New beds that have appeared as if by magic.

Just another view of the toilet bed with some planting. I have ferns by the mushrooms as the majority of the day it is shaded, the overflow from the gutters pores down by here too and seems to made it quite damp.

Just starting to show signs of life after the winter months, we get a lot of trouble from hairy bitter cress and creeping buttercups in this area, I tried spraying with roundup which worked for a while.

The wind gets blown in from the direction of the field in the summer making this a windswept bed. I've planted roses and clematis (bargin buys as usual) along the fence, but last year the sheep from the field got across my barriers and ate most of the new growth. My Garrya elliptica was starting to grow back when we had another attack of the sheep, we might have to double stockwire the fence this year to get the shrubs established.

Pretty poor sight at this time of year, this is the striking pink bed (believe it or not), it will look absolutly stunning later in the year I know.

Our chickens were destined for the Kentucky fried chicken factory, but our eldest saved a few so a hastily made chicken run was erected. They were a scrawny bunch of girls when we first saw them having spent their earlier lives laying eggs in the battery farms locally

Compost bins made with one arm, m'spouse had nearly finished these when the 'accident' happened. Under his direct supervision I was allowed to hammer in some nails.... trouble is, they were filled immediatley and we need some more...

New beginings.

Whilst I realize this just looks like markings on the grass, this will be the basis for the new beds in the garden. This area will be the sunken area to hide and relax in the sun, with the dominant colouring of orange and yellow.

We call this the grave bed, because of the pile of soil at the end - I think one of the children was buried there - that's the rumor going around. This bed will eventually become the red and plum/black border with a bright green accent, it may well be extended at some point.

It looks so bare at this time of year before the bulbs start coming up. I'm keeping an 8' path around the garden following the lines of the long border, the paths between the beds will all come off this and join in various places so walking around the garden should be possible in many different directions.

The new aviary that m'spouse started building, I'm afraid after an unfortunate accident with a step we purchased from Ikea, m'spose was left with yet another broken arm and ball joint, consequently he has yet to finish.

Just a picture of Ipheion 'Rolf Fielder' that looked so nice in the garden.

Quite a difference to the summer border, I hope to increase the overall evergreen content of the garden over the next few years to make it interesting all year round.

Winter frosts in the garden.

Garden frosty, wall looks stunning, so glad we've got one although could do with it a lot higher at the bottom of the garden to hide the awful road and traffic.

The stream doesn't seem to freeze up in the frosts, probably as it does still trickle constantly, don't know if the newts have survived I suppose we'll see in the spring.

Last of the summer.

Just before the big autumn tidy up. A few things get left to spring to cut back but I prefer to tidy the borders and apply the manure before the spring, once the bulbs and flowers start getting going its very difficult to get the stuff in the right place and not bury everything.

The view down the garden again, the annual bedding I put in this year is so full of colour, until the borders get established I will use it for the next couple of years.

The swimming pool, whilst not too grand it serves the purpose brilliantly. We have spent weeks in the pool and hope to get it covered during the winter so perhaps we can use it as soon as the weather is warm enough.

Nice end to a summers work

I can't believe how well everything has grown here, the soil is light and sandy with a ph 6-7 and a high potash level, I will be putting well rotted manure on in the autumn so that should get some more nutrients into the soil.

This is one of my favorite views back to the house, the bog garden has done extremely well for 6 months old. We decided to make it larger than originally intended as I kept finding plants that suited the conditions so well, and we just have to have them don't we..

The oldest child started on the veg garden with great enthusiasm, although he didn't realize it had been a hard standing some time in the past, so the soil in parts was less than 6", he did grow some amusing carrots. Half way through the season the weeding got too much and child No 2 then took over with very good intentions.

Always an interesting view to see how much change has gone on in the first 6 months of the making of this garden. I think the grass needs cutting yet again.

Starting to take shape - at last !!

The bog garden has grown so much in the few months we have been here, obviously the wet ground has made it ideal for the plants that have been growing in pots for far too long

This rose I believe is Rosa Pauls Scarlet Clg. one of about 5 roses growing along the wall when we arrived, these were the only plants we found here, which was disappointing given the age of the mill I had hoped to find amazing discoveries of long forgotten plants.

The long border has been dug over now and planted, I've just checked it is just 3 weeks since the last photos were taken, I think my Mum and Dad must have been down to help with the digging and planting and general slaving. Most of the plants in the garden are all the bargins that nobody wants, sale plants (I've had some tremendous bargins), gifts or from my mums huge garden, or ones I have grown from seed. Gertrude Jekyll's will be proud of the colour schemes one day...flowing red/orange/yellow/white/blue/purple/pink.

The toilet bed has been dug over and prepared - I must have worked very hard it was only 3 weeks ago the photo was taken with it covered in nettles, and I seem to remember I had an operation on my right hand on the 29th May so digging was painful and seeing as I couldn't even pull my knickers up properly yet!.. (this is not why it is called the toilet bed) the little door on the side is an old privvy.

Untamed ground

Still such a lot to do and plan, the big clump of nettles to the left (highly fertile ground I've been told) will one day be a bed, and I think the lovely lilac in the background will need a bit of a trim, the flowers earlier in the spring sent David looking for tissues and hayfever remedies, when I bought them in the house.
In the foreground is the makings of the stream bed, when it rains heavily the water rises up from an unknown source towards the bog garden, the only way to drain this area was to create the stream, although it would be nice to have it flowing all year, we did try syphoning the stream water, but after several unpleasant experiences with the hose pipe decided we'll go for a dry stream for the majority of the year.

The Stream as above was a necessity due to the high water table, the soil is very sandy and slightly acidic in this area, so hopefully the primula's will do really well.

We haven't decided what to do with this area yet, There is a wall surrounding this area, a pond which we relocated, it looks like a rockery and raised areas had originally been built, but it is very overgrown.

Behind the house we have an original leat, the water for the mill was directed into this area - like a pond - then out through a small hole in the wall and down the wheel.

The grass has been killed in preparation for the border to be dug out, the soil at this end is deep but at the other end is shallow and very stony, we will obviously have to improve it.