Show Me Your Garden #5

In this week's SMYG I visited S. I found her village/town very quaint. Many of the houses are made with the same (local?) materials. I have tried to showcase that without being intrusive and respecting neighbours' space. Also, finding out where my guests live is not in the deal!

I liked the different colours for the hard landscaping. The terracotta, the slate, the gravel.

S recently had a beautiful baby, so she told me that she is now thinking about the garden more and thinking of ways of utilising it for baby A's benefit, which she discuses further down. Onto the questions!

1. How long have you had your garden?

Three years. In a way it's what convinced us to get the house in the first place. The previous owners had kept it well and it was pleasing to look at and it seemed like it was low maintenance. 

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

It's a place for socialising. We have a barbecue area and a place to sit. I like to sit outside to do my marking when it's nice weather, I like having the option to be outside.

3. Favourite plant in your garden.

The dogwood. The stems go red in the winter and the leaves turn dark. It's a nice plant to add colour when everything else has died off. I also love he honeysuckle above the door; it smells really nice and when it's in bloom and we have the windows open the fragrance come into the house, which is 

lovely. 

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

When we moved in there were spring onions in the top patch, but we didn't know and they all died. I would have liked to have harvested them. We do, however, have a whole patch of strawberry plants! They have produced loads this year and we are having to keep giving them away. 

5. Anything you would like to change?

I don't like the grasses at the front. They look like messy tufts of hair. The ivy is nice but it gathers lots of spiders and it can affect the neighbours and I don't want to cause any problems. I don't like to pull it off as every time I do I come face to face with bugs. 

6. What is your inspiration?

I would like it to be more colourful. There is a lot of green but hardly any flowers. At the beginning, we wanted it to be low maintenance.  However, R (partner) has started to show an interest in gardening and we have been buying more plants. For example, this is one of our new(ish) additions. R would like it to grow and cover this area. (I think it's a rose climber, but don't quote me on that)

Personally, I would like an area with lawn at the bottom, under the pergola. I would like it to have a climbing frame or play area for baby A to play in. I would also like to use the top bed for veg, I want to teach A about growing things. 

7. Finish the sentence: You can't tell from my garden, but...

I am not actually mad on barbecuing.