Plans for the weekend

This is a long weekend for me so I intend to get the wellies on!  I haven't been able to do much in the garden the past few weeks because I work full time and have been too busy sorting out the house at the weekends (putting up blinds and cleaning up after visitors!).  I have also been watching the Chelsea Flower Show programmes on TV which is a first for me.  I've been inspired by some of the relaxed look of the small gardens and the beautiful colours of the flowers.  One of the presenters said that he designs his garden based on the fact he likes to be IN it, not just look at it.  I like this ethos and will adopt it.  I not only like standing at an upstairs window admiring my own efforts (if i do say so myself!) but I also like working in the garden and sitting in it with a coffee.  However, I am no garden designer!  I intend to keep my "let's see what happens" gardening style as that's who I am.  I would carefully design something (badly) only to get frustrated when it doesn't go according to plan.  And I change my mind a lot so I would just annoy myself!  No, it will always be a "let's see what happens garden"!

I'm am learning though.  And, from watching the Chelsea Flower Show and reading people's blogs, I've come to realise that the garden I want to be in isn't just going to happen.  I need to have some sort of forward plan, especially if I would like to have some colour all the way through the year.  So these are my tasks for this weekend.  I've kept it realistic while in my head I've got water features, raised beds and colourful flowers in bloom!

Project Hedgehog: I'd like to create a Hedgehog Garden at the back of the garage.  I've called this Project Hedgehog. The grass up the back of the garden where we saw the hedgehog is very long and the dandelions are loving it!  It’s making the place look untidy so I’m going to trim it a bit this weekend and remove the dandelions.  I might try to use the dandelions instead of automatically binning them:
http://www.thekitchn.com/10-ways-to-use-those-dandelions-recipes-from-the-kitchn-188774
http://www.eatweeds.co.uk/dandelion-root-coffee-recipe
 
I’ll dig up the weeds at the back of the garage ready for some plants. I don’t know exactly what I’m going to put there but I have a list of plants that don’t mind shade (taken from blogs and the RHS website) so I’ll see what’s available in the garden centres.

Slug Warz: I’m losing this battle! As you can see in the last blog, the Salvias are all gone.  Now the slugs are attacking my Marguerite daisy plant which looks like a skeleton :( This is after I’ve put down crushed egg shells and used coffee granules.   I need a slug killer/repellant that won't make the hedgehog sick or worse, dead!  I read a blog the other day about Slug Off and someone else has also mentioned “Nemaslug”.   I’m not sure if any of the local garden centres stock these so I’ll have a wee look around. If I can’t get a natural/non-chemical slug repellent then I’ll have to have a think about how I’m going to grow plants in the flower bed because they’re not getting a chance at the moment!

Herbs: I started a few herbs in containers on my patio which are doing really well! I know the herbs I have are not difficult to grow (obviously... otherwise I would have killed them all) but as a new gardener I’m very pleased they’ve managed to survive my inexperience!  I'd like to grow some more so I'll have a look in the garden centres to see what's good for beginners.

Chives and parsley


Mint - I'm particularly pleased with the mint as it was looking very sorry for itself when I potted it and I thought it would probably die in my care. Now it's looking great!



Privacy: The left side of my garden is closed off and even if people look out their bedroom windows it would be difficult for them to see anything in my back garden. However, the right side is open to all eyes and elements! My fence is ok but it’s low and the neighbours’ fences/trees were victims to Hurricane Bawbag back in December 2011 (and nobody has replaced them!). There are children 2 doors down who stand in their garden or bounce on their trampoline and stare right across at hubby and I as we (I) go about our (my) gardening tasks or even if we’re just sitting on our patio having a coffee and a chat.  Having lived in the city for 8 years before moving to the village I’m used to living my life with the eyes of the world on me but usually I don't have anyone blatantly stone cold staring at me! It’s very discomforting. So without offending my very nice elderly neighbour directly adjoining us, I’m having to think of some way to keep the staring eyes off my patio/herb garden at least. I’ve been researching trellises and screens to add to the fence that’s already there so now I need to go and have a proper look at them to see what would fit.  I'd like to take a moment to point out that, as a child, I would get into trouble if I was caught staring at anyone because it's rude.

Front garden: I’m still a bit stuck with the front garden as it’s all stone and no lawn. I do have pots but they’re all different so the garden looks very haphazard! I’d like to create some borders or even a flower bed in the middle but that’s a job for another day! This weekend, I need to replace the spring annuals in the wheelbarrow with summer ones.

Wheelbarrow (housewarming gift from dad) in the front garden


So that’s the task list for tomorrow and Saturday. I hope I manage to stick to it – by putting it in a blog I’m more likely to stay focused!  I'll hopefully have something to update by Monday...