In the beginning

This is how my garden looked in April 2005 after I'd widened the border, mulched it with cocoa shells and started to cover the concrete path with pots. As you can see, all I had then was a few established shrubs by the fence and about 20 pots. Three years on it's like a jungle and I still can't stop buying plants!

I went to the local nursery yesterday and fell in love with a beautiful Photinia x fraseri 'Little Red Robin'. It is a mature specimen and is going the brighten up the shady border no end over winter. I also bought two good sized Skimmia confusa 'Kew Green' plants and then I spotted that the spring bulbs were reduced to half price. Not one to miss a bargain I picked up some English bluebells, Hermodactylus Tuberosa and Allium Schubertii. Where am I going to put them all? Goodness knows! Finally I couldn't resist a quick peep at the seeds and spotted an annual herb called Madia Elegans. According to the blurb the foliage smells like a tropical fruit salad so I couldn't resist a packet.

We had a very light covering of snow first thing but it soon melted. It's been very cold though so it was not a day for gardening. I had a quick walk around and I was pleased to see that the Peas are all looking sturdy under their cloche. I picked and ate 4 Alpine Strawberries - they are still flowering/fruiting - and noted that lots more Snowdrops and dwarf Iris are emerging above the soil.

I hope it's a bit milder tomorrow because I need to pot up the three bare rooted Hostas I ordered which arrived yesterday. Then all I need to do is find somewhere to put them!

Georgie

A few more jobs done

It's mild and murky here today so I managed to get quite a few jobs done. It's just as well I took this photo when I did because today I noticed all the seed heads on the Fatsia have dropped off and the snails have been eating the petals of the Chrysanthemums again. I'm assuming the snails are also to blame for all the buds on Pineapple Sage being eaten. Such a shame.

I emptied lots more pots of things that have gone over in the veg plot - a boring and break-breaking job - and had a good sweep up of leaves. All the brilliant red leaves on the Acer have now dropped but it's good to see there is still plenty of autumn colour, particularly on the Cotoneaster and Jasmine. I had a bit of a tidy up in the sunny border and put some more Pyracantha cuttings down where plants have died down for the winter to stop my cat from scratching up the soil.

On the edibles front I was pleased to see that the Peas I sowed on 2 November have germinated and the Chilli Thai Hot on the kitchen windowsill is covered in flower buds again. The Alpine Strawberries are still flowering/fruiting and surprisingly all the autumn Raspberry canes which have been cut down have new shoots! The Parsley seedlings in the greenhouse are still tiny though so I couldn't prick them out.

Flower-wise the Laurentia continues to look colourful, the winter Pansies and Cyclamen are well established, the Primroses are out, there are still plenty of Fuchsias around and I have leaves poking above the soil on two Narcissus - Tete a Tete and Chinita.

I reorganised some of the pots again - more heavy work - but it's nice to be able to bring things to the fore that are at their best whilst hiding others behind them. I'd like to take some more photos but my camera is playing up. I might have to write a letter to Santa!

Georgie

Wildlife gardening

Hurrah it's been fine here today so I managed to get into the garden for a few hours. I took this snap of the Chrysanthemum which is brightening up the shady corner and at long last found room to plant the Allium Purple Sensation bulbs in the sunny border. Then I cut back the three remaining outdoor tender Fuchsias (Swingtime), potted them up and popped them into the greenhouse for over-wintering.

As I was sweeping up leaves and picking them out of the pots etc I hit on a good idea: I've put a bell cloche over the water feature to keep the leaves out. I'll only leave it in place until the leaves have finished dropping and meanwhile there are two other sources of water for birds and wildlife - another ground level dish by the Ivy and a dish on the bird feeding station.

Having cut back the Sunflowers I made two shelters for beneficial insects made up of a mixture of hollow stemmed plant stalks. The first I tied in a bundle and fixed in the Forsythia by the fence and the second I put inside a terracotta pot and placed it at ground level under the Ivy. Then, inspired by an article in a garden magazine, I made a bumblebee pot which I half buried in ground by the fence in the sunny border. It's just an inverted terracotta pot stuffed with dry grass with a bit of moss by the hole (inside the pot) which will allow access but keep the grass dry.

Georgie

More autumn colour

This is the best year I can remember for autumn colour in the garden. The photo is of part of my Jasmine which is a picture at the moment as are many of the other deciduous shrubs. The Chrysanthemums are out in all their glory and the seed heads on the Fatsia and Ivy are very attractive too.

Minor disaster on the Tagetes experiment front. Two out of the three seedlings in the shady greenhouse have been eaten by slugs. So I've put the remaining one in with the five in the sunny greenhouse which are standing in a gravel tray and have so far been unaffected.

It was too wet to do anything in the garden today so I'm hoping for a better day tomorrow. I've got lots of pots to empty now that things have gone over and all my Lilies need re-potting or at least top dressing. I also need to bring the Sunflower seed heads into the greenhouse to dry off and then tie the stems into bundles to hide in the Ivy to provide homes for over-wintering beneficial insects.

Georgie

Tidying up and a bit of planting

This is one of the Alpine Strawberries which is still fruiting as you can see. They are great little plants and a must for next year. I potted up some new autumn Raspberry canes today (a gift from a friend) and sowed some Lester's Peas in a half barrel which I covered with a bell cloche. (The Peas were also a gift). I've not tried growing Peas over winter before so this is a bit of an experiment. I just hope they do better than the Broad Beans I tried last year which gave me the sum total of three pods!

There was a fair bit of tidying up to do following the snow earlier in the week. For instance it snapped some of my Verbena Bonariensis stems which had reached over six foot high. I cut all the stems back to about four feet so they can continue to provide nectar for any late insects and shelter for them over the winter months in the hollow stems. I gave the Aquilegia vulgaris leaves a good trim back too as these had also been flattened. The Tree Spinach (Chenpodium giganteum) had shed all its leaves so they were pulled out and all the Lily stems had gone brown so they were cut down to ground level.

I had a bit of reorganisation between the two greenhouses. There were aphids on the spring onions again (now squished) but I was pleased to see that the Parsley seeds are beginning to germinate. I've lost a couple of Aquilegia seedlings but the rest are fine, and the Dianthus and Tagetes seedlings are looking healthy. The shelves are packed with cuttings - Fuchsias, Pelargoniums, Hebes, Box and Lavender - all of which appear to have taken as they are putting on new growth. The Lemon Grass I grew from seed earlier this year is also in there, along with a Strawberry runner I've potted up in the hope of early fruits. There are also a couple of Hesperis plants grown from seed sown in the summer and some of the tender Fuchsias which are still in flower. And I've still got to make room for the remaining tender Fuchsias.

Georgie