Moving swiftly on

Catherine Ellison
Apr 13, 2020
3 min read

There is no stopping once we have started!

A motto taken to heart by Dave.

Time might run out and we won't have finished-

gardeners will have a chuckle at this sentiment.

The area around the greenhouse seemed the most logical piece to tackle next after having established the vegetable and fruit areas. Dave laid a pathway up the side of the house but we needed to add two small extensions to the end of the large slate patio and a set of steps. We called on Neil to help with this and he did a great job.

We have decided at the moment to leave most of the pathways in the garden as grass, mainly due to the cost but also I'm not sure yet what I want to do with them. Laying out the areas for digging has challenged me and I have a few times measured things incorrectly!

I had to call on ancient skills learned at school for scaling up all the curves using basic tools, ropes, tape measures and tent pegs.

I managed to get all the box hedging at half price from B&Q as it was end of season and the box balls from Morrisons were very reasonable and good quality. Up until the lock down I was to be seen doing the rounds of garden centers and garden departments in DIY stores and supermarkets checking what they had and if there were any bargains to be had. I have also had very generous contributions from friends, on many occasions I have gone out the front door and been surprised by little pots of plants from neighbour's gardens ( thanks especially to Jan and my sister).

The odd construction you can see in the photograph above is a geodesic dome, the building kit having been a Christmas present from our son. There is a bit of a battle in the household as to what it ultimately is going to be used for!

Perhaps this...... Neil!

Meanwhile when I had some spare time an old park bench which I acquired from a friend in Aberdeenshire was up-cycled and eventually got a nice coat of blue paint. It now sits proudly on the outdoor carpet which Dave thinks is an outlandish luxury...it's made from polypropylene and as tough as old polypropylene.

You will notice that around the greenhouse the designer has suggested to plant Alliums, Asiatic lilies and a peony behind the box hedge. Last year this is where I planted out the tomatoes and peppers as it was already too late to plant the bulbs. Last October I ordered some Allium bulbs from (Ad coming up) Bloms Bulbs. Their bulbs aren't cheap but really are fabulous. I had purchased some tulip bulbs from them to cheer up the front of the house in 2019.