Snippets of June

June is a month that has never interested me. The only excitement it brought was my town festivities. Since gardening, however, it is the month where everything is lush and green and growing. I have planted out plenty of kale and lettuce, utilising the space I have and embracing the kitchen garden. It's the first year I have done this and I am quite pleased, although I know I can do more next year! I think I will invest in more reclaimed pots, etc. as I really like that look. I bought an old bread bin and paint bucket this week. Thinking about what to use them for!

In the meantime, I have emptied the big plant pot with jasmin and forget-me-not like flowers, and I have planted them elsewhere in the back garden. I have left the lavender pot and have added 2 buckets of daisies I got from M&S a couple of months ago. 

The sweet peas are rapidly becoming one of my favourite annuals. While I am considering not investing so much time and money in annuals, they smell amazing! They remind me a little of jasmine, which is one of my most favourite scents. 

I planted these sweetpeas out last ___ and for a while I was worried that they weren't going to grow as the change in temperature stunted them. Look at them now! They have climbed all the way up the wigwam I built earlier this year have they are producing lovely little flowers. 

These sweet peas I sowed a little later and they have only started shooting up now. I'm expecting a lot from them, so any growth and flowers will be a bonus. 

I also have one snap pea plant growing. I sowed 3 peas directly in the soil and only one germinated. So I think next year I will sow them in the greenhouse and have some more to eat!

This is an example of how I'm using the bits in the garden to grow veg. I do want to do more research on companion planting, so I'll make sure I do more of that next year. Here you can see some lettuce and kale growing among the plants. I also moved the strawberries planter as I don't think it was getting the sun it needed to ripen the fruit. They are growing much bigger and faster now. 

 I have also found some tendrils. These are capable of making new strawberry plants. What you should do is "plant" the tendril so it is contact with the soil. That way it'll produce its own roots. Once that is done you can cut the tendril from the "mother plant" and plant them wherever you please.

I have potted on my pepper plants. They are looking healthy! No sign of baby peppers as of yet but I am looking! 

I planted the ferns in the more sheltered part of the garden. The weeds come in from next door, so the fact that there weren't many plants to begin with make it the ideal place for weeds to go wild. My plan is to slowly add some more ferns and shadow-loving plants. That way it'll look nice and keep the weeds at bay. I was concerned that no one would see my nice ferns, but Boyfriend says he likes looking at them while he practises his martial arts at the top of the garden. I'm not sure what those grass-looking plants are, but there have been bluebells popping up here and there. 

Finally, the top of the garden. I'm loving how it's looking so far. You can see some alpines mixed with kale, onions and thyme on the left. To the right I have my strawberry cage, lettuce, cut flower patch, chives, spinach and some pots. Since taking this photo I have also panted 3 sun flowers where the white painted bricks are. I might have to stake them soon!

I haven't had any flowers yet. I am a tad worried as everyone else on the blogosphere seems to have blooms everywhere. Perhaps it was because I sowed them directly into the soil...? Hopefully they'll bloom soon! I need to see what I think of having rows of flowers as opposed to sowing freely - or, indeed, whether I will grow the seedlings in the greenhouse and then plant them out next time round.

Filling the garden little by little and update on direct sowing

The key to not lose your battle with the weeds is patience and tackling one area of the garden at a time. At least that is what has worked for me. We are lucky have a really big garden, but it did look rather sparse when we first moved in. I have been slowly filling it with plants that I like. I see it as a trial run for the garden at our forever home, whenever that may be. I buy things I like the look of; if they survive, great. If not, on to something else it is.

Up until now I had been concentrating on the parts of the garden that were closer to the house. I moved my way upwards, taking out weeds etc. Last weekend, my father-in-law took me to an old-school nursery some 30 minutes away. It's called Marbury Hall Nursery and it was a dream to walk through the rows and rows of plants. I bought a small collection of mostly alpines to plant on the opposite bed where my flower patch is growing. They look rather at home there now and it has inspired me to keep on adding to it. Also, I have to add that I got the plants, two ceramic pots and a carnivorous plant for the boyfriend for under £30. That gave me enough reason to make the decision that I will return.

While I was outside I decided to pay a visit to the different areas in the garden where I have sowed directly. One pea plant has showed it's head, and there is movement in the courgette+marigold area. The spinach and the kale are also growing nicely and the carrot has started to show too. We had a frost the other day that made me worry about them but they seem to be ok!