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. 

Weekend project: Replacing a shrub

After a period of several months hoping that this shrub would produce some new shoots, I finally accepted that it was dead. It saddened me as it is the first thing that has died which already belonged in the garden long before we moved in. As I broke it up, every single twig snapped easily and it was evident that it was dead. Digging it up was not easy, but I persevered and managed to get most of the root ball out.

When I looked at the space left, the shrub had taken quite a lot. Luckily I had recently bought some plants - no surprise there. I had also kept a choisya in the pot since I bought it from a small nursery in Gatley because I wasn't quite sure where to put it. I suppose I had an inkling that I would be doing some digging soon. I really like the end result and I hope the garden bugs do too. I had added a dahlia and a salvia to keep the choisya company. They seem to be getting on well for now.

I now have room at the front to plant smaller plants, or veg should I so feel inclined.  

The story behind getting a choisya is a typical Nat one. I had been listening to Elizabeth is missing on audiobook -you should read it, it's great- and the main character is reprimanded by digging up the choisya. I thought the sound of the plant was interesting and thought nothing of it.A week later, we went to a small nursery in Gatley where I bought some alpines. I went over to look at the shrubs and there I see a choisya. I decided to see it as a sign that I had to take her home with me. It strikes me as a she.

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!