My first garden!

Mr and Mrs thrones!

I took this picture locally, another idea on the theme.

 

Serious......


.......or not so serious!

 

OK, this is just a rough sketch, but how about something like this.....

 

ok I'll set some guidelines here...

Can't get a power supply to it and solar stuff doesn't really work according to online reviews. A little pond-ette could be doable provided it's pretty enough for the fiancee and blends in well with the surrounding lawn.

I am still on a budget believe it or not.

By the way, I'm going to be going away for the weekend, setting off tomorrow lunch time. I won't be on GC until Monday most likely. Going to go live in a WigWam in one of the darkest spots in the UK. Taking the telescope with a DSLR camera attachment so I'll see what shots I can get for you guys. In the meantime, I hope the weathers good over here!

As for these suggestions... keep em coming

One last little update before I go...

My firepit arrived and it was retty rusty. Got a wirebrush, scouring sponge and WD40 on it. The loose rust came off and then I gave it 2 coats of hammerite in black.



I'll pop to the beach at some point in the next few days and pick up some pebbles to go in it. Some nice bright white ones

Have a good weekend!

 

Enjoy your weekend Rad and we'll catch up with you on the other side.

 

Oh ain't it quiet on here now Rad's away

This is what he's expecting us all to be like this weekend



But, in reality..... We all follow Armandiis example

 

I'm back!!!!

Well I've popped to my mothers house because they were gerbil-sitting and I collected the last of the rocks that she was throwing out. Got home, started unloading the rocks and was surprised by how well the garden is doing!!

The Crocosmia is in bloom and stands out a MILE in this garden. Very bright red and fluttering in the breeze.

The Broccoli is starting to grow nicely. Some of it is standing up and is noticably bigger while some of the other ones are still quite small. Hopefully they will grow at different times so that I don't have to harvest them all at the same time

The potatoes have gone beserk too! Some of them are 4" high whereas others are only a couple of inches high. I've "earthed up" the soil so that it was touching the base of the top leaves.

The kale is also doing well. I'm going to be quite full of veg next year

Oh and my seeds have started growing. Well, the rocket has... nothing else yet though.

On a final note, I've decided to make use of my "Jamie Oliver Sprouter" again. It's one of these...



I've got Aduki beans ready to eat (no idea what they are but they taste like fresh peas from a pod) and my cress is nearly ready. I'm starting to eat healthier and this is a good start.

Wahoo! It's good to be back

 

I hope you all like pics! There's so many I've exceeded the limit and have to split this post into two.

First of all, I've got 3 orchids in my bathroom which have been in bloom for the last 3 months. 2 of them still seem to be going strong. Happy days!



Back to the garden... I went to B&Q today because I wanted some planters for my blueberry bushes (when they finally get despatched). I ended up coming back with 18 cyclamens, 3 plants pots, 4 chrysanthemums, 2 large planters, 1 small planter, some compost, a thyme bush and some nuts and bolts. I seriously need to stop going there!

All will be revealed in good time

Firstly, a stroll around the garden! In the trellis planter next to the patio doors, I have honeysuckle which has started growing nicely.



I will train this to grow through the trellis. My fiancee has planted the cyclamen around the edge.



My clearance Clematis which was dead, snapped, brown and only 2 ft tall has made a great comeback!


It's got 3 flower buds. Those 2 plant pots behind are two more clematis from my fiancee's granddad. They're much smaller and I'm waiting to see where they would look good.

While photographing this I noticed that one of my rock plants has sent out some late flowers.


The brocolli is growing up


and Ants plants are also perking up very well



Except for "the dead twig" which is hopefully just dormant...



Sweet williams have been split up as suggested


The very wilty looking Dianthus Superbus is really coming round now too



More to come...

 

I also noticed that the Pieris is turning extremely red!



As is my other Pieris!



I've also noticed that this is a Spirea. It just happens to be the same type of plant as the one I couldn't ID near the beginning of the thread. What are the chances of getting the exact same plant?


I'm very pleased with the layout of these plants now. The Fucshia needs to be relocated (and planted) but the others have a good contrast of foliage.




The hydrangea is still a bit wilty but I think it's doing ok. I will check tomorrow to see if there's any new growth undeneath these floppy leaves. If the root ball has been shrunk then I'm guessing these big leaves will be too big. There's not enough water being drawn in through the roots to make up for the water escaping through the leaves.



My Potatoes (which I'm extremely happy with)



And in my coldframe I've just got some rocket shoots poking out.


@Anthony Rogers you'll be happy to know that the coldframe sits happily on this conrete base (formerly used as a shed base) and it fits perfectly. And yes it has enough drainage.



I need to work out where those gooseberry bushes are going too.

My fiancee took a shine to the terracotta pots so I let her have a a go at some plenting. I told her that it's completely her choice and it's up to her. She came up with the following



I'm very pleased with her to say the least!

So now I've got some bricks (which I've been using for crocks at the bottom of the planters) on the patio and that's about it. Oh... except for that great big 1 tonne bag of rubble. That will be disposed of over time.

The nuts and bolts that I bought were to plug up the holes in the fire pit. I planned to have them painted black. They wouldn't stand out and they would have more protection from rust. At the moment I'm not sure if I can be bothered. They're zinc coated and I'm interested to see if the 2 layers of hammerite is enough to protect the steel from rusting.



The plan is to get some small shrubs around the base of it. Maybe some fern like plants? It is sitting in the corner of that square. The fruit trees will sit in the other 3 corners and I'm thinking of getting/making an obelisk (trellis pyramid thing) about half the height of the trees and having that in the middle of the square. Not sure yet though. I originally had the creeping jenny (in the water now) hangin over the edge and it looked amazing. The only problem was that the water was flowing up the stem and over onto the ground. it was effectively a siphon. I'm wondering if there was a little less water in it then maybe it wont drain out. I'll have a play around and see.

 

Your garden is coming on leaps and bounds, it looks so lovely and I love the path and the way it weaves, great idea . I've just had a catch up through the 11 pages and what a transformation looking forward to watching it grow

 

Thank you AB I haven't got much to do now really. Just maintaining it and waiting for it to grow. Wish I had space for a pond but I'll settle for a raised bed for now

 

Wow @Radiation91 what a lot of work you've done! A great idea to keep a journal!

Iam new to gardening too, we moved house in November the garden looks lovely at first sight but I'm finding my garden is over crowded garden! All I can do is watch wait and move trees ect, but with advice from the lovely people on here my plans are coming together, slowly.

 

@Dragonfly Dianne Thanks The journal helps put things into perspective and it helps me keep track of the names of plants I'm always forgetting names

The people on GC are really helpful yeh! We all have our strengths and if we work together I'm pretty sure everything's covered

I've got my cuppa and I'm going to head on over to your threads now... I'm intrigued what you mean by "all I can do is watch wait and move trees". Moving trees sounds like hard work

 

Just seen more of your pics! Fantastic I'm itching to make changes, but as I don't know plants I'm waiting to see what each one does as I don't want to dig up something and regret it.