Show Me Your Garden #4

In this week's SMYG I am excited to show the one belonging to my parents-in-law M and S (this combination made me giggle). I think I would say visiting their garden so often and talking about plants whetted my appetite for this hobby. The first couple of times you are in it, you can appreciate it is a beautiful garden, but the more you go, the more you discover. There is something for every month that keeps the garden interesting. I would say the highlight at the moment is this passion flower. It stems from one sole plant and has been trained to grow up creating this curtain. It is so exotic looking with all its layers.

The couple cannot remember the name of this plant, but I found it fascinating. It has thorns, and looks like sea holly from the top. It not only produces these lovely purple flowers, but if you look inside, there is a more delicate white flower. (EDIT: It's called Acanthus Spinosus)

The garden is also a place of remembrance. My mother-in-law is a district nurse, she told me that a few years ago she was caring for a patient suffering of terminal cancer with whom she spoke about the garden. When he died, his daughter called M and told her that 2 days before he died he was in the garden potting up plants that were to be given to her as a thank you. She went to the house and was met with 20 different plants, it took her 2 car journeys to fit everything in. One of those plants is the pink hollyhock, "W's hollyhock".

There are also charms to remember the passing of S's parents. Boyfriend's paternal grandmother passed away in 2009 (I think! Correct me!); his paternal grandfather passed in 2012. They bough a bird ornament in honour of his affection for them.

Now, on to the questions!

1. How long have you had your garden/space? 

31 years. There was an existing garden when I moved in, but it was basic. It had some shrubs and some trees. I think it only had 3 beds. It was mostly lawn, and it didn't have a patio area.  

2. Are you interested in your garden? What is its function? 

It's mainly used as an extra room of the house. We use it to socialise and we it like to be decorative. I also have a herb patch and I grow rhubarb and strawberries. 

3. Favourite plant in your garden. 

The acer. Although the leaves are green in summer, it turns a beautiful red in the colder months. You can start to see the colour in a couple of leaves. 

4. Something you have tried and failed at growing / doing. 

Lavender. I have tried 3 different varieties in the back garden, in different positions, in pots, but they all failed to thrive. As a last resort I tried planting it at the front and it seems to be happy. It just goes to show that you can't force a plant to grow where it's conditions are not good. In this case, whereas the lavender is growing well in dry conditions, the camellia is not. It hasn't flowered in the last couple of years, so I might look into moving it to another spot in the garden.  

Another tip is that you should have a walk around your neighborhood, it's a great way to see what other people are growing and works in your area. For example, we are very happy with the yucca out at the front; and this morning, as we walked around the village, we saw it in many gardens!

5. Anything you’d like to change?  

I would love to replace the shed with a greenhouse. In an ideal world I would also love a walled garden.

6. What inspires you? 

Hard landscaping and lighting. I like a nice lawn, but it requires a lot of maintenance if you want it perfect. I like water features, not necessarily a pond, but moving water, for example water flowing over stones. I also like having different textures; I do enjoy having flowers but I think having shrubs is important to add colour in winter. If you only have herbaceous borders, they would all die down in the cold months. 

7. Finish the sentence: You couldn’t tell from my garden, but I...

but I hate weeding!

Flower patch - July

The flower patch in the garden is looking good! I'm really happy with it as a first try. I am still unsure as to whether next year I will sow directly again or if I will grow them in the greenhouse as some were wildflower mixes they did have to be sown directly. I am also still undecided to sow in rows again or to scatter the seeds everywhere. They did help with identifying weeds, but I worry that it looks rather rigid in its structure.

A part from the flower patch, I have been enjoying the sweet peas, the rudbeckias and the dahlias

Show Me Your Garden #3

In the third installment of SMYG, we visit C in her new build house. Now, C has admitted to me that she has not been that interested in gardening. Her boyfriend and her moved into their first house together and they have concentrated on decorating it for the past year. They paid little attention to the garden until recently, and for the best part of the year it has been, in her words, brown.

I thought it would be interesting to see a garden owned by someone who is not a keen gardener - although after spending the afternoon with her talking about the garden... I think I may still convert her! In any case, here are the 7 questions with some photos.

1. How long have you had your garden/space? 

We moved into the new build house in August 2014. There was nothing in the garden, not even a lawn. We left it like that for the first few months because we were dog-sitting and we didn't want the dog to dig anything up. We have only been adding to the garden since April this year. 

2. Are you interested in your garden? What is its function? 

It's leisure. We have a patio area with sofas, and a barbecue. We do have some strawberry plants and some chili seedlings. There's a patch we do not really use at the moment, so I may have a some veg in the future, but it won't happen just yet. 

3. Favourite plant in your garden. 

This one! I love its foliage and the colour. I don't know its name though. 

4. Something you have tried and failed at growing / doing. 

I'm struggling to keep the chili plants alive. (I had a look at them and they had aphids on the leaves and base of the plant, which we got rid of. I also suggested potting them on to a bigger pot. She'll keep us posted). I have also noticed that something is eating the leaves on my pear and bay tree. I haven't killed anything yet, we only started bringing things in in April!

5. Anything you’d like to change?  

I would like to fill out the garden more. Have lots more plants. I would like more scented plants, such as lavender, honeysuckle or jasmine. I also like climbers, we have bought 2 clematis for that reason. I would like to raise the fence as I feel very overlooked, so perhaps adding some climbers to the back with some trellis will help make the space more protected.

6. What inspires you? 

I have got ideas from doing Google searches for "small gardens". At the moment we have the bare bones; however, I am more interested in green than in having lots of colour. I prefer having different textures and foliage, which I can enjoy all year round rather than having pretty annuals which I will have to replace throughout the year. I don't have the time to dedicate to the upkeep of the garden other than watering, mowing the lawn etc. 

7. Finish the sentence: You couldn’t tell from my garden, but I...
I have put a lot of effort in it! Blood, sweat and tears have gone into this.