Garden Journey Part 1

December 28th 2014

  I moved to Stanley two miles from Wakefield in November. A rented end terrace house at  the bottom of the cul de sac. The garden had been recently cleared of brambles and weeds. It is over looked by large conifer trees and a weeping willow that drops leaves and branches whenever it is windy or raining (quite often in West Yorkshire). There is a shorter fence to the left, a six foot high fence at the back where they play Sunday league football. the right hand side has a white washed wall with decorative port holes.
 Plant wise there was a gnarled Japanese Maple, various exotic shrubs looking a bit shivery and ropey. there was  a patio area by the back door. and a can of paint between the brick entrance to the muddy sticky garden. This was December 28th.

January 5th 2015

 

I could not decide to start with  how long Id be staying for. I hung a few bird feeders up to try and entice the local avian population. with gardens, wild grass, playing field, and mature trees it had mixed habitat for the local birds.  I persevered as nothing came to start. I think this was in December when I had cleared a garden bins worth of tree limbs, branches and weeds.

January 8th 2015

 I was looking for recycled plastic paving stones. lots in the USA but none here despite numerous google searches. the mud was very sticky underfoot after it had rained. I finally found a company in Norfolk who made recycled pvc pathways for allotments. It came swiftly and I laid the black track down. A way to walk to the end of the garden. I used a pile of stones by the brick wall to mark out a border in the right hand side. the only plants growing were some Iris who's clumps I split up .

January 25th 2015

Work stopped for a bit when it snowed. It covered the mud and made the garden look magical. January 21st 2015.

April 21st 2015

By April the grass and weeds were growing. My green fingers were glowing by now. I spent half my time working here, and the other half in Helmsley. As the relationship flourished so did my plans for the garden. I had invested emotions into the soil and seeing what plants were there already. trying to garden on a budget and move those plants in the wrong place.

The first serious planting was two containers that had no liner or plants. I had newspaper so I lined the planters, filled them with a bounteous amount of compost from the side of the house. I used the plants I could dig up in the garden. I had not been to any garden centre.

The last picture shows the second planter filled with Ivy, Euonymus, Heuchera, and a lone Begonia from the front door two tier planter that stood over a tree stump. One surviving Begonia was transplanted into the mini garden.
 These were the first planting that I had done. The catalyst for the rest of the gardens renewal.