Steve's garden

a few pics of what the garden looked like when we moved in









it was like this for a while as work was busy and with 2 small kids i did not have much time for it

the old lady next door complained to the letting agent about the tree blocking the light to her front room so it was taken down




i started with triming the edge of the path


found loads of stumps from some pear trees on the left side of the garden so set to work removing them the only stump i could not get rid of was from the big tree that was cut down







as we rent the house i don't realy want to spend too much money on the garden as if the guys who owns it comes back to the uk we have 2 months to move out

i removed everything from the garden and patched up the grass with some cheep turf from B&Q that took very well and started to make a decking area that will cover the old green house base

then set about the rear border

the border was full of lumps of concrete so its been removed and now the border is raised


thats about as far as i got at the end of last summer

then got a big kick in the soft bits in december as my company was closed by head office .... oh joy out of work so the garden came to a grinding halt

been out of work for nearly 7 months so had to think of ways to carry on with the garden without spending too much cash



one of my friends game me some marigolds so i made a small border on the left side of the garden and my daughters helped me plant them

and my daughter got some veg seeds from the green balloon club so they are in a border next to the garage






started to plant in the raised border and i am going to get some Star jasmine to climb the fence as a back drop to the other plants in the border



i can only spend a few pounds each month on the garden but got lucky on our local freecycle website and got some garden tools and pebbles for free :gnthb:


this is how the garden is at the moment




still alot to do but enjoying every mintue i am out there


more later

thanks for looking

Steve

 

a

 

we have a small veg border for my daughter its realy just for her to see how things grow and not expecting anything out of them as we planted quite late


i will be making a veg patch next year but not sure where about as yet

Steve

 

Looks much better Steve. Freecycle is great for getting gardening things. If u have an Asda near u they're selling off loads of gardening stuff for 50p

 

had to do some thinking this morning as my raised border bulged

i used some wood i had spare but its not up to the job so having to take up the wood and find something a bit more sturdy

also managed to find a few spare pounds and got a few more lenghts of decking to finish one part of my decking project

went to the garden centre and found a nice little plant



Coprosma lemon & lime


love the shiny look of this so when i rebuild my raised border it will be going in


just waiting for the passing shower to stop and then going to carry on


Steve

 

Looking good there Steve:gnthb:

 

" having to take up the wood and find something a bit more sturdy"

Might be some knackered scaffolding boards on a building site near you, that they would give you for naught?

 

Well done Steve :gnthb: you have created a garden out of a wilderness almost,it must have taken a lot of time and effort to get it like it is now,I know only too well how difficult those large conifers are to remove,if its any consolation the stump will eventually rot away but will take some time obviously ...its very frustrating knowing what you want to do with a garden and not having the money to do it,Ive been through that myself, many of the shrubs I have today years on, started out as little tiny cuttings I nicked off plants in garden centres etc :wink: its surprising how many things will root given time, you can be sowing biennials now for next years flowers,and a grat place to get them from is a site called "Alan Romans" google it,he sells seeds for as little as 50p a packet and they are very reliable indeed, he just cuts out the fancy packaging ...

You should be proud of yourself in acheiving what you have and I wish you all the best for the future,especially in the hope that you are able to get work soon :thmb:

 

Yeah and I hope your landlors appreciates all the hard work you've put in and the extra value it'll add onto their house

 

i was thinking about scaffold boards but i had some 7x2 wood so i staked that in and dressed it with some old border half log thingys i had

the 1 decking area is now finished and my daughters have move in already :hehe:



going to clear the front of the garage now so the girls play house and sand pit can be moved then might dig an area for a veg patch

more later

Steve

 

all the photos will be emailed to the owner who is in south africa so i hope for some good feedback from him as he is not a gardener


also had a nice few cheques from the tax man this morning so i can finish my decking off and get some furniture too :gnthb:


all in all its been a great day

Steve

 

well half way through the final decking area and its now raining so a cuppa break
getting quite excited as we have never been able to use the middle part of the garden

i also picked up a seating set for my little girls from ebay quite cheep and going to get some garden furniture for the decking

seen this and i think its ideal http://www.greenfingers.com/superstore/product.asp?dept_id=200504&pf_id=LK3366D

also going to get a seat for my shadey area and a bench for the side of the garden


well its stopped raining back to it

cya soon

Steve

 

My 2p worth would be to have a table large enough to get food plates and some serving dishes (and, in my case, a vase of Sweet peas!) onto. That one looks like you could only get a cup & saucer, each, on it - sorry!

 

Its for kids Kristen :thumb: you know Little people LOL..

Your doing a great job there Steve.. Love your Decking :thumb:

Ahhhh the penny dropped, you meant the Link hahahaha. Well Duh