FOCUS ON: GARDENS
FOCUS ON: GARDENS
I’ve been thinking about gardens a lot over the past couple of years. I made a particular effort to research all I could, make a detailed plan and actually see it through (I sometimes lack this last part as it’s the hardest part.) I wasn’t going to make this post so soon after the garden make-over to give it time to grow more before sharing but I thought it would be a good time to share all the inspiration and all the things I learnt along the way. First let me say that I hate gardening, with a passion and when we moved into our house the garden was literally the last thing on our minds and was only used for cutting wood and not much else. So it quickly became overgrown and other than strimming it when the weeds and grass got taller than me, I did not really do anything with it. But I had an idea in mind of what I wanted it to be.
I wanted it to be simple to maintain, even if the weeds ran wild I wanted to be able to walk through it still, and I wanted it to be as nature-friendly as possible. I only planted a few specific plants at first but they were all bee-friendly and non-toxic to cats and other animals. Then I sprinkled wildflower seeds in the gaps to grow as many pollinator friendly flowers as possible without any extra planning. And I wanted to remove my lawn, which was the big first job – this solved two problems, it was more environmentally friendly to have ground-cover of different plants and it meant I didn’t have a lawn I’d have to mow (which frankly wasn’t going to happen) and removing the lawn gave us a chance to make the ground more level. So this is the stage we’re at now. I have more plants I am planning to plant in the spring and am looking forward to the ground-cover spreading more. I’m letting the weeds grow in the borders at the moment as I have to focus all my weeding efforts to the middle where the ground cover is yet to spread, it takes a while for it to become weed-resistant and to cover the whole area but when it does it will let me make more efforts of control in the borders and it will be drought-proof too, unlike grass.
I share with you below the original plan for the garden and the before and after.
I have some more gardening related blog posts of Greenhouses and Pools and Ponds. And some of my favourite gardens from house tours are here and here…
And theres’ a lot more where that came from - I’ve been collecting gardening pins on my pinterest for years; you can check it out here…
Click images for links to sources. If I’ve featured a photo of yours and you’d like to re-link elsewhere or have me take this down please let me know by sending me an email using the form here…
GARDEN INSPIRATION
GREAT PLANTS FOR POLLINATORS
GREAT GARDEN ACCESSORIES
FURTHER READING
EXTRA TIPS AND TRICKS
How to Grow and Care for Hydrangeas for Beautiful Blooms Every Year, According to Experts
underplanting: making ‘a tapestry garden,’
Habitat Piles: Turning Garden Debris Into Shelter and Sculpture
8 Planting + Design Tips For Small Gardens
Thriving in Disorder: A Visual Guide to Chaos Gardening
18 Incredibly Creative Chicken Coop Ideas
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