As it is

The view from the gates, for years, this front section was just forgotten, never really part of our garden, it was a space to get to the garage and the back door. When we first moved in it was where we kept our rubbish bins. Here you can see how huge the decking space is. For the past couple of years hubby has been talking about removing the decking and having paving. 

This view is what I often show, it's what I have always felt is 'the garden', even with our fake grass it always feels a living space, so much growing and it's where we see the birds. This view has changed over the years, our Magnolia tree we keep small, it can be hard work, but it's worth it, as we get older, we will have tree surgeons in to keep it's shape. 

This is another view you often see here, this time different, there is no seating areas on the decking, the smaller bits of washing often are outside on the airier drying, but never for long, there are towels on the line drying as well. I often have pots along the path by the garage, this year I have trays, waiting to be passed on, it's a bit more cluttered. The bird feeder in top left hand corner is hanging off the birdhouse post. 

This is a view I never show, across our garden to the working area, our lines are here, as you can see towels drying. We now have our seating area over there, once the washing is dry, hubby removes the lines and we have a lovely space. 

This is an indulgent post, I wanted to record in one place how the garden is looking, I often show parts of our space, but I wanted photo's of summer colour, we won't make the big changes until spring next year, but now is the best time for the garden looking good. We now both agree the changes will work, we love when inside looking at the garden without any furniture in the view, having the back flower bed closer will please us. We can have our umbrella up when one line is being used, our airier works well for the rest of the laundry, we still have the option to use both lines, when necessary. 

The flies and smell are bad again, it the same every time it is hot and sunny, we do get less bother with them now we have moved the table and chairs, I still spray with Pinesol, an American disinfectant, which works well. We have a curtain on our kitchen door, the patio doors in our sitting room have not been opened for weeks, we are managing to keep them out of the house. 

We are not alone, many people have hard landscaped parts of their gardens, some park their cars inside the garden gates, it's never been an option here, the gap between the houses are too narrow even for the smallest of cars, but it was perfect for hubby's motorbike, which he kept in the garage. Our plans now is for a more slower life outside, not focusing on huge BBQ's and family get togethers, now it's about just the two of us and how we want to continue living our lives as we age.

I have not purchased many plants this summer, mainly because the gardens are full, but also as I move one flower bed, and then change some fruit positions next year, I can decide what I want in any gaps. My plan next summer is to use bedding plants to create the colour I crave, allowing me time to decide on any bigger plants I would use. I have a couple of small shrubs in pots, mainly cuttings, if I want to use them.