My secret garden

This was my first lockdown project and saved me from going completely nuts. It wasn't the staying at home bit.... it was seeing my business plummet from being the largest of its kind in the UK to non existent for over a year. Soooo, to save my sanity, I garden. I dug up the old orchard which consisted of 4 dead fruit trees and some unruly grass and created my secret garden (which is no longer a secret). Even though it is flanked by two large trees, it still gets the sun most of the day and is a fabulous chill out area.

 

It's lovely and a credit to all your hard work. Sorry to hear about your business, maybe it will start to pick up now things are starting to improve.

 

Thank you @luciusmaximus . Business is starting to pick up, but as it's connected with the entertainment industry, it's going to be one of the last to fully recover. On the bright side, I've still got plenty of time to garden!

To be honest, I'm an absolute beginner gardener. The Bellis were one of the first I'd grown from seed. I wouldn't have achieved all this without the help of this forum. I also spend a lot of time looking at past posts which I find hugely helpful.

I'll have to take pictures of the other four gardens I've done during lockdown. Yep.... far too much time on my hands!

 

That looks fantastic. The white and pink is quite calming and looks a lovely area to watch the world go by.
My only criticism would be to replace the coffee mug with a wine glass!

 

Criticism duly noted @flounder , I'll rectify the situation immediately!

 

It looks lovely, so calm and peaceful. You have done a stellar job there @SandyNI

It is indeed very therapeutic to grow things. The scent of compost, the different textures and shapes of the seedlings make a very different experience to anything else our modern lives consists of.

I have been fortunate enough to have been able to work from home for the full whack. However, I noticed early on that office in the spare bedroom means I'm nearly immobile in from of the laptop 8 hours a day. Now the routine is to inspect, water, hand pollinate or just admire the seedlings and plants once every two hours. It gets me on my feet and focuses my eyes to different distances... and keeps me less nutty.

Growing plants from seeds is especially rewarding and doesn't cost much. It's a parental responsibility to get the light, temperature and moisture right, and to accept the occasional failure. The occasional successes more than compensate for those. As demonstrated by your Bellis

More photos please! If a wine recommendation is needed, I believe youngish Merlot would support the colour scheme nicely.

 

OMG @Selleri I too inspect my garden several times a day. And the seedlings (my babies) in the cold frame get scrutinised regularly. My neighbour joked the other day that some people watch paint dry.... I watch seedlings grow (definitely losing the plot!).

PS.... mines a Shiraz....

 

One mention of a wine glass and peoples eyes widen. A youngish merlot, shiraz, I'm sure some browsing on here will be nodding in agreement whilst salivating to the thought of a riocha or pinot noir.
I was thinking more along the line of cranberry juice with slices of lemon and lime.....and a shot of gin!!

 

Definitely more pics @SandyNI . Then, when you have finished you could hop on a ferry across to Holyhead and have a shot at my garden .

 

I've got a large wrap around garden which was a blank canvas when I bought this half finished house 5 years ago. Unfortunately, I'm pretty pants at design and planning so my gardens have kind of just 'happened' and are totally unconnected. Basically the garden is made up of bits and has no flow at all. My Alan (as in Alan Titchmarsh) would probably have a duck fit if he ever saw it.

Anyways... here's the rockery. I know you're not supposed to place rockeries under trees but this grew from a necessity. The roots of the tree are exposed and wrapped around rocks and the whole mound was originally a haven for weeds. I've planted it up with old aubretia and campanula from out of the front gardens. I divided a few of them to give me enough plants. They seem to be recovering from their ordeal. I've avoided proper alpines as I don't think they would cope. BTW looks lovely at night with the spotlights on!




My two front gardens aren't looking too exciting at the moment but I plan to put some more perennials in when they get big enough. They're currently in the cold frames. These were the first gardens I did when I moved into the house. I planted them up with expensive shrubs, covered the ground with membrane, then piled the gravel on. All but two died a death... it was all rather sad. So last year I scraped all the gravel off, removed the membrane and discovered that the couple of shrubs that hadn't turned up their toes had struggled to grow in the compacted soil.... their roots had grown between the membrane and the top of the soil. Soooo.... dug it all over saving a couple of shrubs, some unhealthy lavender and some sturdy old heathers. I'm trying to get a cottage garden look going with perennials... not quite there yet.



And finally.... honestly.... the bit just in front of the fence was a mound of weeds only two weeks ago. The rocks for the wall were all dug out of the garden (and there's plenty more where they came from!) and new compost put in. I'm thinking of putting some of my new seedlings in there unless someone's got a better idea.


In the past I've been guilty of impulse buying. See a nice plant and buy it. I'm trying to curb this addiction and I know I need to start planning and using plants that will cope with a pretty awful climate (lots of wind and rain hence daffs and aubretia are only just coming out) and terrible heavy clay soil that contains more rubble than soil.

Well there it is. I'm very open to suggestions and criticism. I'm on a steep learning curve but enjoying every minute of it.... with glass in hand of course!

 

Your garden looks lovely. I particularly like the colour scheme of the pale pink tulips with the little white/pink flowers in the adjacent curved bed. Very classy and calming!

 

Thank you @SuzFlowers. It is lovely to sit out there. It's my chill out zone. Although it's next to the fence, there's only a dirt track the other side which only has the odd cow trotting along it or the neighbour .... usually chasing the runaway cow! Anyway, I'm a good way off the main road (which is a tiny B road) so it is lovely and peaceful. Can't really watch the world go by.... but if you sit for long enough you'll see plenty of birds, foxes, rabbits and hares..... oh..... and cows!

 

It's coming along very nicely @SandyNI . It will look wonderful when it's finished. I do like your rockery. Funnily enough I was thinking of something similar for my Cherry tree in the side garden. Currently it has a flower bed underneath, which I made last year. It looked pretty enough last summer but it needs a lot of maintaining as quickly gets invaded by creeping buttercup and couch grass.

 

It's looking good Sandy. A lovely outlook there too. I live in a similar situation to you and although I haven't got any alpines at the moment they should survive. Their origins are mountainous, exposed areas so are pretty tough.