Monday 28 June 2010

Awww Shucks...


Thank you so much for all you advice, support and down right wonderfulness...

I must cut the hedges.....

I am still considering my options and I need to do some groundwork first making the area secure and smaller as I want to keep half the grass area for the moment...

I am thinking of putting the fence across here... with a gate to one side
I will double chicken wire the hedge sides (which already have stock fencing as the previous owner had a basset hound) and sort out the bottom which needs completely scrubbing out...

apple tree in front the area that I want to clear out...

there are a couple of shrubs down there that I do not particularly love, the over grown rusty coloured broom... and the Photinia is struggling, being swamped by the broom.... and another white flowered shrub that I can't even recognise... plus the apple tree could do with the extra room... as well as a tidy up and prune... lol

This is my Victoria Plum...

we do need to keep some distance from the bottom fence though as every now and again the people on the other side have a dog there... so I am thinking clear it out and build wooden compost bins... I might leave the Photinia but put a gate or barrier in front of it so that I can get in there and keep the weed growth down, but the chickens can't get in there near the fence...

The dumping ground...lol

This is the rest of the garden and yard looking towards the house... its a good size space and only gently sloping... however it has a lot of buildings and ground coverings from the previous owner... he was a tractor enthusiast and had one tractor under the flat roof one more in the garage and the brick shed was full of mowers etc... lol

Our recycled coal bunker... that took some muscles to collect and put back together! lol
trouble is now i am not sure we are keeping the open fire... :(

The varying thickness's of concrete have cracked and are now uneven and filled with weeds and daisies... the asbestos garage needs emptying and taking down...

Mr P had a aluminium keg from when he worked at the pub in his village... makes a fantastic table base with a slab of stone we found in the garden...

We have dug up an area of concrete next to the garage and Mr P bought Cotswold chippings which are lovely and white but do go discoloured... I bought a cattle trough from Mole Valley Farmers and planted it up with herbs... I like the look of the galvanised trough.. should last a long while too...

My bamboo plant in the corner with a collection of pots and plants... I carved a tree trunk that Mr P brought home for fire wood into a bird table... I usually fill the hole I carved in the branch with fat and suet with yummy treats captured inside it... this year I have been dropping dead meal worms in their for the nesting birds...

The brick shed that we share with our neighbours, it sits on the boundary half in our garden and half in theirs.... then it is split longways so our half is longways into their garden and their half comes longways into our garden... (very odd!) anyway its in a bad way... needs re roofing and our half has no doors.. which does mean a pair of blackbirds have nested in their... so its currently barricaded off to keep Daniel and the local cats out... lol
it needs emptying and repairing... I fancy taking off the corrugated asbestos roof and replacing it with a corrugated clear transparent roof and using it as a hot house for fruits and veg growing... will have to wait and see...

Nasturtiums are self seeding now and growing like weeds... but I don't mind that...

The old outside toilet is Mr P's storage shed and also contains kitchen bits and bobs that I am not sure whether I need it or not! lol this also need a roofing repair and new guttering, I have started scraping down the door ready for a coat of paint and I will then need to get my brother around again to fit a new pane of glass... he cracked the last one when he was fitting it .. Obviously its me P's playroom but that doesn't mean I can't utilise the outside for more colourful plants.. ;D
many of the "weeds" that people dislike I leave to do as they will in places that I have no other use for... Mind you I have just read that Petty Spurge is poisonous and the milky sap use to be used to burn off worts and corns... nature is very clever! however I really must go through the mint collection above and give it a good weeding...


in between the two brick sheds is a gap that use to home the rubbish bins when we moved in... I asked Mr P to put up a little more picket fence.. which I will be painting.. and I filled it with plastic with no drainage and then dropped 6 bags of cheap pea shingle in their... it now homes my first attempt at growing tomatoes... I haven't put any canes in them yet as I was given them by my mum who won them on a raffle... to this day I have no clue of their variety or type... but they will need canes as the tomatoes get heavier...
FIL dislikes the tomato pots... but I dislike grow bags so I think we are even! ;D

Well that's my garden... in need of attention and a little TLC.... So my garden and I have a lot in common.... lol

Mr P doesn't do gardening
so its pretty much a one gal show over here at Pinkfeatherparadise HQ

I shall leave you with a picture of my one solitary courgette plant given to me by Mr P's work colleague... I am not sure why the leaves are like that... is it normal or does it need a feed of something?

Thanks for reading through all this...
you deserve a medal! lol

big hugs Alex
x

11 comments:

Unknown said...

Hello! Gardens certainly keep you busy don't they! I love the tree you carved into a bird table! Also I adore nasturtiums too! My leaves on my squash plants and courgettes have gone likt that too, no idea, maybe its weather conditions or something! Our garden is an ongoing battle at the moment with certain persistant and annoying weeds! I am going to send you a reply to your email later. I have been so busy painting today, I don't know where the day has gone to at all! Suzie xxx

mother of purl said...

Courgette plants are very vulnerable to leaf mildew- one way to avoid it is to only water the base of the plant and make sure you keep the leaves as dry as possible. Your strawberries look yummy! x

Marigold Jam said...

Looks as if you'll have plenty to do then! Walking may have to wait eh?!

The chickens will clear any weedy patches for you if you put some wire netting in place to prevent them getting through the hedge. They love a good scratch around.

Jae

Yoli said...

What an enchanting garden you have.

Unknown said...

Well I loved reading this post because as you know everywhere inside and out of my house is unfinished, so I am now feeling a little better, tehe. We planted a victoria plum tree last year so hopefully by september there will be a few ready to eat! You have got alot of great ideas and I reckon you will acheive everything you want to, just a bit at a time! Karenxxxx

karen said...

Hi Alex
Thanks for taking me on a little tour of your garden I quite enjoyed having a nosey round lol.
Our courgette plants go like that too. I'm not sure that it's anything you should worry about too much we still get lot's of healthy veg off them.
Speak to you again soon
karen

Jenn said...

Lovely tour. You have more yard than we do. Thank you so much for the package!!!!! Melodie is trying to take all of the chocolate :)
hugs. Jenn

menopausalmusing said...

Fantastic to have a tour round your garden. Loved the bit about the shed that goes into both yours and your neighbour's gardens. You see we are in a semi and it's hard to explain that we don't have a front and back garden each as our gardens run parrallel to our houses rather than at right angles. I am sure this doesnt make sense in writing, it nearly always needs a diagram (LOL!).

A Bun Can Dance said...

Dear Alex
Thanks for your comment - and yes, I'm sure the family bible would have been in that bag too.
I think my mantra for the next 6 months of this year needs to be: "les is more... less is more..."
I see you are still looking at the logistics of having the feathered friends to live with you.
Though I don't have any chickens myself, I come from a family of devout chicken keepers! So if you would like to come along and chat with my Brother/Nephew who are the current holders of the family chicken brood (!) - you are very welcome - you never know, they may even hand over a few chooks for you too :-)
You've still got my email address? Let me know if you want to come and "talk chickens" sometime!
Denise x

A Bun Can Dance said...

Oh and I forgot to say, with regards your comment at mine - YES! Definitely all the stuff which is "feathering our nests" is extremely stressful - sometimes i go into our spare room and the excess of stuff cluttering that room just weighs me down.... some serious decluttering has to happen as it is the very same room that our adopted children will need to have in the months to come!
D x

Sue at Dollytub Cottage said...

Oooh, Alex! You've certainly got your work cut out for you there. I'm cheating this week - my dear ex brother-in-law is popping round to mow my lawns! SueXXX