Poppy Patchwork


My little bit of this big World

Monday 23 May 2022

Gardening

I dug out my composter for the first time this weekend, I really thought it was going to be wet and smelly, but luckily for me I got lovely compost, a bit too many woody bits, but it's a learning curve, I used it on my side bed as a mulch. I took out the bottom third. 
Hubby got a new toy, a shredder, it will help with the woody bits when we cut back shrubs and branches from the tree's, he trimmed the twisted willow as we don't want it getting huge. All the bits have been put into my black dustbin, in hope it will add to the leaf mulch I am making. So other than thicker branches (and we don't get many of them), everything can now be reused in the garden. 
On a sunny day everything looks great, I have all my bedding plants out now, the greenhouse is almost empty, I sorted all my plastic pots and cleaned them ready to reuse next year. 
Our bench is being used every day, we do love to stop for a coffee outside, it's nice to sit together and chat, another small plan is forming, not too much work, just sorting an untidy spot. Here you can see the shade forming from the garage, lovely spot for a hot day, it's always sunny in the morning and shady in afternoon. 
This is now my herb section, I have loads here, chives, thyme and parsley in the big black tub, and in pots I have bay, rosemary, mint, 2 x sage, lemon balm and marjoram. I have seeds sown for basil and some cress on wet kitchen towel. The bay has been cut right back, I am training it into a ball top. 
The beds are starting to look good, I still have a few gaps, but once everything has grown it should look full, I have cut back on my forget-me-nots in hope I get a second lot of flowers. 




Saturday was a working day, I don't think of gardening as work, it a passion of mine, hubby was happy to use his new shredder, the twisted willow looks a better size for our garden, we both are pleased we can reuse almost everything in the garden, without using the council expensive garden waste system. There will be times when we have branches thicker than we can shred, I am hoping I can pile them in a corner to rot themselves down. After 12 years here working outside, we don't get many weeds, I do keep an eye out and pull any when they are small, all our plants are healthy, so nothing is a chore. I have even decided to get rid of 2 big pots, they are not needed with the new garden bed giving us loads of colour. 

Sunday was a lazy morning, I went out for an afternoon tea lunch with youngest daughter, it has been planned for ages, it was a fundraiser for Portsmouth Downs Syndrome charity. Our host was daughters hairdresser, he is gay and has a cross dressed alter ego, he has been fundraising for a couple of years, he's such a fantastic person. 

9 comments:

  1. Your garden is lovely Marlene, it looks so serene.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, it's our calm relaxing place, we spend so much time at home and on warm days we are always outside.

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  2. Your shredder is such a good idea, something for us to think about as we pay for our council's expensive garden waste collection service.

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    Replies
    1. We are hoping to use all the bits as mulch, we pop them into a big black dustbin to let them dry out and become useful. Saving money on purchasing mulch.

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  3. I think your garden is lovely.
    We had a surprise this morning as three ducks waddled into ours from a nearby lake, it was such a sweet scene.

    Have a good week.

    All the best Jan

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  4. Such a beautiful space to while away a couple of hours or an entire afternoon.

    How wonderful that you can use all the trimmings in your garden now.

    God bless.

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  5. I felt sure I had commented on this post ...
    With blogger and commenting playing up at the moment, I do wonder if it went into the spam folder?

    All the best Jan

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  6. The shredder sounds like a fantastic addition to your already amazing garden.

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  7. We have two hedges on both sides of the garden and we put all the clippings through the shredder and then mix it with the rest of the garden compost we make. It worked really well last year.
    Your compost looks great.

    ReplyDelete

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