Trees give life

I always show photo's of our Magnolia tree, it is a beautiful tree, but we do have more tree's in our small plot, this twisted willow is very pretty, I use thin twigs from here all the time, we do keep it small, it would grow huge if left.  

For 10 years this Acer grew in a wooden frame beside the garage wall, it loved the spot, but was becoming too big, so rather than pass it on, hubby suggested we pop in into the ground, it looks stunning here. 

The triple Acer was potted to fill the space from the bigger red Acer, I love these colours and hope to keep them together in one pot for as long as I can. I purchased a twig last year, it's another acid green shade, it's already doubled it's size. 

The Olive has been in this pot for a few years, I do feed it twice a year, the wind has battered the leaves, but they will come back. There are still a few Olives left, they do not ripen enough to be able to harvest them, so I always leave them for the birds. 

This is my success story, it's a Pomegranate grown from a pip in the fruit, started back in 2017, back in bud, the colours of these leaves are lovely. I don't ever expect to have fruit from this tree, but for as long as it looks good I will keep it in a pot. 

Again all grown from pips, Lemon, Orange and Lime, these aren't really doing well, I need to care for them better, I'm going to keep them here infront of the greenhouse, it's a very sunny spot and they will get extra heat from the glass. 

Our garden has loads of hard landscaping, the decking and the concrete path to the garage, plus our fake lawn, so I have tried in ensure there  are loads of natural grown things to please the birds and other wild life. With the flower and shrub boarders, there is so much colour, I tend not to think too much about the rest of the un-natural parts. Trees do give life to my garden and any other landscape. 

Tree's can be hard work when they require cutting back, our policy has always been, never let them get to big, keeping them to a size where we can reach them. Growing in pots is not ideal, as always at some point they require to be planted into the ground and there is not enough space in our garden. I have always offered them free on our local Facebook pages, I'm happy to pass them on for a new life in a bigger garden. I have put links on each tree, if you want to look back at post and see what I did, not that I knew what I was doing, just having fun. 

We are very lucky as our neighbours to the back of the garden has 3 huge trees, which we steal into our view, they leave their trees to just grow. I have always loved trees, and also the challenge of growing things from seed, so hopefully I will always have loads of different trees here. 

Potty time

My bleeding heart is now outside, it's on our big table, it is looking very healthy, I love these tiny white blooms. If the weather gets really chilly again, I will pop it back in the greenhouse. 

This is the trio of Acers I purchased last year, I think only 2 have survived, but that's OK, it is thriving in this bigger pot. My big Acer, which I have had for over 10 years, is in full bud, ready to burst into beautiful red leaves. 

I have re-potted both my Lime and Orange plants, they did not do so well this winter, but their roots were pot bound, not they should thrive, along with the Lemon tree, these are still inside the greenhouse. I will start feeding them now. 

I still have pots on my metal table, waiting for blooms, can you see the tiny mice, hubby got them for me as a gift, for no reason, other than he saw them and thought of me. 

Spring pots around the garden and the raised bed outside out back door, I protect the tubs with the primroses in as the squirrels dig in them, they live in a shady spot under the fence by the greenhouse.. 

I popped some spring bulbs which has finished blooming into the brown pot at the bottom of the side garden, in hope I can get colour most of the year. I'm hoping this section will look good this year, I have planted loads here, including a few yellow begonia corns.

Sadly no buds on our Magnolia tree this spring, it did require the huge cut back last year, there are buds showing, but they are for green growth. Hopefully we will have a late bloom. 

I have so many pots around my garden, all my fruit are grown in pots, I get better results with spring bulbs in pots, they rot in our heavy clay soil. The greenhouse is full of nasties in clay pots, I have very few plastic pots.  Pots can be hard work in dry spells, but I have time to be able to water, most of the bigger pots have a permanent place, just a few are move in cooler months.  

The past few days of warmer weather has seen us outside again, we popped the canopy on our pergola, it's nice to find shade, we had friends visit on Tuesday and we sat outside chatting for ages, normal feels so good. Wednesday was cloudy, but Will, George played outside for hours, we sat with mummy watching them, it does feel good to get outside and of course wear my sandals. I did pop to Lidl on Thursday and then most of day home alone, hubby was out on his motorbike. Just looking forward to this long weekend (not that we have much difference as neither of us work).

Potty gardener

I love my pots, I am always showing them on here, I even did a post about them back in 2018, seen here, I did say I would cut back on the number of pots I have, and promised hubby I would not litter the new decking with pots, Well.............

Decking is clear only 3 pots, 2 along the fence are placed for the lemon smells near our table, and Kirk sits under the other table. Both tables have a flowering plant pot and there is a pot in the corner with yew in, but that's on the ground not on the decking. The chicken pot above is on the shelf along by our neighbours fence, seen here.

So how many pots do I have? 

Hubby will say too many, but I do love growing in pots, there are 2 pots in the front garden but these are hubby's so I'm not adding them into my count. 

• 6 pots along the side of the house, 3 oblong matching planted with flowers, 2 planted with eucalyptus by front door and 1 planted with shrubs by dustbins. 
• 9 pots at house end of garden, 3 on decking, 1 in corner next to house, 2 planted with Olives, 2 planted with flowers on table, and my chicken, which was a watering can. 
• 19 in middle lawn area, 4 pots have fruit bushes in, 5 pots have plants grown from my seeds and pips, 2 have herbs in, 8 planted with flowers.
• 4 chimney pots, 3 are planted with flowers. 
• 22 in back section, 1 planted with Acer, 3 planted with Hosta's, 8 planted with spring bulbs and flowers, 3 planted with mixed plants, 1 succulent tower (3 pots high), 2 planted with saplings, the last 2 big pots are empty, but I would like more fruit in these. 

I am not counting in my greenhouse, almost everything in there is in a clay pot or a pretty kitchen pot, that's a lot of pots, most of them are not too big,  but I do have loads of time on my hands, to care for them. The back section up by my greenhouse is often a holding spot, the spring pots stay here most of the year and are popped closer to the house when they start to grow. 

I do love the bright blue glazed pots and have a few around the garden, most of the outside pots are much bigger, they have their permanent place and add height to my tiny spaces. All my other pots are years old, they are not plastic, I do like natural pots, I do have one hosta in a copper coal bucket, which helps stop the slugs. 

The fruits, Olive's and the pots on the decking are all plastic, all these pots are huge, so I use the lighter plastic, I don't move them often they are all heavy. The large Olive pot has a water system in it's base and also has wheels, we would not be able to move it, in winter we can wrap it and pop in down the side of the garage to keep it out of the wind. 

My pips and seed plants and the smaller Olive will later in the year go back inside my greenhouse, I have planned space for them inside. All flowering pots get 2 planting per year summer and winter, the rest stay in place all through the year. 

I do love my pots, I have a trio of Acer plants due, and guess what no pot to plant them in, oh well better start looking.

Lastly for honesty, I have 16 plants in pots inside the house, some are tiny pots with nasties in the bathroom, up to a big pot with my coffee plants in in the sitting room. 

Sat down on the job

I've been working in the greenhouse, sorting my raised bed, lots of my nasties are now in nice pots, I'm re-using the soil from this bed and the stones, I like to see bowls of mixed plants. The soil level is already going down. 

I had my Lemon tree in this pot, I'm loving the mixture of these plants, the soil is poor there are loads of stones mixed in, but perfect for these plants.

Lemon tree now in matching pot as my olive bush, all I have to do is place a layer of grey slate on top of the soil, but for now I can't get to it, so will be done once greenhouse is sorted. 

My Jade plant, this is a flour storage pot, but I love using kitchen pots for my plants, I love how the colours play together. 

Tomato plants both doing well. the plant on the left is in a compost bag, I don't have enough bigger pots. On the shelf behind is my chamomile seedlings. 

Both cucumber plants are growing, I will use both this year, 1 inside the greenhouse and 1 outside, they will produce at different rates and spread my crop. 

These smaller pots have my spring bulbs in, I am going to pop them in my outside raised bed, The big pot on the left has a gooseberry bush, which is not growing this year, I will leave it for a couple more weeks before digging it out, just incase it's just late starting. 

i purchased these shoes in 2017, from a local shop in their closing down sale, the dark brown ones I wear often, but now they are tatty, so I have pulled out the suede ones to replace them. The dark brown shoes will now be my gardening shoes, mine have split and become loose on one foot. 

I have come in from the garden, my back was telling me enough for today, by doing smaller amounts of work and resting I am trying to ensure I don't twist my back again, last time was very painful. 

I have lots of things on order for the garden, a fruit cage, a tree tie to help get our twisted willow to stop leaning, I have also ordered from Ikea 3 small galvanized shelving units and a folding chair for the greenhouse. Expensive month so far, but once everything arrives the garden will be sorted (famous last words!!)

What are you growing.

In 2019 I had a beautiful Amaryllis, as the flowers went over they produced seed pods, so I planted the seeds, and they grew.

The pot above was crowded, so I thought I would pot them on, I was surprised to see such good roots and a tiny bulb has formed, I had to find bigger pots for them. 

 Six in plastic pots, 3 in bigger pots which can be used inside, it's exciting to see something new growing from saved seeds. I have no idea how these will progress, or even if I will get flowers.

 I thought I would update you on other seeds and pips I have growing.

In flower is my Lime plant, this was purchased as a plant, I was not able to find pips in limes. Next is my orange tree, this was grown from a pip planted back in 2015. Both are due to be placed in bigger pots. 

 My Lemon tree, planted in 2014, I cleaned and popped the pip in soil and was pleased when it grew, this started my fun on growing things from seeds and pips. I have a bigger grey pot to give this plant more space. These 3 plants are still in the greenhouse. 

 Cape gooseberry, planted in 2018, I have cut all the growth back, it had better shoots from the base, again I have no idea how I should be growing this. 

 Pomegranate sown in 2017, I cleaned the pink fruits and 1 grew, I have just put it in a bigger pot, the leaves drop each year and every spring it gets bigger and more wonderful. 

 Kiwi also planted in 2017, it took a couple trys to get these to grow, 1st attempt I picked out all the tiny black seeds and popped them on a wet kitchen towel, they grew but were to tiny to pop into soil. 2nd attempt, I cut a slice of kiwi and popped it on soil, it did go moldy, but I left it and I got 1 plant. It has been outside for a couple of years, and loves a sunny spot in the garden. 

 I am growing this kiwi for the blossom, it is beautiful, as yet this plant has not produced any, but I am hopeful this will be the year, the leaves are furry as is the stems, it's a very different plant. There was one growing in a neighbours garden back in 2013. 

 One of the babies from my pineapple plant, after the tiny fruit ripened, the plant died, so I potted up the babies, this lives on my desk, it's always sunny and warm here. 

 In the green house I have 2 other pots, the single baby had good roots, the pot with the glass cover has 3 plants which do not have many roots, the dome I hope will help them to grow, it's working so far. 

I have other things, an acorn sapling, I have a couple of nuts in soil, to see if they will grow, I am always looking for something to try and grow. I did grow  an avocado and had it for a couple of years, but it did not winter well in the greenhouse. Not everything grows, I had walnut sapling given to me, which curled up and died, and loads of things which never started growing, but if you don't try you will never succeed.
My green house is full, I have trays of flower seedlings, a couple tomato plants and I got another packet of cucumber seeds, the old ones I planted did not grow. I was given 3 camellia seeds, which I have planted, the itch to grow is huge at this time of year.
My mood has picked up again, feeling more positive, I'm finding it better for me if I focus on home and family, I can't change the world, but I can live the best in my world.
Husband went to our local B&Q, he got loads of bits, so he can finish jobs, mainly painting, he's ex army and follows the mantra, if it does not move paint it.
This weekend I am planning time with my sewing machine, simple projects, things which can be finished, my crochet blanket is growing slowly, having mastered the design, I am finding it's very repetitive, but it does look good. I am also reading, which is always good for me.

Before the rain

This back section is a disappointment, the raised bed was made for cut flowers, but the bed is always dry and never produced many flowers. 

We have decided to change this area, I have a few plans, which involves hubby doing loads of work. I have cleared this area, and will start using the earth from the raised garden in the bottom of pots, I need to move half of the soil. My one gooseberry plant is in smaller pot, it will stay in this area, safe from little hands, the bigger pot has a rhubarb crown in. 

My citrus plants are back inside my greenhouse until next summer, in front on the floor is my lemon grass. 

My Pomegranate and Cape Gooseberry are also in the greenhouse. 

My half price begonia has done well, I took these cutting from the main plant, popped them into water until they rooted, one for me and one for my sister.  I love free plants, the pots were purchased from Asda £5.50 for both, they are storage pots, but I love them as plant pots, once these are growing strong, I will take mine inside.  

My original olive looking brilliant, it will stay in the greenhouse over winter, I will try and sell it next spring, it's a good size. 

At the start of the summer I cut a few of the lower branches from my twisted willow, and used them to support my sweetpeas, last weekend I cut back the sweetpeas, to my delight 3 of the twigs had rooted, they were added to our local Facebook, and was collected on Sunday to be planted in a local garden. 

A Strickly cast on, these are for a size 11 shoe, just a simple pattern for easy knitting, these are the last pair for a Christmas gift, I love the shades of blue, simple knitting.

I spent loads of time in the garden on Saturday, I planted all my bulbs with the help of Will. Whilst Will had his afternoon nap, I sorted the back section, and moved things to the greenhouse. I also placed out pots with spring bulbs in, I still have loads of items to pop in my shed, but I'm leaving them out for a while longer.
I cleared the tomato and cucumber plants, and cut back overgrown plants along the fence from nextdoor. I have been pleased with my garden this summer,  fewer gaps in the flower beds, and just 2 spots in my herb garden. My main role for now is picking up leaves, we get loads of small leaves from next door and then the Magnolia leaves which are huge will fall.
Sunday was a day inside, I had planned to use my sewing machine, but hubby was home all day, his motorbike ride cancelled due to the wet weather. I finished reading To Kill a Mockingbird, I enjoyed the story line, but I am not a huge fan of American literature, but I'm glad to read a classic.
I am happy with the rain, everywhere is looking good, and I was not wanting a dry end to the growing season, the water will help the plants gather strength as they die back.
Will is due this morning, if it stays dry, I have my last 5 pots by the side of the house to replant.

Saving Olive

In 2014 we purchased a new Olive plant, we had left our 1st olive tree at our old house it had been planted into a raised bed. This photo is taken from a post back in 2014

 I loved this pot, it was perfect for a growing plant, but it was pot bound this summer so we repotted it into a much better bigger pot. The roots got damaged, and I have been watching the leaves fall off the plant. Another old blog photo, this one from last year. 

So today hubby and I went shopping for the last thing for our garden refurb, his words, I agreed with my fingers crossed behind my back. We both fell in love with Olive tree's, so this one came home with us. 

Planted in the bigger pot, looking good. 

I used the large plastic pot the Olive tree came in, for my tomato plant, it's a brilliant size for loads of compost to ensure this plant grows and produces loads of tomatoes. 

This brown pot had the tomato plant in, I had planned to use it for my lemon plant later in the summer, but now is a much better time to repot. 

The small pot I removed the lemon plant from, was a perfect size to pop my old Olive plant in, I have cut all the branches back, in hope I can keep it alive and it will have some new growth. 

I am shattered, it was hard work, sorting all the plants into the different pots, I am now keeping everything crossed the Olive plant survives and grows, if it does I will gift it to my younger daughter, but that won't be until next summer.
We have learnt our lesson on choosing pots for plants which will need repotting, getting wide top pots, but at the time I loved the cider pot, it reminds me of back home in Somerset as a child. I have a few much smaller old pots in my shed, they have lids and I use them for storage of grit and other tiny stuff.
I do love having my blog and using it to track the history of our garden, home and family. I find it very easy to look through my printed books to find photo's and details of everything.