Spring Has Sprung!

It's been so lovely to be back out pottering in the garden this week, even if I've still needed to wrap up warm, we're getting there! I am always so happy to see the spring flowers popping up in the garden, happily the bulbs I put in years ago have spread and made a much more impressive display, with zero effort! But the garden around the Shepherds hut needs some work - the varieties of willow have thrived in the soggy soil over the winter but the flowers have proved tricker to maintain. I need to go back to the drawing board on the design and planting, any recommendations for soggy clay soil are very welcome! Meanwhile there's a plethora of jobs to get cracking on in the garden, painting sheds and fences, waxing the shepherds hut inside, so roll on Easter weekend and more good weather! What are your projects this spring?

Thanks for reading, hope it's another sunny week for us all!

Katie 

Happy Summer Snapshots

It was wonderful to enjoy some proper sunshine in July, the garden suddenly burst into bloom after all that rain and suddenly everything was looking very green and luscious! So many of my bulbs had rotted in the ground around the Shepherds Hut after such a bad spring, I am relying on wild flowers, dogwoods and shrubs to get some colour going. The vegetable patch has been absolutely ravaged by slugs and snails despite my attempts at defences, does anyone else think they get parachuted in too??? If I get some courgettes, beans and tomatoes I will be happy, the rest of my efforts have been truly munched!

I had a few days off when it was scorching to sit and enjoy such a rarity (admittedly, under protection from the parasol) but Mia really isn't a fan of the heat, so she dug herself a good little shelter in the shade and refused to walk more than ten paces. She now has a much cooler summer haircut, I even made her some doggie ice lollies (natural yogurt, banana and peanut butter) to try and keep her happy in the heat! 

Good weather called for garden parties and there were some fab gatherings with friends and family! I re-discovered that watering the garden was HOURS of fun (with a little help from Jax!) There was a hilariously brutal football match between littles ones and older ones who should know better, and plenty of BBQ food! This is what summer should be about.....and then soggy August shows up!

I hope you have been having a great summer no matter what the weather! Thanks for popping by!

Katie

Late Spring In The Garden

For those who are regular visitors to this blog it is no surprise to read how much I enjoy spending time outdoors and in my own garden. May is the special time I always look forward too, with the Bank Holidays promising so much potential for topping up the tan whilst getting jobs done in the garden (too much pressure, never quite works out!). There is so much growing all at once I thank the longer days allow me to get around to all the watering and weeding, let alone all those seeds I still have to sow! This year seems to be zooming past at an alarming rate, as I write this it is actually June which does make me panic slightly - but then I remember that brings even more chances to pad about outside barefoot, and I'm happy again. Simple pleasures. Mia very much appreciates the sunshine too and would spend all day snoozing in the daisies.

Walking in the woods has also brought much pleasure in May as the beautiful Rhododendrons are out in force, despite not being a native plant for our woods I still think they bring a beautiful tropical splash of colour. I felt like I was in the jungle book walking through the alley of purple flowers.

Hope you have been seeing plenty of the great outdoors too! What are the garden projects on the list for June?

Thanks for reading,

Katie

May Bank Holiday In The Bluebells

Welcome May! As a gardener this month fills me with equal joy and panic, as it's all about to get extremely busy in the garden! The soil is finally warm enough (and in my case, un-waterlogged) to get planting out all those seedlings of flowers, fruit and veggie's we've been planning! I am sticking to a reliable repertoire in the vegetable plot this year: french beans, courgettes, tumbling tomatoes, beetroot and a mixture of lettuce. Flower-wise I just want self-seeding wild varieties as I have given up the hope of structured flower borders in my heavy clay flood-risk soil!

Over the Bank Holiday Mia and I took several beautiful sunny walks in our local bluebell woods. I could never tire of such a magical time, surely one of England's extroidinary natural sights! Blue is such a rare colour in nature and the scent when the sunshine hits is so heady, to me it's the pure essence of springtime.

I managed to get spring cleaning the shepherds hut at last, only a few cobwebs and a lot of ladybirds sheltering, so it's ready for any guests! I'm dreaming of summer entertaining and many garden parties, so I better get my act in gear and get it looking beautiful!

What are your garden plans this year? Any new plants or crops you're trying out? I'd love to know!

Thank you for popping by,

Katie

A Very Soggy Summer!

We have been a nation gripped by the weather forecast this summer, as yellow flood warnings were not on anyones agenda! We had barbecues to fire up, beaches to visit, picnics to munch! But despite our best made summer plans, Mother Nature proceeded to send us a deluge so extreme, I've even stopped saying "oh well, it's good for the garden" - this amount takes it way too far! My sunflowers are sticking out of two inches of water, the beds too sodden to hold anymore! The delicate wild flowers all dip their heads sadly, but anything shrub-like and green is looking healthy so that's one positive! Here is the view from my bedroom this October, SORRY i mean, August!

Mia won't go out in anything more than a fine drizzle so we have been ducking and diving outside at opportune moments, avoiding all the puddles too! She had been paddling about in the garden whilst I've been attempting to tidy up, my greens and Kale were past the point of saving from the caterpillars and snails, I was away for ONE weekend and they ran riot! Pests! I will just cut them back soon and they can re-grow for winter crops, at least they are hardy!  

One Sunday afternoon despite the awful forecast we went to my friends lovely house for a birthday party, not expecting any garden time at all, but we were proved wrong! Spot of yoga and lots of tearing around the garden with balloons with the little ones, I was shattered! Their apple trees were looking full to burst with fruit, one tree had been attacked by pests but still, thats a heck of a lot of crumbles to make! I did suggest them getting a press for fresh juice...and volunteered to be the first taster! :) There are hints of autumn in the air already, chillier mornings, leaves turning rusty, it won't be long! 

 Wishing you a lovely Bank Holiday weekend with a TON of sunshine and at the very least, some good food and films! Perfect!

Katie

My Garden In June

June in the UK has been a mixed bag of weather to say the least! We've had misty cold February-Like days, scorching sunny days, thunderstorms with or without lightening and back to rain again! Luckily the garden seems to be keen to blossom and bloom as usual, and only certain veggies seem behind in the growing stakes after such a mixed month. My garden is full of easy to maintain plants and shrubs, as I only get a few solid hours of gardening a week now, but most evenings I take a wander to just water, weed and deadhead, as these quick little jobs all make a big difference in the long run. The Rhododendron and Honeysuckle have been bringing the bees in droves, every time I walk past I love hearing their happy hum as they dart in and out of the flowers. My wildflower patch behind the Shepherds Hut is also coming along nicely, the Forget-Me-Nots are spreading throughout, and self seeded Foxgloves and Michaelmas Daisies seem happy in the shady nook too. 

In the borders around the Shepherds Hut I have these delicate little Aquilegia's, which always remind me of fancy ladies hats on raceday! These were plug plants I bought off Ebay, as were the Delphiniums. I would certainly recommend the established nurseries that sell on there, it works out cheaper than from the chain garden centres and I haven't had any damaged in the post yet. The yellow Rose is called 'Chris' and has the most beautiful lush blooms, and smells exactly like those fruit salad sweets you used to get in your pick and mix! I haven't grown Roses in previous years, I am keeping an eye out for any pests, another rose in the garden isn't looking as happy as this one, so I need to investigate.

I felt so privileged to watch my gardens box of Bluetit chicks fly the nest this year! I was outside at just the right time, and I was worried they would be put off by all the noisy builders machinery (we were in the middle of a room refurb!) in the garden, but luckily all seemed to flutter well! The little one who went last was certainly not as strong flyer as the rest, he actually came and sat on the lawn next to me cheeping away all morning! I guarded him from the many neighbourhood cats as long as I could! It's lovely to see them all zooming around the garden now, when I sit in the hut I can hear them chirping in the tree just outside the window. 

The lower part of the garden is still under a revamp, we have taken away two large tree stumps to make way for a new paved path to the greenhouse (never a fun job in the heat) and also removed an old raised bed to make room for a new improved model! I am growing mostly salad crops in the raised beds this year, and some varieties of Kale. But it's not looking a great year for beans for me, half of mine were eaten despite me putting organic pellets down! Those slugs must parachute onto the leaves! I am quite happy to just potter around and maintain the garden for the rest of the summer, I am more naturalistic in my approach now, it can just get on with growing! 

What projects are you undertaking in the garden this summer? Any surprise successes or indeed, failures? I have an unbelievable amount of apples on my tree this year after only a couple last year, you can't ever predict it! 

Thank you for popping by,

Katie