It’s been some time since I’ve posted on the blog so I’m going to use this entry to provide an overview of 2023. I think the main gardening highlight of last year was editing and improving what we already have. As we get to know the plants better we’ve moved some into different parts of the garden where they’ll be
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I’ve taken some time away from the blog as I felt a little uninspired. I’ve also been enjoying running, completing a half marathon in Crystal Palace in February, Brighton marathon in April and the South Downs trail half marathon in June. Excuses aside, now that spring 2022 has finished I’m excited to share some of the developments in the garden
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We dug over and planted into the bed which sits next to the new drive. As the space will be used to park the car, we choose to plant a grass that will fill out and create a nice green edge to the space, but won’t mind being stepped on from time to time. We used Hakonechloa ‘macra‘. This type
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The weather has been bizarre this month – both cold and hot. February started off with a light dusting of snow and culminated with heat waves which broke meteorological records for winter temperatures in the UK. I was working from home on the 14th and so thought I might venture out at lunch time. I was taken by surprise by some
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I’m going to start this post with a note: if you’re reading this on your phone, hold it landscape and the format looks how it should do! As per one of my New Year’s resolutions to be more observant of how the garden develops over the seasons, I’ve identified some of the coppice trees that line the bank of our
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I took some annual leave in the run up to Christmas and made a conscious effort to not become totally sedentary – I recently got a fitness watch so wanted to see if I could maintain some semblance of fitness. I decided that walking would be our activity of choice and we went on quite a few decent ambles in
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I forgot to mention in last month’s post that we installed a bird box that Luke made from scratch (he got the build instructions from the RSPB). The guidance suggests that you put these up towards the end of winter; however, they also say that some birds will use these to roost in during the colder months so we thought
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In reflection of the things we’ve done in the garden this year, I’ve gotten so much pleasure from the hanging baskets we planted back in April. Every time we leave the house (especially in the mornings before the commute) I look at them and they’ve changed and grown so much over the months. I particularly enjoy the red tinge the
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One of the first things we did this month was visit ‘Isabella Plantation‘ in Richmond Park. I highly recommend this place – its totally magical. It feels like a secluded woodland and is dominated by huge rhododendrons and Azaleas – It’s so colourful at this time of year. My favourite part was the stream that runs through it, it’s bordered
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April saw a flurry of activity in the garden as we were both home for 2 weeks for the Easter holiday… We decided that we would divide up the perennials that we bought last year and take the plunge and plant them into a mixed border. We actually started first by planting 2 clematis armandii ‘Apple Blossom’ against the front
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