How does your garden grow?

14 June 2020


It has been a long time since I posted about my garden and since several of you have asked me recently to show you some photos I thought it was about time I did a tour again.  I live in a terraced house which means my garden is long and thin.  We have a very large wild rabbit population living in the railway embankment that runs along the back of our garden.  The first thing we had to do when we moved in was to fence of the entire garden and rabbit proof the fencing to ensure that anything we planted would grow.  We were amazed when we did this to discover that what we thought was a dead twig in the ground was a Holly tree which has now grown to a healthy height.  It seems that rabbits will eat anything!

So come up the steps and through the gate, which my husband made, and I will show you round.  (The words will refer to the photo below throughout this post):


Once we are through the gate, we are looking down the side of the garage/workshop building which is behind our house.  We have an access strip behind all the houses in the terrace which enables all the houses to drive their cars round the back of the houses should they so wish.  We are not allowed to build on this strip of land and it has remain accessible to everyone at all times.  It is a great safe place for children to play.  Sorry where was I.  So, down the side of the garage and workshop we have a narrow path with a wood store on the right and a long narrow bed on the left.  My lupins are still doing well and continuing to flower, beyond them I have some heather plants, nasturtiums and a lemon balm mint which I make a pot of tea with daily.


At the end of the path we come to a paved area and the garden opens out to its full width.  There is another wood shed on the right here (we have three in total), on the roof of which are some of solar panels providing power to the garage and workshop.  This is also where I hang our laundry outside, providing it is not raining - we get a lot of rain!  The lowest bed is my herbs, the chives grow rather well as you can see and are taking over the paved area too,  I love the flowers, they are really tasty to eat in salads, as do the bees so I leave them on for as long as possible but as you can see I have not managed that every time as they have spread rather a lot!  I also have marjoram, sage, salad burnet, comfrey, yarrow and plantain in this bed.  The right hand pot has a horseradish plant in it, I was told when I bought it to leave it in a pot as it can take over so that is where it has stayed.  To the left of the photo is a step up to a path which winds its way to the top of the garden.  The ferns arrived from I know not where and do get rather large if I don't keep them in check.  The higher bed has a fruit cage with a blackcurrant and white currant bush.  We have had to rebuild this this year, we often get strong winds and despite us using lines to hold it down it had not survived.  We have used metal joints on it now and made it a bit smaller, hopefully it will be able to withstand the battering it gets!  Reducing it in size has meant that I have a bit more space for growing vegetables.  I have planted sunflowers and green beans in front of the cage and sown carrot seeds to the side.


As we walk up the shallow steps of the path there is a large unruly honeysuckle growing along the fence.  We inherited this with the garden.  It has had a very severe haircut this winter, not that you would know.......there is also a Rowan tree and behind it a Hawthorn.  We didn't plant either of these trees, we suspect that the birds bought them to us by sitting on the fence and pooping out the seeds.


At the top of the shallow steps is a trellis.  There is a lovely climbing plant growing on this trellis, its leaves change colour in the sun.  I think the recent dry weather has not been to its liking, it doesn't seem to be doing as well this year.  There is some aquilegia growing in front of the trellis, another plant that 'arrived' in our garden.


On the other side of the trellis is a very small wildlife pond.  The birds love to come here to bathe and drink.  We also have a couple of resident toads in the garden.  The large yellow float, a buoy we found washed up on a beach, is to stop the pond freezing over in the winter.  Just out of view is a nest box which is used every year by blue tits, if you are quiet, when passing, you can hear the chicks.  Alice and Daddy made the small wattle fence round the pond, replacing a rather old rotten wooden fence.


From the trellis the path bends to the right round the back of the fruit cage.   To the left is another wattle fence also made by Alice.  Ahead are three large rhubarb plants and a hedge of rosehips, when we bought the house these plants were down both sides of the garden, we have left this one small section which is now about 7ft tall!


As we walk along the path the bed to the left has purple sprouting broccoli plants that I planted last year and are just starting to run to seed.  Next to them is my broad bean frame, the plants are growing well despite the fact that it has turned cool again, they grow well here as I think they must like the cooler temperatures.  Next to them are onions and then Jerusalem artichokes.  The three light stems next to the fence are the holly tree I mentioned before.



As you come round the bend in the path you are facing the polytunnel.  On the left is the purple sprouting broccoli on the right the rhubarb and next to them a large patch of wild strawberries, another plant that has arrived in our garden and grows just about everywhere!  We have just planted a small apple tree in this bed, a tree that I grafted by hand.  It will be a few years before it is producing fruit for us but we are looking forward to the day it does.


It is impossible to take a photo of the whole of the inside of the polytunnel so I have taken a few.  We use it to extend our growing season and to grow plants that would not thrive outside.  I have a mixture of beds and pots in here to make as much use of the space as possible, last year it was very full at the height of the growing season.  Currently I have courgette, cucumber and lettuce plants in the beds and tomatoes in pots on the floor.  The large plastic bottles are full of water which heat up during the day, they help to keep the temperatures raised slightly as they release their heat at night.


I have a small amount of staging where I keep all my pots and seed trays on a lower shelf and those that are in use on the top.  It is full at the moment....


...so full that I have lots of pots on a bed that is not yet in use.  I shall be planting out two squash plants in here when they are a little bigger.


Back out of the polytunnel and round to the left we are facing another trellis covered in another unruly honeysuckle.  This is where we hang the hammock, you can see that here, using the orange krab to the right of the photo.  Below the krab is a wormery.


The path swings round to the right again through the trellis.  On the left are the wormery and three compost bins, one is full of horse manure, one is maturing and the third we are using on the garden this year.  On the right is a bed that is mostly covered for now, in the farthest end I have recently sown turnip seeds.


At the top of the garden is a raised bed, this was a patio when we moved in, the pavers on the path came from here.  We have removed the patio and made it into a productive space.  This is the left hand side which is my garlic plants.  To the left are some raspberry canes another arrival in the garden, we are good at that kind of gardening!  To the right of them is some very large, run to seed kale and cabbages, I am leaving them for now and hope to collect the seeds from some of them soon.  The flowers are rather delicious to eat, I have been adding them to our meals.  The wooden slats are where we are in the process of building supports for an espaliered Apple tree we recently have planted in the bed behind the kale and hope to train it over the wall using wires attached to the slats.  It is another tree that I have hand grafted so it is not very big at the moment.


That is my garden!  I hope you have enjoyed the tour.  I shall try and remember to do one next month when I hope that things will have grown a little bigger!  Just need the temperatures to go up a little......

35 comments:

  1. I can tell you have a lot of rain -your garden is busting out all over! Thanks for the tour

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    1. Yes it is very green where I live! I am glad you enjoyed the tour.

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  2. What a lovely and productive garden. Thank you for the tour.
    Best wishes
    Ellie

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  3. What a lovely tour of your garden, love the winding brick path and bits hidden by trellis

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    1. The winding path was my husbands idea it was one of the first things we built when we moved in. I am glad you enjoyed the tour.

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  4. Wonderful to see you garden! I like to see different gardens growing in different climates. A patch of wild strawberries sounds most divine. I have a pot of strawberries but would love a whole patch of them! MegXx

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    1. I love to see gardens in different climates too, I love to see what people are able to grow in their gardens. The strawberries are just starting to ripen, once they get going there will be lots of tasty snacks to be had for months.

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  5. What a lovely garden filled with so much interest. It's both pretty and productive with so many different areas, quirky in its own way.

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    1. Thank you Jo. The different areas makes it easier for me to manage. There are some bits that don't get my attention that often!

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  6. How wonderful that the universe has sent you so many plants by bird express! Garden surprises are the best:)

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    1. They are the best Jo aren't they. We seem to get surprises every year, I have just found an orchid flowering!

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  7. It's always lovely to see someone else's garden. Yours looks full of good things to eat with lots more to be planted up. Ours has been slow growing from seed this year as we were recycling compost and it was so hot in the day/cold at night. We're getting there though.

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    1. It always does seem slow at this time of year doesn't it, like we are going to get to the end of the season and have not been able to harvest anything. Patience is so important with gardening in this country!

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  8. wow! you have such a nice garden and I love the spaces you have for what you want to grow. Thanks for the tour!

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    1. Thank you Karen. I am glad you enjoyed the tour.

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  9. Great tour and I can't wait to see how it seasonally changes! Everything in it has a purpose...perfect!!!!

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    1. I am hoping that everything will have grown in a month, it certainly needs to if I am going to be able to harvest anything! We don't have that much room so everything has to have a purpose.

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  10. Your garden is lovely! You're growing a lot more than us. We've only planted onions, peas and potatoes this year. Normally we plant a lot more and in the greenhouse too, but we've nothing in the greenhouse this year. I have lots of flowers that have sprung up that I haven't planted. Best, Jane x

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    1. Thank you. I have had a lot more time this year so have managed to grow a lot more. I love it when you get plants that you have sown springing up, that is my kind of gardening.

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  11. You’ve made such great use of the space and it all looks very productive. After a gap of some years the lockdown has prompted me to grow veggies again. I don’t know why I’ve waited so long, I’d forgotten how much I enjoy it!
    How do you manage to grow lupins with all your rain? I’ve long since given up.. 🐌🐌

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    1. Thank you! Veggie growing is enjoyable although the mice and the slugs means you have to manage them too otherwise they would have it all and there would be none left for us.

      Lupins are about the only flower that I can grow successfully. They do get eaten a bit by slugs but I have to confess that I do go out and pick them all off and dispatch them in the early days until the plants are well established. These are well established plants now and seem to be able to cope with a bit of slug munching!

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  12. Great tour I love having a peak at other peoples gardens, you have a lot growing. x

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    1. Thank you, I am glad you enjoyed it. I love peaking at other peoples gardens too!

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  13. That looks an impressive garden full of love and productivity. Love your honeysuckle. I have a very straggly one that barely flowers which I inherited with the house. X

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    1. Thank you I am glad that you enjoyed it. I am sorry to hear that your honeysuckle doesn't flower, I can't offer any advice I am afraid other than maybe to cut it back to encourage it to grow a bit and maybe it will flower then?

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  14. It was a pleasure seeing your garden. It is interesting and productive and quite lovely, also a little quirky, how I love quirky! Looking forward to more updates...I do love seeing other people's gardens.xxx

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    1. Thank you! It is always interesting to see other people's gardens isn't it. I have never thought of my garden as quirky but I like that description, thank you!

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  15. Loved that tour - I am so missing going around the open gardens this year - it is my favourite hobby so thanks for letting us have a wander in yours - I am very impressed.

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    1. Thank you! I have never been to any of the open gardens events, I always pick up the book they produce but never quite get myself organised to go to any. I should really as I am sure that it would be really inspiring to see what other people grow and how they arrange their gardens.

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  16. Thanks for sharing a chat around the garden. I'm super impressed that you have grafed your own apple trees and love that you have had so much land and thrive there - raspberries and strawberries you lucky things!
    Tell me, what to you do to refresh your polytunnel soil each year? We built a glasshouse a few years ago for tomatoes that were otherwise affected by blight and i just top it up each year, but thats not much and i wonder how long it will before its depleted. I imagine that, like us, replacing it all isn't feasible for you each year.

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    1. Thank you, I am glad that you enjoyed it. We didn't plant the strawberries or the raspberries I suspect the birds bought us the raspberries and possibly the strawberries too!

      We just add to the polytunnel soil each year, it does mean that it is slowly getting higher than the path down the middle, if that becomes problematic we will remove some. What we add most years is horse manure that is really broken down, we get it free from one or our neighbours who owns horses. We have also used some of our own compost in the years when we have some to put on the garden.

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  17. A wonderfully productive garden. You must get a lot of satisfaction from spending your time there. Thank you so much for the tour. X

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  18. Lovely to have an insight into your garden. It looks like you have worked so hard with it - does the whole family enjoy working in it and gardening?

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Hello......would love to hear from you :)