Wednesday, June 05, 2013

The Garden in Early June

I was wandering around the garden early this morning and thought I would take a few photos as it was all looking so lush and green.

Want to have a look around with me? 


There is, of course, too much grass and goose grass and too many buttercups and dandelions in amongst the flowers and shrubs but somehow not noticeable if you don't look too closely.


The two photos above are of what we call the top lawn which is directly behind the house.  The green leaves around the edges of the lawn are hardy geraniums - blue along the top near the bird bath and pink down  the side.

There is a lone peony flower in the side border, I noticed there was also a small striped snail on one of the leaves as I took the photo.  They have been after my lupins again as well so they are in a pot down on the patio and are checked every morning for snails because they decimated the flowers last year.. 

Along the top of the garden we have the raised beds where there are raspberries, gooseberries, black currants and rhubarb as well as potatoes and herbs.  The holly hedge spans the whole top of the garden and is a permanent haven for the birds especially sparrows.  Behind the shed is where we keep two compost bins where all our peelings and food scraps go.


The side lawn and garden is a sort of working area in that this is where the washing hangs, the wheelie bins stand, the birds are fed and the green house is tended.


The pond is in the middle of the garden opposite the raised beds and the shed and there are still a few frogs in there but many of the tadpoles have been eaten by the newts - such is nature!

The paved area, just outside the conservatory and quite erroneously referred to as the patio, needs tidying up a bit.  Finally it has been warm enough to get the table and chairs out again but not the umbrella yet.


Beyond the 'patio' and conservatory is the back of the garage where we keep the water butt for those times during the summer when we haven't had rain for days there hasn't been many of those for a year or two.  The nest box on the wall is where the wrens are nesting.


30 comments:

  1. You have a very productive and pretty garden Rosie. Just as a garden should be! I am trying to get rid of my hardy geranium as it grows like a weed all around the garden. They have such tough roots though! I bet it is a joy to sit on the patio on a summers eve with a glass of something chilled! x

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    1. We inherited the hardy geraniums around the top lawn when we came here. The only ones I've planted are the Ann Folkard and the Ann Thompson both in the middle garden:)

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  2. It's looking lovely - lots going on to keep you busy! A nice place to spend the sunny summer evenings!

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    1. I love sitting out on warm sunny evenings and early mornings before the day really begins:)

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  3. Your garden looks beautifully tidy to me. Here's hoping that we're going to have some nice, warm evenings in the next few days! Jx

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    1. It does look tidy but there is so much grass and buttercups in the beds and it is hard to get out. It has been lovely enough to sit out over the last few days:)

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  4. Like you, and Simone, I have lots of hardy geranium - a bright pink and a purple - I do love it, but it is in danger of taking over! I've given up on lupins, much as I love them - the slugs love them even more! Your garden looks lovely. Abby

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    1. The slugs seem to love all the flowers I would like to grow but they don't bother the geraniums or the geums so those are the plants we have the most of:)

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  5. Your garden is lovely and like a little oasis in the city.

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    1. Thanks, Amanda - it is quite quiet in our little corner too:)

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  6. Wow!What an amazing garden.I am green with envy.

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    1. Thanks, busybeejay - it was laid out well qwhen we bought the house and we still have kept that overall shape, I expect I take it a bit for granted and know I shouldn't:)

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  7. What a lovely garden. Thanks for showing us around.

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    1. Your are welcome, lyn - glad you enjoyed the photos:)

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  8. Your garden looks beautiful Rosie, and so well tended!

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    1. It is a good shape of a garden and as long as you don't look too close to the underlying weeds in the beds it does look quite tidy:)

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  9. A beautiful garden and very much like my mother's was a few years ago. She had all the same features but they had to put chicken wire over the fishpond because some bird, I forget which one now, would come and eat the fish.

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    1. When we bought the house there was one fish left in the pond and that was soon taken by a heron - I expect that is the bird that took your mother's fish from her pond. We just have frogs and newts in there now:)

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  10. Thank you for the tour around your lovely garden. It does look very well cared for, with some beautiful areas of colour.

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    1. Thanks, Wendy - the garden seems to change colour with the seasons and the person who planted it before we came put in lots of evergreen plants so there is always some colour even in the winter:)

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  11. Your garden looks wonderful. I love the pond. One of our neighbours had a pond and one of the cats kept stealing the fish! We felt so guilty every time another one landed on the doorstep.
    June

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    1. Thankfully there are no fish in the pond as the frogs drive the cats wild as it is - not ours they are old enough and wise enough to leave them alone but some of the neighbourhood cats spend hours by the pond dipping their paws in:)

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  12. I am impressed with how well behaved your flowers are! We seem to have many of the same plants, but I guess you are better at keeping it tidy than we are... I am thinking of the third photo, with neat rows of plants. Ours tend to be a bit promiscuous and we let them! It looks lovely though, lawn always seems to add a touch of calmness.

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    1. The flowers have seeded and sort of clumped themselves together in some places - the geraniums, geums and aquilegias have taken over a bit and pushed out some of the other plants - the peony struggles through each year - and probably need thinning down. I always think the garden looks less unruly as soon as the lawns have been cut:)

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  13. Lovely garden Rosie, and plenty to keep you busy. Must give you lots of pleasure too.
    Patricia x

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    1. Thanks! We have tried to make it as low maintenance as possible as we both struggle a bit now with heavier work:)

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  14. I hope you will be able to spend most of your time in your beautiful garden this Summer!
    I haven't been blogging for a good while lately, I hope everything is well with you and Paul! :)
    xxx

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    1. Hi Michela - we are fine - hope you are too and having a lovely summer:)

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  15. what a lovely garden you have Rosie, it looks like one that has been tended and loved well enough to make it so beautifully established. Hope your weekend weather is as good as they say it is going to be here.

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    1. Thanks, the garden was well designed and fairly well established when we came here we've made a few changes over the years mostly trees taken out that were too big for the garden. Hope you have a lovely weekend too:)

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