Bizzylizzie's Profile

My garden is twenty years old and although the house is sixty the garden is completely my own creation. It is quite large by modern standards, faces north west which though it doesn't sound ideal its not overlooked and the sun is on on most of it all day - when it shines!
In 2006 I achieved a long held ambition to be in the 'Yellow Book', welcomed fifty visitors and made £130 for charity.
I garden cottage style with the needs of birds and insects topping the list along with year round interest. I like unusual flowers and plants. I also have an allotment which I took on eighteen months ago and have just about knocked it into shape and had a fantastic harvest this year too.
I think I've got a bit of a thing for taking a patch of ground and turning it into a haven for plants and wildlife, I've just started turning over my neighbours garden which the previous owners neglected badly. I shall be spending the next twelve months digging it over, getting it level and then between us deciding what we're going to do with it. My neighbour works full-time and has no gardening knowledge so you could say I have myself another garden, I might suggest knocking some bricks out of the wall and putting in a door - to my secret garden!
Here in Cardiff we have lovely soil and the climate is very mild. Geographically we are protected by an arc of mountains west, north and east and the Severn estuary to the south. There is a notable difference in weather and temperature as soon as you cross the mountains.
My other interests are researching my family tree and visiting associated places, camping and cycling, going abroad to far flung places - last February we were on a cycling tour of Vietnam and Cambodia - I also belong to a Creative Writing group and an art class though I'm not very good at either! It is really interesting when abroad looking out for plants I recognise, I found a lot in Peru when we trekked the Inca Trail two years ago. We're now feverishly saving to visit India.