Our Garden, from start to now

Hi everyone!

We've had our house just over 2 years now, and this project has been ongoing since virtually day 1. Its our first house, but we had very grand ideas from the start, and I thought I would share some of the photos with you all.


This image is the front garden, taken about a week after we got the keys in feb/march time 2008


This was unfortunately how the back garden looked when we first bought, horrendous! And major lack of any fence, you will see that further down.

Now silly me forgot to take many photos between this stage and when we were well on it, but let me paint a picture for you all.
Underneath those 'lovely' coloured slabs, was another layer of thicker slabs, then a layer of tarmac, then a layer of crazy paving with solid stone slabs, and then some lime dust mixed in with sand. All that came out, and several skips later we had something to work with. The patio near the house was also very near the damp proof course, so that had to be lowered to clear the ventilation bricks.



Of course then we had the snow of 2009! You can see how the patio is now stepped down from before, and we now have a garden wall for raised planting, at this point we didn't know what to put in it though.


Front garden didn't change much at all during the first year, everything in this photo is dormant, and check out the fence! 32 years old, it was the original one which was put in when these houses were built.


And then, things really got going. We had new fencing put in all round the house, making the whole thing seem really private and still to this day I think its the best money we have ever spent. To the right me and my wife had a competition to see who could grow the tallest sunflower :thmb:
The wall at the back of the garden was made up of the stone from the fireplace which used to be in our house, and also from my mum and dads fireplace.


It was then time to prepare for turf going down, I dug over the entire plot, and found yet more paving slabs buried deep underneath, and mixed in several bags of compost.


Again, this is a bit of a jump, apologies. Turf went down, we planted the sunflowers in the unused bit of raised planting space as they were getting pot bound. The turf didn't do too well last year as you can see, but its starting to pick up now.


My composter went in virtually straight away, and got my dad to lay the flags around it, to give it that integrated feel.


Then, in went some fruit trees, apple at the top, nectarine in the middle and a grape vine nearest. Spent a lot of time going through this soil to get rid of big stones and general rubbish.


Another photo, addition of rabbit hutch and rabbit :thmb:


Heres the little fella chomping on the lawn when it looked a bit healthier :thmb:

Got plenty of photos of the house renovation too, if anyones interested i'll make another thread with that in it.

We decided to use the raised planter for a veg patch, and have it all mapped out whats going in there this year, also got a greenhouse to go behind the garage, where lots of sun falls, and a water butt, also behind the garage. Will take some more photos soon!

 

Great space and great photo's, you have such a nice lawn and what a cute bunny!

 

He's very closely monitored when he's on the lawn. Was cute last year when there were leaves on the apple tree, he would walk up to it and pick one off.

Main plans this year, are green house (which I'm just currently deciding about) and planting lots of veggies and salad (got 160 seeds going in trays at the moment on top of kitchen units), mainly for the rabbit believe it or not lol.

My biggest plans this year are mainly for the front garden, we are building an extension on the front of the house to make way for a brand new kitchen, me and my dad are building it so that will take a good portion of my time, just waiting for plans to go through the council, so the front garden is pretty much bare at the moment, but I do have some good plans for it, several rose bushes, and perhaps a few other bits, but will have to see how much space we have left.

 

The fencing is excellent and has immediately created a private outside room. The curved sections and concrete posts eliminate it being boring

 

Looks like a lovely, private space for you to get working on.

I get the feeling more flower/veg beds will be appearing?

 

A lot of hard work has been done...all those layers to remove!!!

I get a feeling that now you have planted the lawn...that it will now slowly decrease in size as you make new beds.

Steve...

 

Some new updated photos with whats happened since the last lot :-)

Took these the other day, grass starting to pick up, a few bits which are a bit suspect but I'm sure they will be ok given a few more weeks to grow. We put some bird feeders up over the winter, not had much to them though, few robins and thats about it. Also got a garden bench, very pleased with it, comfy as anything. We mulched all way down the side where the trees are planted and also as you can see, planted some spring flowering bulbs, tulips and daffy's which are just starting to open.


Wasn't sure whether this one would have survived the winter, but it seems to have done just fine, some really big buds on it which are just starting to open, hope we get some flowers as it didn't fruit last year. Sprayed with bordeaux mixture a couple of weeks back.


Got a nice little greenhouse to fit behind the garage with polycarbonate windows, and built some shelving, just need to go to B&Q today to get some thin wood for some lats. Also addition of water butt which someone gave me, incredible how much water these things hold, and plenty of peat free compost.


My first asparagus spear just showing its head! Its about an inch now.


The rest of my raised veggy bed, currently occupied with onion and garlic.


Close up of bench, made from acacia hard wood, think I'm going to get a cover for it for next winter even though it can stay out and weather naturally.

 

Excellent job.

 

wow! That's a great start Mike. What a difference.
I hope you have many happy hours in your garden.

 

We sure will, we absolutely love our garden. Don't think too much more will be happening this year in the back garden, but I will take photos of everything to show how its getting on.

This year is more about the front of the house, and I will of course keep this thread updated on that front :-)