At the bottom of my garden.

We removed the arch, already there is so much light in this area, we will remove the perplex from the fence, it was there as a back to my original lean too greenhouses, as seen in this post. You can see my 2 tomato plants, which means they get more sunlight. 

I managed to dig out (with hubby's help) the passion flower shrub, I cut back most of the top growth as it was wrapped around the arch, I am not worried as the roots were great and this is a fast growing plant. I also dug out a clematis which had never grown strong, both are in my raised bed, in hope they will grow and fill the fence here at the bottom side of the garden. I have also taken 3 honeysuckle cuttings (after watching Carol on Gardeners World on Friday) in hope to get a plant to grow, this area could be very colourful. I do have other plans for the front of this raised bed, but they are for next year. 

In the corner I was able to remove the smaller square chimney, which was hidden and replace it with the matching taller chimney, both are now planted with begonias, and have enough height for the plants in front to look good. I have cuttings from the English lavender growing in hope to have a second plant on the left of this bed, not much grows in this section the ground is heavy clay. 

The square chimney is at the end of the raspberry canes, this geranium was in the bigger chimney here, I will later this week cut it back it has become straggly.  

Out side my shed, I have planted one of my new plants, and I have moved this triple planter away from the back corner, it can be seen now from the garden, my sunflower plant is growing but still not big enough to go into the ground. 

This spot along the fence outside my greenhouse is really pleasing, the triple acer which I have just popped into the bigger pot is doing well here, it's now full of flowers and colour, as before it was a messy corner.  

Looking towards the garden and house, this is along the steps to the back section, I have a Belfast sink next to my big acer, and a yew growing in the blue pot, the wall it is next to is the garage. 

I purchased this stand a few years ago, I have the idea to plant it with french marigolds, which looked pretty as seen in this post, but they only looked good for a couple of weeks, so I found another use for this, I do like pebbles around the garden, these came from the dried riverbed I removed from the greenhouse. At some point these will all be used and then I will have to find a new use for it. 

My rain chain which holds water I popped under the Magnolia tree, the small birds love using it, I always ensure there is clean water in each flower. I do have a bird bath here as well, just a plant pot saucer filled with water. We also have another water feeder near the back of the garden.

This rain chain, which is watering cans allow the rain to run through, the cans have no bottoms. 

I am really liking the garden without the arch, when we first put it up we had a climbing rose, which was always green but only ever a few flowers, it grew so fast I am sure it must have been a rambler, we took the rose away, and then in 2019 I added the passion flower, it was great, but the sweet peas I planted every year in the raised bed never grew, so the arch was never balanced. We can now see the whole of the greenhouse, it's does look much lighter, we did agree we would purchase another arch if we missed it, but I don't think that will happen, I am really pleased how the bottom of the garden looks. We did the work on Friday afternoon and I watered in everything, and was pleased as it rained through the night and on Saturday, allowing the plants to have a good drink. 

No other outside work has been done, we have had the most blustery few days, it's felt more like a warm autumn rather than summer, we sit and watch all our plants thrashing about, luckily nothing is being damaged, but I'm sure it can't be doing any good.

Will enjoyed being back at nursery, even if it has changed for him, he did not want to go, but mummy received photo's 10 minutes after she left him, he was happily playing with friends. Saturday we walked to the village and had an early lunch in our local Bistro, we were one of the 1st customers, it was great to be doing something normal, as said before I am happy to be in our village. 

Today daughter is bringing Will and George for the day, we have blue skies, so hopefully we will be in the garden, I want Will to help me pick blueberries and blackcurrants and check the raspberries. I also want him to see the tomatoes and cucumber growing on their plants. 

I have done some crafting, I will post photo's in my next post,  and I've started another book, reading from my kindle.

Been shopping

We finally got the large size slate for our garden, since we replaced the fence we have been looking online, most places were sold out, we got these bags from B&Q, with a few other small things. The cost of each of these bags has increased and there is not longer 3 for £10, we paid £21 for 3 bags, we had little choice as we needed to match our existing slate. 

We then went to a local garden centre, here I did have a list, and only two of the plants below was on the list, they had very little of the things I wanted. The rhubarb will be put into the big tub by my raised garden outside of the greenhouse, I did have a plant, but I think I planted it too deep and it rotted. 

Seeds from both places, I am planning for my winter pots here and a few spring plants.

I managed to get an up-lighter for the big pot I keep my Olive tree in, I want the tree to light up each evening, not totally what I had in mind, but this should do the task. It's just the case of getting the right angle for the light to get the effect I want. 

At the garden centre I got some silk flowers, I still had my tulips in this vase by the patio door, I wanted a summer arrangement with more greenery in, but there was not a good choice for green leafy stems, and some were huge and really expensive, so for now these look OK. These cost me £22.52, but over the summer months I won't be purchasing cut flowers so in the long term I will save money. The tulips are packed away for next spring. I wanted it to look like a mixture of flowers from the garden. 

I ordered this weeks ago, from Glassworks, I have already a poppy, and a robin, it has already been placed with the poppy in a small window, the sunlight coming through is very pretty. 

My first shopping trip out, I disliked B&Q, they had a one way system, but people were shopping as normal and wondering around, simply because you can never find what you are looking for. The garden centre was better, they too had a one way system along the main route through, the spaces between the isles were smaller and people were having to ensure they kept their distance. It does amaze me how people will push past you, if I find someone in my way, I change my route to avoid them, I had issues in both places with people getting to close. Later I popped to Lidl, so we got everything done in one day.

We did not have to wait outside for long anywhere, it was not the enjoyable slow wander around having a look, we went to the sections we wanted and then paid and home. It was not as bad as I feared, the only down side was I could not get everything I wanted, but I can live without the other bits. 

I have no plans to visit other shops, our lifestyle is one of using what we have, not wasting anything, we have enough clothes to last this year and next. 

Its still the 1st week of July and I've spent loads on the garden, but it is looking good. Just as well I have no plans to purchase any craft items or clothes. 

Outside in my glasshouse

I saw this for sale on our local Facebook pages, it was a useful kitchen storage basket, now living in my greenhouse, I have loads of small clay pots to go in the bottom basket. 

These shelves on the other hand were expensive, I had been looking for a while for a set, these are way better than all the other shelves I have seen, perfect for this corner, I love the extra height they give me. The little bottles on top are solar and light up different colours at night. 

Most of my time is spent outside, even on wet days I am in my greenhouse, our outside space is a calm and healing place, I can waste hours outside doing very little, often hubby is working in or just outside his garage, so we are both in the same space. 

Whilst my greenhouse is a working space, I do like it to look nice, I love things in there to be neat and tidy, having one side for nasties, the back for potting, and the side along the back fence is my working area, which at this time is full of cuttings, most are doing well.

The two items above were purchased online, we are planning a trip out today to get the few items for the garden, it will be our first trip to shops away from our village, sadly I'm not sure I am looking forwards to going, but I am desperate for some blue slate to finish the herb garden. 

Hubby and I have been discussing replacing the arch in front of the greenhouse, in 11 years we have had two, this one was not expensive and is starting to rust, so we have been looking at wrought iron arches, not cheap at all, I started to think do we need the arch, you can't walk under it. So my next job in the garden is to remove the arch, and if I can transplant the passion flower to the back, so it grows up the fence behind the raised bed. That's my task over the coming weekend, Oh and to plant any new plants I may just purchase in the garden centre. July might be another expensive month, not as bad as it could have been if we decided to replace the arch. 

Growing and picking

Will's sunflower seeds have grown, so he brought them to our house for the next stage, he planted them 2 weeks ago seen here, he has 4 and I kept this one. The other seeds in his greenhouse have grown and been potted on, mummy is hoping she gets the flowers to grow, the basil is in a nice pot on her kitchen window sill. I will plant this in the garden when it gets a bit bigger. 

This is my first cucumber, I did have a few I cut off near the bottom of the plant, they never grow straight and often touch the soil, so I prefer to wait just a bit. The plant is full of flowers, once they start to form I will remove some, it looks as if the plant will be really fertile this year. 

Tomatoes are starting to turn red, this plant is outside the greenhouse, it gets sun most of the day. I have 3 plants this year, a plum tomato is outside next to this plant and has fruit. The 3rd plant is in my greenhouse, I grew this plant from a seed taken from a supermarket tomato, I want to see if using the same seed grown at home if they taste better, because the tomatoes often don't taste of much from the supermarkets. 

My Oak sapling is in it's small pot, the crock is there to hold it upright, the dish is shallow and the roots had to be folded to go in, time will tell if I can keep this small to be a bonsai, I have no idea is this is correct way, but I'm have fun, it sits in the shade on the floor of my greenhouse. I have seen that wire is used to shape the trunk, but at this stage I just want it to grow (stay small). 

With all the success from cuttings off my Salvia hotlips, I decided I would try another Salvia, we both liked this flower, so I am keeping it in the pot for a bit longer, there are loads of tender shoots on the plant, once they get bigger I will take three and try and root them. Saving money and only bringing in one plastic pot instead of four. 

I purchased a pack of crinkly lettuce, which was lovely and fresh, I am now soaking the roots in water ready to plant up, I should get a second cutting from this plant. I have another pack in the fridge to use for now, the lettuce stays fresher with the roots attached. 

We have had loads more rain, which I'm happy about, good for the garden and saves me from having to water my pots, I did spend an afternoon in the greenhouse, I have potted my lavender into 4 separate pots, I planted cutting from the blue salvia taken from the above plant. 

I have cut back some more of the eucalyptus by the front door, I don't want these to be tree's, so I need to keep them trimmed and bushy, these cutting I have popped into water and 1 stem into the perlite, I don't think the stems in soil have taken, but I still have left them just in case the are growing roots I can't see. 

My summer raspberries are now finishing, I am pleased with the crop this year, the later summer canes are looking very good. I am harvesting blueberries and blackcurrants, both bushes have done well, the later fruiting blueberry is full of green berries. I am still picking a couple of strawberries twice a week, which is pleasing as the plants are new this year. My blackberry canes are full of fruits ripen for later in the summer. It does feel good to be able to produce any harvest. 

How can it be July already, half the year gone, if you ask me how I am doing, I would say the days pass slowly, and yet the months fly by.