and her team of 2 men. Some of the revamp was just too much for hubby and I to tackle. I'm having the fun now of tweeking to my heart's content :) That's the best part!

Your block paving will be great when it's done as the standard of workmanship so far has been excellent. I hope you can soon report it has been completed and tell us all about it...with photos too, of course!

ooh whistonlass its looking great im glad its come together for you at last, and lucy looks great

Wow W.lass your plants are coming on great aren't they? Its amazing how quickly they spread and grow in this lovely warm sunshine that we are having, I have noticed that my new border has really filled out but I do not have much colour at the mo. so I am adding that bit by bit. We are still waiting for 'my man' to come and hopefully finish the last bit of the garden and thats the 'dump' at the bottom, not long now I hope, we have had to be patient haven't we? I am so glad you are enjoying your little bit of 'heaven', take care and dont overdo things just enjoy.

Its really looking good. So pleased for you and OH. Its going to look even better as everything gets established and makes new growth.

Looking good - it will look even better when everything starts spreading and filling in the gaps. Well done.

It's looking good...you sound as excited as I am about my new plants. Most of mine are newly planted this year. You must post again, too let us see the difference. Well done W'Lass!

It's so lovely to read of your obvious joy in creating your garden J. Its looking great. I particularly like your rockery!

I am glad you are enjoying the good bit.....planting!!
The grass looks great. You can sit back and enjoy the next bit.....watering can in hand.

I am looking forward to everything growing bigger and filling out more of the border...it's so easy to be discouraged when there are big blanks of soil....but I'm not finished yet....more plants to get :)

Thanks Linda, Karen, Scottish, Sheila, Cinders, Ann and GMage...we're all enjoying the fun of creating our gardens and as I've often heard others say...you never are finished, there is always something to tweek.

I am really pleased with the rockery as it is totally my creation...made necessary because there is concrete under the patio so no depth of soil and it was impossible to get all but the first layer of concrete removed (the garden team did that bit for me). I used the grit sand that was leftover so that made a layer to build the area up...then we chose the pebbles and put them down. The rocks were via our daughter...a freecycle find, as were the slate chippings. I've just put pockets of topsoil in spots and planted up...I will get more succulents to add as time goes on. It doesn't get much sun on that area so I can't think of any colourful plants I could place there, especially with no depth of soil available. Anyone any suggestions for plants???

Hello! You're obviously having a fantastic time there in your piece of paradise. You've got a lovely new selection of plants there too, I'm sure it's lots of fun deciding where to put them! The grass is looking lovely and lush, and I think those little white flowers are the elderflower blowing on to the grass, ours is covered in white spirea flowers! Take care now and don't wreck yourself, don't forget to have a wee sit down with Lucy... relax and enjoy just being still for a while!

Lucy had 2 friends in the garden this evening....and they were all getting along really well :) Yes, Libet I am having a happy time in the garden...I think you are right to say it must be elderflower blowing onto the grass...I'll take a closer look tomorrow.

We've been told not walk on the turf for 3 weeks but my borders are getting compacted quickly so I think we may misbehave and chance walking on the grass as it's looking so good after a week anyhow. Rebels, aren't we? lol

We've got lawn chairs to rest and relax in...and we're doing our share of that most days too, Libet...no worries!

Its really looking like someone's waved a magic wand..sooo different!! I can well understand you going for grass..its easy on the eye and soft on the feet too.
If you are anything like me you will fill it to bursting and then next year it will all spring up and you wont see a bare patch anywhere!
Just in case you are thinking about it J, NO! it wouldnt been wise to sleep out on the lawn every night..you will get the pip! lol! Tho I bet you hate to leave it every night

Ohhh! Whist, you wee divil!! Don't you go prancing across your lovely new lawn in your stilettos! Lol! ;0)
That's so great you're getting the weather to relax in! We had hailstones today, and a wee tornado yesterday! Bizarre weather! 3-4 degrees tonight! Bbbbrrrr! Have fun pet! (hug!)

What a lovely makeover! And how you are enjoying it all! I can see loads of fun for you in your new garden! :o)

O! how exciting for you WL the garden is coming along just great. I love the new rockery and plants, you must be in heaven now with your lovely garden. The summer house is going to be a another great part of the garden, looking forward to the pic of that too! I love your enthusiasm it is really shining through, and I'm so happy for you.

Well,what a transformation,Jacquie..it looks lovely..It's such good feeling,choosing plants..and with a blank canvas,to have just what you want..Well done,you are doing a great job... :o)

With the comments on my happy disposition I'm reminded of Ken Dodd and his happy stick song "Happiness, happiness, the greatest gift that I possess." lol I could be accused of resembling the Cheshire Cat with my wide grins these days :)

Ok M and Libet....I promise to behave myself...stilettos and sleep-outs are on my NOT TO DO list :) I will do my best to be patient with regards stepping onto the lawn before it's "allowed"....not an easy option. The borders are so compacted I will have to re-work the soil bit by bit...not an easy job for me...little and often will do the trick!

Teds, it will be a few weeks yet before we have the little summer house in situ. It sounds so pretty and I think will be a real eye-catcher once in place. It has little window boxes too which sounds delightful. Pleased you like the rockery...a work in progress and so satisfying to put my mark on it all.

M...what does "get the pip" mean? I've asked hubby and he hasn't heard that expression before, nor have I. You've got us flummoxed...lol

Nariz...you are kind with your comments...and yes you see rightly...lots of fun in our garden these days! :)

Bloomer...thank you for sharing in my delight :) I have to pinch myself to believe it really is our garden, at last! I will have lots of fun expanding my collection of plants and hopefully what I have planted up already will thrive with my inexperience.

Well done, Whistonlass...you put me to shame! You've worked tirelessly over the last few weeks...I have followed your other blogs as well! I wish I had your energy! LOL.

It's all coming together for you now....how lovely! A job well done indeed!

I can't take all the credit, Izzy....we had a lady gardener and two men to do the heavy stuff. I get the fun part now in creating a space with my mark on it :)

Energy is severely lacking here but lovin' what I can accomplish. Thanks for your kind comments, Izzy.

It is looking great Whistonlass - really good work you have put in there. Enjoy the rest of your work. Keep taking pictures and posting. Best wishes - Oliveoil

Its all looking great... youve got the best bit to do now, choosing all the plants and finding where to put them... your rockery is coming along well.....

I feel almost as excited as you to see how you have transformed yoUr garden Jacquie its looking great, I can understand it if you decide to sleep out I wouldnt want to come indoors either! Will look forward to seeing all the plants start to fill out and blossom, so keep the pictures coming;0)))

Thanks to you ladies (Olive, Hollyeves, PP). I am having a great time and promise I will continue to take photos and share what's happening in our garden.

I have been to Morrison's today...bought a potted geranium that has two-toned leaves (not very blousy blooms but veined leaves), two Rudebekia and a winter flowering clematis (can't remember the name akm...but it does have white flowers in the description). I'll be out in the garden after dinner tonight doing a bit of planting and tidying. We've been out all afternoon doing the dreaded shopping (except I got to buy plants...that was the good part) lol

After a showery start to the morning it has turned lovely and sunny....I guess the hose will be coming out tonight!

Hiya,wow you have been a busy bee,really like the rockery where you have also use some slate great textures,seeing your rockery area is making me want one ! wonder if i can get one in out in my front garden,youv picked up some lovely plants as well good luck also with your seeds i put some out my front they can be a bit hit and miss but about half of mine have come up,look forwards to seeing more of your ever changing garden :)

thats looking great now w.l .................. just put in seach engine shade woodland plants ........... and pics shud come up , you will have fun doing that bit , and most allpines/ rockery plants will be ok 4 your new gravel /rockery ....................... enjoy . ps wot bt little tiny weeny water feature , nothing more relaxing ............ than sound of water
you can get solar ones x

Whdebor....so you've had these seeds too. Your reports are similar to what my friend found...some seeds "took"; others did not. I'll have fun experimenting in any case. I hope you can develop a rockery one day too...I still have to keep an eye out for plants for that area so it'll be an ongoing project (like the rest of the garden)..lol

I'll do the search for woodland plants, Cristina. I do want a water feature at some point although I don't yet have electricity in the garden (a future addition). I have heard some not-so-good reports on solar water features so have been reluctant to use one of those...the same with solar lights (I'd like to add some lighting too so it sparkles at night out there!). I too love the sound (tinkling, not rushing) of water...very soothing. Also want to add a windchime (the wooden type that give a gentle sound and remind me of Buddhist monks for some reason). All in good time :)

If you want electric lights J, you really should do it now before planting, as the wires will probly need to be put underground...

You have a lot of features planned for you lovely garden,Jacquie..and I don't want to spoil your dreams,but if you get a windchime..lovely as they are..don't have it too near the house..its a definite,for keeping you awake ,when its windy !..we did,and had to take it down,..ringing in the ears in the middle of the night,is not good ..Felt a bit like being in a 'Heidi' book.Lol.

We have discussed the electricity supply and are hoping it can be sited on the perimeter of the borders and eventually into the small summer house once it is in situ. It's one of those "wants" but don't "need"....M, I guess you would know about those kind of dilemmas too :) lol

We could do with outside electricity for the electric lawnmower...we do have an extension cord which can be used from inside the garage along with one of those safety cut-out things. Must look into this very soon and get some costings if nothing else.

My plan with the windchime is to site it under the elderberry tree at the back end of the garden. I'm not sure how loud it would be...but thanks for the gentle warning, Bloomer! I didn't consider that it might disturb us (or possibly the neighbours as well!).

W.lass, we hang our wind chime out just in the summer and bring it in for the winter, not sure why, I suppose its due to the inclement weather! Although that can happen in summer too! Lol.

That makes perfect sense, GMage...the winter would soon wreck a lovely windchime. Good suggestion, if and when I have one...lol

Lol. put it on the to do list!!

Aye, aye, Captain...lol

My goodness, W'lass. Read all your blogs about your garden revamp...impressive. You've done a great job of planting... everything looks wonderful! Isn't it a joy? the space you've made here is so welcoming...Lucy feels right at home...and the grandkids will have a place to play. You will have a lovely summer's enjoyment and you still have the summerhouse plans to accomplish come winter! Wow!

What a busy and interesting time you're having! Good luck with the iris. I have had NO success with them. Can I recommend hardy geranium? A huge variety of flowers. Survive more or less anywhere.

Wow it's really looking lovely now, I especially love the borders. Your turf really look's fab I'm jealous.

By the way my seed has finally started to grow, I may have a lawn too soon, lol!

Thank you Lori...it's been a long time in getting underway but I am very much enjoying the challenge and excitement of developing our garden.....so much so that I couldn't get to sleep last night and ended up getting up for a couple of hours...my mind just doesn't shut off! lol

I hope I can grow the Iris with success, Kowhai. I will be taking some of the soil away from the ones that haven't bloomed this year as they need the corms exposed to the sun in order to "feed" (I think that's what it is!) so once the rain has eased off I'll be out there doing just that. Yes, hardy geranium has been suggested to me...I will have to locate some. I have some geraniums in the garden but I don't think they are the ones you mention (I am new to all of this so easily confused on what is what!)

Cupcake....how good is that? :) Your seed is starting to grow...I hope you are getting some of the rain we've been having; it sure does green up the turf and helps with the old water metre too so we don't have to water so often. Hope you soon have a lovely lawn after all your hard work!

Oohhh, I am loving the hardy geraniums too Kowhai... my first two flowered this year and I am totally sold on them.

Lovely progress Jacquie, so glad you're enjoying it so much :)
+ Give Lucy a cuddle from me!

Consider it done, Jenny (Lucy has had a cuddle...she's right beside me...well at my feet...sitting on the footstool of my lazyboy chair having a wash).

Another vote from you, Jenny, for hardy geranium :)

oh, and Spritzhenry did a blog on the differences between hardy geraniums and pelargoniums (the other ones). Might be worth a read :)

http://www.growsonyou.com/spritzhenry/blog/5574-when-is-a-geranium-not-a-geranium

Whiston I`m really happy for you, I can feel your enjoyment in your blog, is the dust collecting now,lol, I`m not being rude about your housekeeping, its just something that happens here when the garden beckons, I always say it will get done at night or when its raining and I`m not busy in the greenhouse.
I have a wonderful tool for my borders, a fork the size of a handfork but it has a long handle, its brilliant for loosening the earth, one can reach without having to kneel or keep bending over, a lot easier on ones back, also I don`t have to keep standing on the beds....

nice to see it all coming together jacquie, well done, glad your enjoying it all so much :o))

Jennyfer, I've just had a good read of Barbara's two blogs on the hardy geraniums (loads of good info/photos/comments there)....and then came back to this blog and here you are, having posted a link for me :)

Lincs....yes the house is suffering due to my enjoyment of being in the garden and even today when it's been rainy and I've not been gardening I've been totally lazy and not done much (even had a nap!). The tool you mention does sound good with its long handle. I don't recall seeing anything like that in the shops but will keep my eyes open for it and see what I think.

I think I have some of the hardy geraniums in the garden but I will have to check and see if any are labelled. They look very similar to the ones mentioned in Barbara's blogs. Too wet out there to go and check tonight!

I too have a long handled very small fork on the end, this is the most used tool in my garden, you can purchase them at garden centres etc. I would be lost without mine, it saves you bending, it also saves the soil from being walked on you can weed with it all the way across to the middle of a big border and take out a weed without having to get into the plants. Well worth its money and it was not that expensive either, go look in the tools section Whistonlass it will be there I am sure. You will be so pleased of it soon.

Actually, they do a separate handle with a selection of small heads you can fit to it. Had one for years.

Do you have a link to the tool, M? I saw a set of tools with long handles and I've seen just the fork long-handled tool when I looked for details on GoY.

I have yet to get to a GC to see if they stock them. There seems to be quite a variety of them available and at varying prices too.

Some great ideas for you there,Jacquie..I had to smile about the fork Handles....I thought of Ronnie Barker,in 'open all hours '.Lol.

that was a brilliant sketch Bloomer, we still laugh everytime we think of it.

http://www.tooled-up.com/artwork/ProdPDF/GardenTools.PDF
This will show you what they look like J. You may be able to get cheaper versions.

Thanks, M....have looked on Amazon as well....I'll see if I can locate these at a local GC...so I can 'handle' (lol) it and see if it seems practical for my use. Ta very much.

Yes, that sketch was the best :)

WLass you are doing so well, the garden looks a treat no wonder you cant stop grinning. I love your mushroom and the little girl sitting with an apron full of apples its so original.
Your rockery is lovely and I like the little painted pot lying on its side.
You`ll have plenty to blog about now as all those plants mature.

You are kind, Stroller. The little painted pot is one of two that our daughter brought home from Spain for us. I plan to hang at least one of them on the concrete fencing but for now it sits nicely in the rockery.

I very much like my little girl with her apron of apples too, thank you for your lovely comments.

You can get Wolf tools that clip onto a handle Wlass. I use one that is triangle one side and 2 pronged fork the other. The very light handles come in different lengths. It is at the expensive end of tools, but you only need to buy if a need arises. It really is interesting to see a small garden transformed so wonderfully well, supported by a good communicator too. Your little rockery is really well done. Is that a bit of Poole pottery I see decorating the Rockery? The dots round the rim and colourings rather suggest that it is. Been collecting that for yonks. Most of my cachepots on the kitchen window ledge are Poole. Not valuable but is a low end collectable.

Dorjac...the pot you mention in my rockery is one of two that our daughter recently brought back for us from Spain. I am very pleased with the rockery as it is now, although I'm certain to be tweeking it for some days to come...lol

I will look at the tools as and when I visit GC and see what seems best. At the moment I've been using a very old (and rusty!) hoe (well I think it's called a hoe...not too "up" on these gardening terms!). That seems to be working ok for now but won't be a lot of use once the borders are filled in more fully....

Everthing is looking so nice, you have put a lot of hard work into it. but its so nice to watch it grow will be waiting for more pictures as things grow

Oh Whistonlass this is such a transformation. I am still catching up and it is a delight to see your brand new garden looking so mature with a lawn, tree and patio and lots of very interesting plants. It is hard to believe this is the same garden as nine months ago. Enjoy it. Lucy is looking very sleek.The grandchildren must be so grateful to be able to share this new space when they visit.

Scotsgran.....yes, it is taking shape...now reality and not just a dream of a garden :)

The grandkids have yet to play on the lawn but it is growing so vigorously now that I think it would be ok to let them on the grass as long as we haven't had a lot of rain. They've liked being on the patio but are quite sly at trying to get on the grass...lol Kids!

Lucy loves the space....I'm not so keen on her batting about the little mouse I saw her with night before last! :(
Not sure if the poor critter survived to see another day as Lucy was determined not to come in the house until it was very dark!

Your kind comments, Pondlady, are much appreciated...thank you so much.

We have a sizeable family of mice in our cement compost heap. Lift up the lid to put in stuff and a little mouse either leaps down the back or freezes and stares with big beady eyes. Crafty Black Cat would love to play with them I'm sure! They tunnel through the rotting mess but look so sleek and groomed! CBC was lurking earlier, before the rain, and lots of new minted sparrows in the border. He leapt out and tried to get one in the air...no such luck....as CBC is getting a bit plump. I shushed him out and he strolled off. He will not flee like most cats. Our last cat Henry was black and white.

Sure is coming along nicely..what a supprise you'll get next year when everything bursts into colour...well done you...

Well, it's been a long time in the making, but it is now finally almost there. I have been watching the development and I am sure that you are thrilled with what you now have. Now comes the best part, watching all the plants growing and maturing and the flower bed filling up Next year will be even better.
Have you had a glass of sparkly wine to celebrate?...
Well done and wishing you all the best.

Thank you again folks for your encouraging comments. I am impatient for the borders to fill out...I suppose that is normal for anyone with a new garden!

Dorjac....we have to be on guard with our kitties...but it is natural behaviour for them and I think there will be a few more episodes with our Lucy :(

Crissue...I am so looking forward to next year when the borders will be fuller :) I got a surprise today to discover in our front border next to where we park our car, have suddenly erupted some "volunteer" poppies....I thought they were weeds and there were loads of them in the back garden before the turf was laid and we took them all out prior to the gardener coming :( I will try and take a photo of the ones in the front....that patch isn't paid much attention as it is on a busy main road and is hidden beside our car when it's parked up there. I wanted poppies so much...and I got them! lol

Thank you Fabrice for your good wishes...my garden is quite sparce just now but it will soon fill up...no sparkly wine yet but I've had lots of cups of coffee out there and some of my bottled water...lol That has to suffice I'm sorry to say...meds and alcohol is a no-no. Did you get some slate when you were away in N. Wales? Hope you managed to find some in the riverbeds.....any new developments in your garden? :)

Ooooohhhh what a lovely new garden you have Whistonlass :)) And thank you for sharing it with us...I love to see a new garden develop, it's so exciting :)
Enjoy every moment of it...xx

Thank you, PDuck....definitely the garden is my most enjoyable project for a very long time...it's a dream come true.

Drop by and see our garden in person, PD :)

W.lass, I posted a photo of my border especially for you just to show you how mine have grown after me starting from scratch this year, take a look.!