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Garden Projects 2009 - Part 6 - Greenhouse Corner - Hiding Ugly Bits.......

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Hello everyone sorry I have’nt been blogging this summer, but I have had such a busy year so far with other things going on. I just have not had the amount of time to spend on the projects in the garden that I would have liked..let alone writing about them on blogs lol.. But dispite all the distractions I have been getting things done bit by bit! Here is how I have been getting on with that ugly area at the back of the garden…You know the one…I am always moaning about how UGLY it is…. well here is how I have been changing that…..

End of March 2009:

Well spring is now in full swing, the weather seems to have been as it should be this time of year! Hopefully this means we may get a decent summer – hope so…anyway not an awful lot been going on with our projects these last couple of weeks as Brooke has been off school with a nasty virus, which I have now caught. Not to mention the weather has been bad, and we are waiting for some concrete to be dug up infront of the greenhouse before this project can continue. Dad did send round a couple of ‘boys’ to clear all the rubish from the last project, – good ol’ dad, so things are much more tidy.

All ready for the A & B team to get back to work hopefully over Easter (Brooke has 3 weeks off – after the 2 she has just been off sick – wonderful!) so we will need plenty to keep her occupied. So in preperation for this I have been up in the back area cleaning out the greenhouse and having a general sort out. As you can see I have also moved the other little mini greenhouse up from the patio, – it gets far more sun here, and once the trellis goes in place hopefully we won’t see any of this…

It is surprizing just how much room there is up the back here once clear and tidy, will come in very useful for potting up and storing things as well as growing on plants….once it’s hidden ofcourse.

The begining of May 2009…

Bank holiday weekend…and a sore sholder later, and really feels like I am getting somewhere now…the concrete is out, the fence posts are in, the arch is in place and trellis is nearly all painted…..

End of May 2009……..

Well as you can see we are getting there, slow but sure, it seems when I have the time it rains, and when we have nice weather I don’t have the time! Never mind, one of the pannels is up and painted, the other one needs to be cut about a bit which is a real pain, because the holes are too close together to get the saw in properly… will need a thinner saw. At least the post is in place so just a case of attatching it once it is done, I can always do that from the greenhouse side. So I thought I’d be ok to plant up the area in front of the greenhouse and around the bench….

I found these three statue type thingings in the shed, I think I bought them for £1 each in the end of season sales last year – proberly Asda, I think they fit quite well, and also do a good job at making a bit of a boundry between the cottage bed – which is very floral, and the new bench area….


Behind the bench and to the side of it i have opted for some evergreen shrubs, and grasses, of course there are the Clematis at the back on the trellis and the Ceanothus does flower, but neither are all summer long flowers. I have done this on purpose because there is nothing worse than sitting and trying to relax when there are constant bees buzzing around you…as much as I like bees – and encourage them whole hartedly into the garden. I know how important they are, but they can buzz off somewhere else in the garden…not around my seating area. lol

…..Next job…I have some bark and weed supresser to go under the bench and on the walk way through the arch, I would also like to get 3 of thoughs black stepping stones that I saw in B & Q to go though the arch, then I can plant up inbeween with ground cover plants…ooohhhhh soooo exciting!

Mid July….

I have at last got round to finishing off this bed and and arch area… I did’nt quite have enough bark to cover the entire area… But I actually quite like it like this, instead of putting in the stepping stones I had planned for the arch, I opted just for the bark. I think it gives this area a bit of a woodland feel…. really into the woodland feel at the moment lol….. I have included some Heather and Ajuga that I am hoping will cover the area between the bed and the bark covered weed supresser. Ajuga particually does’nt need much soil to grow. I have cut small holes in the weed supresser to plant them in…… but they should establish on top of the bark too……

Well as you can see, there is still so much to do… the second trellis pannel, I do need to cut it still and paint it, but the biggest reason i have not finished it off, is because to attatch it to the post I will need to cut some of the lower branches of the Acer tree back… and obviously can’t do it until it is dormant… to be honest it will be an ideal project for the winter months….

Well this is what is behind the willow teepee….. mmmmm well everyone needs a work and compost area, and lets face it if it’s hidden it does’nt need to be pretty. Although I do have plans to improve it. I would like to do away with these falling apart compost bins, and do it properly. I am thinking of a basic brick structure to stop compost from falling down the back behind the trees, not too high, open at the front with 2 compartments…one to do – and one to brew…..Old carpet or cardboard to line it, and a bit of plywood that will slide across the front.. corigated iron on top… or such like. I may even make a proper lid with roof felt and wood, that way I could double up this area as a potting bench……. few ideas in the pipe line for the winter projects… I seem to get far more done in the winter lol….

… and this is the other side where the greenhouse is…. as you can see a not too sucessful potato growing project… I think the less said about that the better…. :-/ oh well best I stick to what I am good at …… Flower growing….

And this is the nearly finished project……… I am rather pleased with it….

…and now for the real test……..

This is my garden last summer…… August 2008……

And this is today…… End of July 2009……

Well when you look at it like that, maybe I have done quite a bit after all…….

Is it just me or does it some how look bigger???

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Comments

 

wow what a difference Maj. it looks soo lush and tidy..;-))

26 Jul, 2009

 

Thanks Sandra.... it is acutally in real need of some of the basic's Dead heading, weeding, etc...... but you can't really notice from the distance shots lol... it is just getting the time out there when it is not raining at the moment... I just about managed to get the grass cut today before the rain came... it was only a fleeting shower so i may venture out in the morning to finish off trimming round the edges.... i dare not do it this time of night or i will gett eaten alive by knats..

26 Jul, 2009

 

this is looking great

well done you

x x x

26 Jul, 2009

 

Thank you Mookins.... slowly but surely... I am pleased with how it's going...

26 Jul, 2009

 

Its filled out nicely Maj , plenty of time for edging there is always tomorrow

Mac

26 Jul, 2009

 

It does look bigger. Fabulous Maj.

26 Jul, 2009

 

Looking great Maj......

26 Jul, 2009

 

You've done so well Angie, lots of hard work there, it truly looks great and the area will be so useful for you. Looks like you've got plenty planned for the winter months too.

26 Jul, 2009

 

wow ang what a great job you`ve done, the arch is fab and greenhouse hidden away, and as for the garden its looking fantastic, well done you worked so hard, enjoy it all now :o))

26 Jul, 2009

 

what lovely borders. a lot of hard work gone in to this.

26 Jul, 2009

 

a lot of hard work Angie garden looks fantastic!!! The arch looks great. Well done!!!! :~)))))

26 Jul, 2009

 

Lovely how you have done your garden I see what you mean about the green house.

26 Jul, 2009

 

Thanks for all the lovely encorraging comments...would love to get out there today Mac, but it is poring of rain... for a change :-( and yes lots of hard work, but when you put two pic's together like this - a before and an after, you see just how much it has come along... another great reason to keep loggin on to GOY... Morgana, it is tiny this greenhouse, but it is suprizing how much can be grown and stored and started off in there... to be honest i have not found it hugely effective for over wintering tender plants... most of the geraniums i put in there last year died... luckly i had cuttings that i kept in the house and porch, so i did'nt completely loose any of my collection... but i think this is more due to size rather than the polycarbinate, because others have said they find polycarbinate better.... i am going to try bubble wrapping from the inside this year and see how that works...

27 Jul, 2009

 

May be a green house little heater would be handy.

27 Jul, 2009

 

too small for that...and too far away from power point, would create more problems than it would solve... i think the bubble wrap may just do the job, ionly gernaiums and fuchsia anyway and they can take the cold temps it's the frost that gets them... i had more frost on the inside of it last year than the outside.....

27 Jul, 2009

 

Like the Eden Project thats what they use only thicker I know the chap who put it up there. fuchsia can drop down to 45 as long as they are kept damp an expert from scotland who alas recently died told me mix half pete and half compost to winter.over

27 Jul, 2009

 

yes it is suprizing how much some plants can tollerate, majority of the time it is water logging or frost that kills not the cold...

28 Jul, 2009

 

Yes I agree

28 Jul, 2009

 

Lovely garden and interesting blog, what an improvement! I only wish I could hide my ugly bits as effectively, and I don't just mean the garden :-))

8 Aug, 2009

 

lol Oh Bornagain i know just how you feel... it has taken a few years to work this one out (in the garden) and as for other areas... none of us is perfect...... i would much rather be beautiful on the inside... that is something that takes a lot of work.... still working on it .... lol ..... i keep thinking about going to the gym to organise hiding or removing of the ugly bits on the outside.... but well is it really that important? Nahhhhhhh! lol

9 Aug, 2009

 

Maj, I decided to do something about it and tried toning tables before my recent holiday. I was feeling quite fit but wanted to look better, only in a lazy way. Unfortunately I strained something (acting on wrong advice from a very nice woman who worked there) and after paying a months subscription only used it twice. I had to go to the docs for quinine tablets as I had awful discomfort and night cramps in my shins!! Never had that before and as I was sharing a caravan with seven of my family 3 of them children I had visions of waking everyone up every night. I'd have been popular! lol. The price of vanity: I don't think my insides are too pretty either :-(

9 Aug, 2009

 

Poor you, Bornagain... they say that beauty is pain.. this kind of brings on a whole new meaning does'nt it :-(

10 Aug, 2009

 

:-)

10 Aug, 2009

 

Just wandered by to have a look...this is really impressive Maj, very professional (who needs garden force anyway?) and it looks like your back neighbour obliged nicely in growing a conifer to cover up his bedroom windows!

11 Nov, 2011

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