A bit of graft is in order

 

 

 
 The garden is in a right old state. It looks shabby, damp and lacking in colour. I look back over the blog posts of last year, and yearn for the rainbow hit that pervaded the garden during Summer. I was so proud of my little patch, and how I had turned it into a rather lovely space to be in. It lifted my spirits and got me and Olly outside. It also ratcheted up my love of nature - especially plants, birds and lichen (of all things). With a little bit of love and care, it repaid ten-fold with bunches of flowers, veggies to eat, gorgeous smelling aromas and the hum of happy insects.

I am spending a rather large part of my day daydreaming about the garden. I stare out of it in between one of many trips to the washing machine. I watch the birds come and go, and wish there was more coverage for them to play their territorial games.  I am out in the garden every day, looking for signs of life, checking to see whether all the bulbs I planted in Autumn are starting to poke through the soil. I have been making plans in my head and on paper detailing the changes I wish to make this year, and I have a wish list of seeds and plants that I would love to find space for.

This time of year is a good time to do some maintenance. The pond lining has been torn with (we suspect) one of many metal toys that can be seen lurking at the bottom. I love my pond. It has brought me so much joy. When we first built it, my ambition for it was to see a dragonfly or similar hover above it. I achieved that last summer, along with tadpoles, newts, frogs, toads, various underwater beasties, pond skaters, whirligig beetles and other creatures.

I want to put up a fence to create a natural windbreak for a proposed shady shrub area that I have in mind. In my head it will be thick with evergreen shrubs of different colours, sizes and leaf shapes. It will create a natural barrier from the wind tunnel that runs down the side of the house, and allow me to grow more delicate perennials.

The decking has had it, so we plan to get rid of it and create more planting space and a smaller patio area. The bottom of the garden is going to be converted into Olly's space (with child friendly planting of course), so that he has more room to play outside, now that he is getting older.

So this weekend:

Operation Pond. Sowing sweet peas, broad beans and Cosmos. Dig over the ground in preparation for shady shrub border.

Will I be able to achieve it all?

Will it tip it down?

Will Marc help?