I am sorry I have been neglecting you of late. I have been very busy designing and, with all the good weather, I have been up to my elbows in compost and worse.
This time of year, I always feel a sense of panic in case I have planted too early, too late, the wrong things, the right things in the wrong place and so on. The greenhouse is already looking verdant and that makes me smile. I just must keep calm and remember that by the end of June, the garden is looking after itself and I can stop fretting.
As I write, I am planning where to put new flower beads as I am having a lawn laid at the beginning of June and I need to make decisions before the team arrive. I have been using a rusty metal edging for the flower beds for a couple of years now and as all the slate and pebbles are going to move to the raised beds in the car park, I can create a few new cutting beds with more of the edging material. Once the new bed is in position, I can move about some of my dahlia plants. So far this year I have spread 34 bags of compost and well-rotted manure. The roses do look better for it already.
Bill and I have pruned the apple tree and I have lots of very good sticks for use amongst the peas and the mangetout (I can always see Del Boy when I mention this vegetable. Find this and other classic ‘French’ quotes, look here.)
I have one little corner that has always been a bit of a muddle. It is just to the right of the front door and is a shady spot with just stones and gravel. When we moved in it was the log store and made the walls of the downstairs loo very damp! I decided to create a little shady corner and am now looking for a mirror or a piece of dramatic wall art as a backdrop.
As you can see the garden has been a joy this year and that is before the sweet peas and dahlias are in flower.
