How do you cope with a larger garden?

Sorry about that!

We aimed to do a couple of acres originally, its only grown since then from visiting much bigger gardens and thinking we were being too light-weight!

On the contrary, I was hoping it would give you some hope that the job is doable. Mind you, I get depressed every year when I go to East Ruston Old Vicarage and compare their efforts & achievements in their amazing 32 acre garden with my "tiny" garden !

 

Kristen,
a garden close by is called "Merriments". It is a riot of beautiful colour with clever and judicous planting and is a Gardeners Dream. But it 'aint realistic or achievable without an army of good staff who ensure it looks pristine at all times. And you have to pay serious money to view and they have coach loads of French and Belgians who come to drool... I feel that sometimes we do beat ourselves up unfairly because of what we see on TV,Glossy Mags and at places like the one I have highlighted.. And ladies tend to beat themselves up about their image not comparing favourably with the latest centrefold,
Jenny

 

So true, most only have themselves or themselves and their partner to do everything. Also a "proper job" to do too on top. And then there is the cost of everything.
Hiring or buying equipment isn't cheap. Buying plants, weedkiller,compost or whatever for a large garden can be crippling too. So you have to grow on more things yourself. More work! No, it certainly isn't a bed of roses.

 

One of the major issues for me is that most of the garden comprises of building and hard landscaping projects. Had the garden just been soft landscaping things would have been finished a long time ago and I wouldn't be worn out. With a full time job that comprises of constant heavy lifting, and then coming home to carry on again with more heavy lifting etc, it is hardly surprising that I'm feeling so knackered.
I hadn't really given this much thought until I looked out of the front window yesterday at last summers project wall.






Mind you the time capsule made up for all of the time spent building the wall.

 

Lovely wall Eddie.

I think if we spent more time congratulating ourselves on work that has been accomplished rather than worrying about things still to do, we would become far less depressed.

 

My annual Autumn write up of my blog, detailing the things done & accomplished during the year, is very cathartic

 

Eddie you must be jiggered after all that hard work but just looking at it must surely make you think ...you've done a cracking job...it looks amazing

 

Eddie you've worked hard and achieved a lot, it looks fantastic!

 

Brilliant Eddie. Have you finished with the hard landscaping yet?

 

What's in the time capsule, Eddie?
Go on. Do tell!

 

kazzie_SE, sadly there is still plenty of hard landscaping and building work to do.

I'm my own worst enemy and create jobs that don't exist, and go a bit OTT on those that do. There is a series of steps that need finishing in brick rather than slabs, and two patio areas that I am again going to use bricks on, but with Indian stone mixed in. The footpath around the rear of the house is broken up and needs replacing, and I need to construct a pathway to the side of the garage.
Sadly we also suffer from bad storm water run off from the highway, and I need to install aco type drainage around the house, to be taken away across the lawns. I have already put the pipe across the lawn.
The most expensive job and one that we cannot afford is the driveway. I need to apply for lottery funding for that one.

The most important job (to me) is that I want to extend the paving area to the gazebo and then build a bread/pizza oven along with a very OTT BBQ and tandoor.My main project for this year has been the outside loo come utility area. Apart from the hot water heater and a bit of painting, that is now finished. This area was key to the gazebo area. I shall start a seperate thread about that one.

Without trying to derail your thread and to answer Cacadores, the time capsule was good fun to do. As well as my own daugher, we got the neighbours daughter involved with it to. She was eleven at the time, and was and still is always around here helping me.
Inside the capsule is a National news paper, a local news paper, a TV guide, local history guide, details of the history of the house including its use during WWII by the Canadian army. We put in photos of all of us and what we do for a living etc, and the girls added also added these two gems of info.

My daughter who was 12yrs old at the time.



The one by the neighbours 11yr old daughter made me laugh.

 

Fantastic Eddie....i'd love to see the 'peoples' faces when they open the capsule..
You have done an amazing job and you should be proud....obviously a perfectionist but don't kill yourself doing it....Amazing

 

What can I say Eddie, it is all absolutely fantastic.
Please don't give up,
Jenny namaste

 

It's very interesting, what you've done with the time capsule. How did you get the idea? They both have ambitions to be famous I see. After reading about Princess Evie and her magic horse my daughter has decided she wants a real horse already and she's only two and a half. Like as I can afford one, I don't think! Perhaps she could join a riding club though.

 

The time capsule is a lovely idea. Eddie, although hard landscaping is physical, often expensive and flipping messy, on the bright side... once it is done, it's done! And I think yours looks wonderful.

Last autumn my garden was turned upside down... one of the terraced areas had a really ugly crazy paving area which I had removed. This was up 2 flights of steps, so all the debris had to be lugged down in buckets and replacement bricks carried up. But now that particular nightmare is over . On that level there is a horrid summer house type of building which I wanted to disguise / hide, so I had 5 large arches built in front of it. All I need to do now is soften the area with planting... climbers and pots: