Project Update

I'm so glad I was able to get a jump on this project in February.  It's been a work-in-progress, but it's mostly done now (except for filling in the spaces with bamboo).  I put some rocks around the base for drainage and filled the space with some saxifrage, which is both really pretty and fun to say.  I've also hung the hammock back up for lounging purposes until the sunflowers take over the space!

In Like a Lion?

This year, March came in like a lamb, and hopefully will go out the same way. I've gotten a good jump on getting seeds planted in the windowsill for later relocation when it warms up permanently. This year, with any luck, I'll have a good mix of flowers and veggies, with any extra veggie plants going into the Maree allotment (aka, the garden my father-in-law has dug in field across from his house.)
This year's winner for fastest seedlings: Cosmos! I planted these little guys one week ago today and forgot about them in the hubbub of getting my vegetable seeds from eBay, but here they are poking their heads up. I guess it's true about watched pots...

Too soon?

Is it spring yet? Is it spring yet? Okay, I know it's a bit early for it, but the inside of my house can't handle another project just yet. Since the weather has warmed a bit, I moved things outdoors for the (~doot-da-doot-DOO~) first garden project of the year! (crowd cheers....)

I've been watching Super Gardens the past few weeks, a show where amature Irish gardeners compete to design a show garden for BLOOM. The gardens were great, and now when I go outside, my garden looks bo-ring. I decided I needed to step it up for the garden competition I hold inside my head every year and give my yard some wow.


Project #1 - make a raised planting bed using chicken wire, buckets, and dirt.

step one: make a frame with chicken wire, one for the ouside wall, and one circle inside to fill with rocks (both to save dirt, and to stabilize the second tier.)

step two: fill inside frame with large and small rocks, and outside frame with soil.

step three: drill holes in a large bucket and then cover in a cylinder of chicken wire. Fill bucket with large rocks on the bottom, and dirt on top; plant something beautiful in it (mine has a rose bush).

step four: rub dirt/compost on the outside of the mesh till it fills the space between the wire and the bucket. (now you can't tell there's a bucket inside)

I covered the top tier with moss, something very abundant around here. I've had this project in my mind for a long time, a geometric structure covered in moss. Hopefully it will 'take', as it has in almost every other corner of the garden. As it's a bit too early to plant anything here, I'll have to wait to see how it looks with actual plants. In the meantime, I'll be nursing my arms back to health from the chicken-wire-shredding they got.

For a while now, I have been wanting to move the paving stones from the center of the yard to the side. The thought was that we don't use the stones to walk on, since we always cut diagonally from the door to the yard to the shed. Instead, we wanted a square section of pavers where we could set up our table and chairs when we barbecue. It was a big undertaking for one person, but yesterday I did it. It required me to lift a paving stone, move it over to where it was going and cut down into the grass around the stone. I carefully removed the grass in one whole square section, and put it where the paving stone WAS, thus leaving no part of the garden without grass. It took me hours and the stones are VERY heavy. Today I'm sore all over, and I'm still on the fence about whether I like the result.

NEW ADDITION!
I had a delphinium here that I salvaged after a severe slug attack, but then the wind broke the rest of the stems in half. After agonizing about what I should put in its place, I finally saw this very hydrangea bush in B&Q nestled with about 20 other of the same. THIS one, however, was calling out to me, so I bought it and introduced it to the garden. It's very happy to have a new home and looks lovely against the fence proudly showing off its bunches of blooms.

I put a new trellis up behind the climbing plants (finally). It was easy enough (€13.00 expandable accordion) and the Clematis looks beautiful trained onto it. I trained the winter jasmine a little later and it looked less-good but I'm hoping it will fill in soon. The 'herb planter' has filled out in the past week and now I have an abundance of thyme, coriander, rosemary, and parsley.

The Shady Corner

This part of the garden gets little direct sun, and as a result, stays quite damp. A woman at the Clarinbridge Garden Center recommended the plant in the back, which is thriving here. I rounded out the corner with a blue hosta and some ferns. Most of these plants are perennials, so hopefully I can pretty much leave it as-is in the years to come. The little trolls moved in here one night, and are quite happy to hang under the hosta.