Our garden so far

This week we have an update on the outside of the house. The garden looks pretty much like this at the moment

Having rented for so long we are quite happy to have a good size garden for the first time! We have had gardens before but being tenants usually just kept them tidy rather than invest a lot of effort and money into a garden that isn't our own, but we want to make this garden a really nice little space.

We like this garden because it is a good enough size to be able to do things with, but it isn't too big to make it a lot of work to maintain. It also doesn't come with lots of borders already dug or high maintenance plants that need to be pruned. You may be able to tell that we are all about low maintenance gardening! Our aims for the garden are to have it as a nice space to enjoy and to possibly grow some fruit and veg, but not have to be out there every day working on it (we have enough work inside!).

Lets look at the garden as it started. Basically a plain square of lawn, concrete, crazy paving, a shed and some fencing/hedges.

The fence was quite drab looking and needed painting so I spruced that up quickly with a coat of bright paint (B&Q colours range - I highly recommend it). This is a really quick and easy way to brighten up a garden space without having to touch a single plant, perfect for non gardeners like us! The paint went on really well with a brush and only needed one coat, there isn't much bleed through on the other side too (I wasn't going to paint the other side in the field next door!) and it has held up well so far.

Fencing wise for the rest of the garden we need to get the whole garden fenced in, as it is open to the driveway at the moment, but first we need to look at what to do with the large oak tree which is very near to the house. The plan was to take it down eventually, as it is far too close to the house and if we ever want to build on the side it will need to go, but we may be able to just trim it back for now. Also as it is an oak it is only going to get larger every year so we will look at what we need to do. Once that is sorted we will get fencing across the drive to close off the garden. We may add in some sort of bin store or gate to hide the bins behind too. The photos below show the issue with the tree placement, and also where we need to get a gate added

View from the driveway into the garden

View out of the kitchen window above the sink

We were also trying to get the lawn into a better condition through spring as it had quite a large bare patch and the grass was quite sparse in other areas. This has involved us laying grass seed periodically on the bare patch and all over the lawn, and using weedkiller/fertiliser sprays on the grass. I'm really not averse to the odd dandelion or daisy in my lawn at all so we won't be using these regularly, but it was in a bit of a mess when we first moved in so it needed some help. We have also been mowing it regularly on a high setting (so not to kill off any new growth) which helps to get it more level looking. It is slowly growing in and looking greener, the bare patch is still pretty bare but I am hoping as spring and summer play out that will grow in. The recent rainy then sunny then rainy weather has helped and the past week or two it has really turned a corner into looking greener and fuller.

We wanted to grow vegetables and herbs in the garden, so Tom dug a border along the fence and we have some things growing away nicely. I will do a more in detail post later in the year about what we planted and how we got on with it, but it seems to be going ok so far. I also have plans for some raised planters (made out of the plethora of scrap wood that we have), a compost bin and the water butt being better situated.

Furniture wise we had no garden furniture when we moved in. I got a second hand hammock from a local lady for £10 (which you can see in the photo above) and scored some chairs and a table for free kerbside, but we are still on the look out for a nicer patio furniture set for outdoor eating and lounging in the summer.

In the front of the house I planted some lavender and pansies in the front garden planter pretty early on, hoping that the lavender would grow in nicely before this winter and it would last through. I also love the smell of lavender so am hoping it will waft in through the living room windows in the summer :)

I also made up some hanging baskets with pansies and heather to brighten up the front door and the shed, and originally used some existing pots and plants that we had or were gifted on moving in for the front step.

I planted out the Forsythia we had in a pot from our old garden a couple of months ago, as that should grow in nicely and provide some early spring colour in the front garden. I have now recently planted 4 more Forsythia along here which will hopefully fill out this border nicely, as well as planting some bulbs which we were given in pots so that they can come up next year.

We found these new pots on a recent tip visit, they are solid and look much better than the plastic ones that were there! The new front door also helps a lot :) I planted them with lavender again (3 guesses what my favourite plant is!),  loeblia, coreopsis, and a hosta and hollyhock in the other.

I always put these rose quartz crystals in with the lavender by the door to attract peaceful and loving energies into the house, because I'm a a big old hippy at heart apparently.

We have more Forsythia at the side, as well as some ivy and numerous other plants, bulbs and shrubs. I want to try and transplant some of them to the front or the back gardens maybe (once we can ascertain what it actually under all the ivy), as the side of the drive is quite overpopulated but the front border was completely bare! I would like to keep some of the larger lower maintenance shrubs in the front or side to keep the kerb appeal all year round, but mean that we don't have to replant out there every year. The area at the side is just wild at the moment, the ivy really needs hacking back so that we can start again and keep it under control. There are flowers and roses coming up now so we really just need to control some of the other plants so that you can see them!

This takes us up to now and covers the basic work on the garden through spring, we have plans in the summer for more planting, and LOTS of pressure washing. This should make a really big difference as the place is pretty grubby, especially with all the work being done in the house and the garden ending up as a work area or dumping ground!