I’ve been busy in the garden, even though we are still in winter! I had a bit of holiday to take in between finishing my old job and starting my new role, and I wanted to get a head start the garden before spring. This post is a little garden update for 2023. I’ll walk you though what I’ve done so far, and plans for the spring and summer. 🙂
Pruning
Lucy and I have given our apples trees a major haircut. Both the crab apple and bramley were getting too big for our garden, and kept dropping apples onto the neighbouring path. Now that we have access to proper pruning equipment and a ladder, we will be able to keep on top of the pruning.
Raised Vegetable Bed
My biggest project was relocating the raised bed. When we moved into our home at the end of 2019, there was a large overgrown shrub on the left side of the garden. We removed the shrub and decided to put a metre squared raised bed in its place. The lockdown summer of 2020 was unusually warm and the raised bed did relatively well on the mostly shaded side of the garden. In 2021 and 2022, I found that the vegetables were struggling to thrive in the low light. I also continue to have difficulties with slugs and snails, which gobble up the young plants.
I decided that the raised bed will likely be more productive on the south facing side of the garden against the garage. This meant transforming the flower border into a hybrid vegetable and flower garden, but I think it looks okay. Lucy cut the poles so that the frame isn’t as tall, and it’s therefore hidden by the boxwood. I still haven’t decided what I am going to plant yet, but it will certainly include carrots and peas!
Other Gardening Posts:
West Coast Vibes
In the space left behind on the shady side of the garden, I have planted another Acer (Japanese Maple). I’ve also added in more crocosmia, a grass, Japanese anemones, coral bells, and some bulbs. The plan is to create a sort of Japanese garden, much like a West Coast (Vancouver) style garden. I was also kindly gifted tiarella (foam flower) from my work’s gardener as a leaving gift. I am hopeful that they will thrive in my garden and that it will remind me of good times and good colleagues. The fencing is temporary – to keep the troublemaker out of the mud!
What about the allotment?
Wilbur and I said farewell to the allotment during my annual leave as well. We went up to salvage any remaining potatoes that weren’t rotten, and cleared out the shed. The allotment was a project Lucy and I were excited to take on. After two years of ups and downs, we have definitively concluded that allotment gardening is not for us. You don’t know until you try, right?!
Read more about the allotment here:
Next Steps
I will do a bit more tidying of the garden before spring, including clearing out the front garden. I’d also like to put in a bird house and we would like to finish painting the fence, and get a patio umbrella. Otherwise, I’ll just enjoy the spring bulbs which are already poking up and blooming, and wait until it’s time to mow the lawn!
