June 27th 2015 - Then & Now

June 27th 2015 - Then & Now

Today's pin is a bit of a boasting one on my part.  It is a Jungle vs Garden/Then vs Now.

When we bought the house in 2013 the garden hadn't been touched in about 7years, it had 6ft high weeds, nettles, brambles, dead trees and god knows how much rubbish and junk.  This took us a while to clear but we did it.  We also started to scatter some grass seed in the hope that it would give us a base to work with.  A year on and you could see big changes and the grass took really well, so we just added more seed (79p from home bargains nothing flash or fancy!) and again it took well and filled the patches.  Move forward to June 2015 (10days later than we moved in 2years ago but was too wet to take pics  and lawn needed cutting) and there is a HUGE difference in the garden!

People we don't even know have stopped us when  we've been out there and said how much better it looks and what a difference we have made to it etc.  Which is really nice, at least we know our hard work is paying off.  There is still along to go until it is fully how I want it, but as they say "Rome wasn't built in a day".  Fair enough if I had the money to pay a gardener/landscaper etc then yes it would be done in a very short time, but I don't have this option.  Therefore It gets done as and when we have saved a few £ to buy the next materials etc.  I still want a fence to go round my decking, the back fence made higher than the 3ft it is and a 1ft trellis fence between us and next door as people from the street can see straight in.  I also want to make some planters to go along the back fence to put loads of purple and pretty plants in, but I cant do these until the fence is made higher as I dn't want the plants stolen.

We have the grass pretty much established now, bar a few patches.  The fairy garden is in and we are adding to it as we find things.  Lil man has a planter for vegetables which are growing well, the composters are working as they should be and we have loads of nice plants and flowers growing, some of which were 50p a plant in a sale as damaged and may not grow!  I have part of garden as patio and part as decking (i've got to be the only person that buys a house on a slope and then wants flat patio and decking lol!)

Well here's some of the pics:

yellow rose was 50p damaged plant, red "remembrance" rose was also 50p damaged plant

This pink rose bush was in garden, we have just trailed it along fence.  It has sooooo many buds on it.

This "blue moon" rose was my late mums, I dug it from her garden after she died.  It was planted in the garden at my old house and then put in a pot so we could move.  It only has this 1 big flower on it at the moment.

March 2nd 2015 - Raised Planter

March 2nd 2015 - Raised Planter

If you have been reading any of my past posts you will be aware that my youngest son has taken a liking to gardening and wanting to grow his own plants, fruit and veg.

Well this morning in between rain, snow and hail and sunshine (yes its march and snowing but its typical UK weather), me and hubby went outside and made a raised planter, similar to the pinterest one.  However we have used decking squares to make it.  We had planned on using these to make the decking but I have since changed my mind as they have big gaps between the slats and went a funny colour in the rain.  But they will be fine for the planter and I even plan on using them to make more planters for my flowers along the garden fence.

 

 

Really pleased with how its turned out, need to wait for the weather to sort itself out before we move it over to beside the fence, but we need place the membrane down on the ground as its going ontop of a patch of very patchy grass that didn't take to well.  Then I read that if you put cardboard down again it stops/kills weeds but will disintergrate once its gets soil and moisture on it and it works as a compost.  On top of the cardboard I am going to place my wood chip that is in front garden as it has turned mulchy and yucky, so the front will be replaced with stones when I get round to it.

February 20th 2015 - Growing potatoes

February 20th 2015 - Growing Potatoes

Last week my lil man (5) asked if we could grow our own potatoes.  He was only really little when I did this with the older 2.  I had planned to use an old dustbin that was in the garden, but sadly it got crushed when the temporary fence fell down on it.  So I ordered a potatoe grow bag off ebay for £2.99.

It arrived yesterday and me and lil man headed to town to get some compost so we could plant the potatoes today.  Well we were in £1 shop and there were loads of kids near the toys and it was like this "mum can I have this toy" and "mum I want this" etc.  As we walked past them all my lil man turned round and said to me "mummy I don't want any toys like those children, all I want is some compost to plant my potatoes in".  Bless him, so sweet.

We got the compost and a bit further on the shelf is the same potatoe grow bags as I had bought off ebay for £2.99.  GGggggggrrrrr!!!!  Oh well, never mind.  £1 shop didn't have anything like them last week.

Today we poured 1 bag of compost into the bottom of the bag, pushed the potatoes into it and then covered them with the other bag of compost.  The grow bag is only half full so we are going to get some more when we go to town at the weekend to top it up.  Lil man then proceeded to water them with rain water from his bucket.  I found this article on pinterest about growing potatoes in a bag.

He asked whilst we were doing the potatoes if we can plant some carrots and other things as well. Me and hubby agreed and have said we will make him a raised planter at the side of the garden over the next few weeks and get some seeds and stuff for him to plant.  We are also getting a blueberry plant and raspberry plant to go in pots on the decking (that isn'nt even built yet! lol).

The older 2 are not really interested in anything outdoors and moan if asked to help with the garden, but i'm sure they will be quite happy to eat the fruit and veg that we grow!