SuburbanGaze

New year new garden.  Time to  seriously consider the future design and what we would ideally like to achieve.   The problem Over the autumn and the winter the ground forms puddles in places and walking over the lawn from one end of the garden to the other creates a muddy mess across the grass surface.  In the mid-to-late-spring the ground dries quickly as the weather begins to warm-up and the surface starts to crack in places becoming rock-hard. Walking on the soil during the autumn and winter (and to some extent spring) feels like we are having an adverse affect on its quality.  The surface can become compacted, shiny and waterlogged.  Footprints mark the surface and sit there like you would expect to see in drying cement. The possible solution We need to create a series of low-maintenance pathways that we can access all the garden from without having to walk on the grass.  We need to try and avoid that oil-slick appearance in t...

Last October we spent several hours digging narrow holes in the lawn and planting several hundred mixed Crocus bulbs.   The ones that survived the squirrels hunting them are beginning to pop through the lawn like little jewels adding much needed colour outside.

For my Birthday I have been bought a pot-grown fruiting Cherry Tree from a local nursery.  I am looking forward to seeing it blossom.

We have cut down the Crab Apple tree, it was half-dead and the root system had rotted. The large Leyland Cypress coniferous trees that we removed earlier had blocked so much light and drained so much water and nutrients from the soil that it was difficult to sustain any plant development close to them.   We counted the rings from them and estimated that they had been in the garden for at least 40 years. We have replaced the Malus with a Pergola Arch so that we can grow climbers such as Wisteria and begin to plan the overall garden design.

We have already begun to utilise the potting bench in our shed. Last year we planted a wildlife seed mix and loads of poppies to the shady border adjacent to the wildlife pond.  This year we are trying something different and have chosen a ready-made border pack consisting of small plug-plants, we are now waiting for the last frost before planting them outside. We are also trying our hand at growing potatoes as we were gifted some vegetable growing bags for Christmas from a good friend.  We have chosen 'Rocket' seed potatoes and hope they provide a good harvest in around 8 weeks.