I posted back here about our general progress in the garden over winter and spring, and said I would do a more detailed post about what we grew, plants and seeds we used and how we got on with them. In this post I will mostly cover the edible plants because a lot of the more decorative ones haven't really grown in yet or still need a bit of work.
We were keen to grow some of our own vegetables, we already had herbs in pots from our courtyard garden at our old flat and use them a lot. The ones we have are sage, bay leaves, rosemary, mint and chives. These all seem pretty hardy and easy to grow in pots. Our current plants have been going for ages and I actually thought the mint had died then it came back last spring! We wanted to expand on what we could grow now we had more space and could actually plant things in the ground. Last year was kind of a test for some things as we didn't have a lot of time to consider what to grow and prepare, so some went well, others not so much and we will not do them again or will change how we do them next time.
We had tomatoes in pots which always do well, we have done these before in pots and you can even grow them in hanging baskets so they are perfect for limited space! We got a variety pack of tomato plants to have a few different types. Just tie them up on canes when they get tall so they don't fall over, and make sure they have enough water. We also fed them with tomato feed once they started to flower. This year I think we will try to grow them from seed starting them off earlier on in inside, this will eliminate the black plastic pots.
We got on well with growing peas too, they climbed on a trellis that we attached to the fence. We started them off from seed inside in about March and planted them out in May. We just kept them tied onto the trellis until they attached themselves properly and watered them every day. That was pretty much it, really easy. The yield of peas for the amount of space they took up wasn't great though, so we may try something else for this year like runner beans.
We planted some onions too, just ones from poundland. They went really well and we got a good crop of small onions.
I got some raspberry canes from poundland too and they have not grown at all. They are still just looking like sticks. Although we got a blackberry plant from Morrisons and that is growing well and will hopefully have berries in autumn. I got a blueberry bush too, although will keep this in a pot as they are fussy about the soil and ours is quite a heavy clay type soil. I do need to get it a larger pot soon or may build it a planter. I got the strawberry planter in the sale right at the end of the summer so we didn't get lots from it last year but it is still alive so hopefully we will get more this year.
We grew potatoes in a bag of compost so we don't have to dig them out. This worked well and the plants absolutely shot up (you can see it lent up against the shed in the photo below). Then when you want potatoes you can just stick your hand in the bag and pull them out, easy! We may plant them in a nicer looking planter or box next year but its a good reuse for the compost bags, you could grow other root vegetables like carrots in this way too.
In the awkward space between the shed and the house (its not really a space we would ever use) I built a planter and put in a water butt. The planter had cucumbers, kale, broccoli, leeks and carrots. The cucumbers were started off from seed inside with the peas, and planted out at the end of May with canes to grow up. The rest were planted from seed straight into the planter at the end of May. We left space for another row of carrots to plant a couple of months later so that we had a steady stream of them for a little while not a week of carrots galore then none. The cucumbers went absolutely banans and we had tons of them, the broccoli and kale unfortunately got eaten by caterpillars so we will cover them with nets next time! The carrots did really well too, although the leeks didn't do anything at all. So a mixed bag in there really last year.
We did have some plants in these black planters, a tomato plant, lettuce, rocket, carrots, radishes, and spring onions. Tom got them all in a variety pack. Unfortunately the planters do not have holes in and flooded in the heavy rain while we were away at download and the plants all died (except some very small carrots and spring onions we pulled right away). The rocket and lettuce is easy to grow and nice to have fresh to cut whenever you need it, especially once the tomatoes and cucumbers come in too. I drilled some holes in the planters and replanted it with lettuce for a bit later in the summer.
We do have some decorative plants that have done well, I have had this clematis for years and it flowers in early spring.
The lavender in the front garden bed has gone mad and grown in really well! I also planted some pansies and wildflower seeds here to keep it full up but low maintenance and good for the bees. I just pull any really conspicuous looking weeds in here every few weeks.
The front border is still waiting to fill in but we have forsythia and white fuschia in here waiting to grow, and there are bulbs that come up (I don't know what they are other than we had some tulips in spring). Everything also got a good wash with the pressure washer which is SO satisfying!
The side has some lovely roses that have been a bit neglected so once they stopped flowering this summer I gave them a good prune and the whole area a good weeding, although the ivy needs trimming right back.
I have picked up quite a lot of these plants either from freecycle or from the sale sections, lots of flowers look sorry for themselves in there but once you plant and water them they soon perk up. Even if you buy a tray of bedding plants and a few don't make it its still good value if they are as cheap as some of these were!
The plan for the garden this year is to try out some different vegetables, and hopefully for the berries to come in. The front I want to try and have the same set up really with the wildflowers and lavender, the perennial shrubs like the forsythia and the fuschia should start to get a little more visible now so its just filling in the gaps between them for now and putting some nice flowers in the hanging baskets :)
We were keen to grow some of our own vegetables, we already had herbs in pots from our courtyard garden at our old flat and use them a lot. The ones we have are sage, bay leaves, rosemary, mint and chives. These all seem pretty hardy and easy to grow in pots. Our current plants have been going for ages and I actually thought the mint had died then it came back last spring! We wanted to expand on what we could grow now we had more space and could actually plant things in the ground. Last year was kind of a test for some things as we didn't have a lot of time to consider what to grow and prepare, so some went well, others not so much and we will not do them again or will change how we do them next time.
We had tomatoes in pots which always do well, we have done these before in pots and you can even grow them in hanging baskets so they are perfect for limited space! We got a variety pack of tomato plants to have a few different types. Just tie them up on canes when they get tall so they don't fall over, and make sure they have enough water. We also fed them with tomato feed once they started to flower. This year I think we will try to grow them from seed starting them off earlier on in inside, this will eliminate the black plastic pots.
We got on well with growing peas too, they climbed on a trellis that we attached to the fence. We started them off from seed inside in about March and planted them out in May. We just kept them tied onto the trellis until they attached themselves properly and watered them every day. That was pretty much it, really easy. The yield of peas for the amount of space they took up wasn't great though, so we may try something else for this year like runner beans.
We planted some onions too, just ones from poundland. They went really well and we got a good crop of small onions.
I got some raspberry canes from poundland too and they have not grown at all. They are still just looking like sticks. Although we got a blackberry plant from Morrisons and that is growing well and will hopefully have berries in autumn. I got a blueberry bush too, although will keep this in a pot as they are fussy about the soil and ours is quite a heavy clay type soil. I do need to get it a larger pot soon or may build it a planter. I got the strawberry planter in the sale right at the end of the summer so we didn't get lots from it last year but it is still alive so hopefully we will get more this year.
We grew potatoes in a bag of compost so we don't have to dig them out. This worked well and the plants absolutely shot up (you can see it lent up against the shed in the photo below). Then when you want potatoes you can just stick your hand in the bag and pull them out, easy! We may plant them in a nicer looking planter or box next year but its a good reuse for the compost bags, you could grow other root vegetables like carrots in this way too.
In the awkward space between the shed and the house (its not really a space we would ever use) I built a planter and put in a water butt. The planter had cucumbers, kale, broccoli, leeks and carrots. The cucumbers were started off from seed inside with the peas, and planted out at the end of May with canes to grow up. The rest were planted from seed straight into the planter at the end of May. We left space for another row of carrots to plant a couple of months later so that we had a steady stream of them for a little while not a week of carrots galore then none. The cucumbers went absolutely banans and we had tons of them, the broccoli and kale unfortunately got eaten by caterpillars so we will cover them with nets next time! The carrots did really well too, although the leeks didn't do anything at all. So a mixed bag in there really last year.
We did have some plants in these black planters, a tomato plant, lettuce, rocket, carrots, radishes, and spring onions. Tom got them all in a variety pack. Unfortunately the planters do not have holes in and flooded in the heavy rain while we were away at download and the plants all died (except some very small carrots and spring onions we pulled right away). The rocket and lettuce is easy to grow and nice to have fresh to cut whenever you need it, especially once the tomatoes and cucumbers come in too. I drilled some holes in the planters and replanted it with lettuce for a bit later in the summer.
We do have some decorative plants that have done well, I have had this clematis for years and it flowers in early spring.
The lavender in the front garden bed has gone mad and grown in really well! I also planted some pansies and wildflower seeds here to keep it full up but low maintenance and good for the bees. I just pull any really conspicuous looking weeds in here every few weeks.
The front border is still waiting to fill in but we have forsythia and white fuschia in here waiting to grow, and there are bulbs that come up (I don't know what they are other than we had some tulips in spring). Everything also got a good wash with the pressure washer which is SO satisfying!
The side has some lovely roses that have been a bit neglected so once they stopped flowering this summer I gave them a good prune and the whole area a good weeding, although the ivy needs trimming right back.
I have picked up quite a lot of these plants either from freecycle or from the sale sections, lots of flowers look sorry for themselves in there but once you plant and water them they soon perk up. Even if you buy a tray of bedding plants and a few don't make it its still good value if they are as cheap as some of these were!
The plan for the garden this year is to try out some different vegetables, and hopefully for the berries to come in. The front I want to try and have the same set up really with the wildflowers and lavender, the perennial shrubs like the forsythia and the fuschia should start to get a little more visible now so its just filling in the gaps between them for now and putting some nice flowers in the hanging baskets :)
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