Back Garden - Phase 1.2

P and I have had another very busy day! I'm not sure if you guys remember, but this is what the garden looked like last year when we first moved in:


The trees and hydrangeas were in full bloom but the rest of it was just a large expanse of grass.

After talking to several colleagues and friends who have much more experience with gardening than we do, we decided to dig out two main planting areas. The sunny spot is by the left fence so that is where we will place our bench while the right side is much shadier. We dug out shapes that are both easy to maintain but that will add a bit of interest i.e. not just straight borders. P also nailed up two trellis on each side of the fence so that we can grow some climbers to add height to the garden. We will have a mixture of shrubs of varying heights and bedding plants with lots of flowers.


Digging up planting beds is surprisingly hard work. Just doing the two sides took us both six hours plus two trips to the dump to throw away grass, soil and garden waste. I added in compost to the earth and tossed it about to aerate it. We are also not supposed to plant in it for a few weeks as you have to give it time to settle and for the nutrients to seep in. Whether that's true or not, I don't know. But we welcome the break, that's for sure!

You'll see from the more detailed pic that we also gave the shed its first coat of primer. I have tacked up a shabby chic rose fabric in the window. A friend of ours suggested making the shed a feature in the garden as it is so huge. After another coat of primer, we will paint it a light duck egg blue colour. I'll also arrange some potted plants around it but as we are going on holiday soon, we will only plant once we are back.


It will look much prettier in a few months once the plants are in and everything is in full bloom. We are still in early spring after all so the trees are just about starting to bud now. We are not planting close to the house as we may add on a conservatory next year. If we do, the patio will move outwards and eat into the garden. I don't want to bust our guts landscaping, then have to dig it all up later!

To complete Phase 1, we need to finish the painting and lay down the stepping stones which we have yet to buy.

It's 6.35pm local time and both P and I are knackered! I am yawning away. :-) We are still going to our friends' house for dinner. She is making laksa, yummy! Thank goodness they live close by and I don't have to cookzzzzzzzzzzzzzz........

Back Garden - Phase 1.1

Mini Recycling Centre

Since we moved into this house eight months ago, I have concentrated only on decorating the inside of our property. My passion is most definitely sourcing interesting furniture and second-hand accessories from the internet and at antique markets.

And while I love gardens, I don't have much knowledge about them. However, in the last few months, I have been reading a lot of gardening books and also speaking to people to get their advice on what we should do with ours.

It has been bugging me for ages that our six, yes six, recycling bins are also at the side of the patio where we normally set up our outdoor dining table and chairs for al fresco meals. I just wasn't sure what where else we could put the bins as that is the only paved area in our back yard.


Moving from left to right, the brown bin is for garden waste. The green is for general household rubbish and the black bin is for cardboard boxes and plastic bottles. The small green bin is for food waste, the green box is for glass and the blue box (which is stacked in the green one) is for white paper. I kid you not.

After getting the advice of one of my colleagues, we decided to put down paving slabs at the back of our shed and move the bins there. Although it is a longer walk down to the end of the garden, at least the patio will look less unsightly. And exercise is good for you, right?! So armed with a shovel, rubber mallet, spirit level and pure elbow grease, P and I spent most of today 'building' a mini recycling centre behind the shed.

Before the hard work started:

Soil removed and a layer of sand on top for stability:

Paved and bordered:

After:

What were the girls doing during this time? Being the spoilt ladies that they are, they sunbathed of course!

And a pretty little robin came down to admire our handywork:

I have also just ordered a really beautiful white wrought iron loveseat. The next two things I want to do are to 1. plant out a seating area in the sunny spot and 2. paint the shed a pale grey and decorate it in a vintage style with potted plants. I intend to make the garden as shabby chic as possible.

While I love the planning, sourcing and starting part of designing a garden, I am not so keen on the actual work of it. :-) It is hard graft and both P and I have really sore muscles now. Just laying that little paved area took us five hours. Our next piece of major work will be to get the seating area dug out (hopefully in the next two weeks) and when the weather is better, paint the shed.

I will then have to think about Phase 2 of the garden but will let inspiration come to me when she is ready. P and I were just saying the other day of how much our lives have changed since we got married and moved to Brrrringland. As I am sure most of you will remember, my blogs used to be about crazy and exciting things like piercings on d*cks and mountain biking adventures with my dad. Now, it's all about stereotypical middle-aged, middle-class Brrringlish activities like browsing at antique markets and gardening! But in spite of this, I hope that you guys still find my blog entertaining. And if not, never mind, it will just leave me more time to work on the garden!

Spring Time Signs!

In the last couple of weeks, I've noticed that the bulbs I planted in the fall have started to come up. It is still very cold but I'm sure nature knows what she is doing!

Here is a pic of our planter box with white heather in the front and the first shoots toward the back:


To be very honest, we were given two types of bulbs last year and I can't remember what they are now! Ha. But never mind, once they bloom, I'll get one of our neighbours to help me identify them.

In readiness for good weather, we also got this cute little wheelbarrow. Once I have it varnished, I will leave it in our back yard for the summer filled with a trio of small potted flowering plants. I am extending the shabby chic theme out into the garden as well:


While we were at the wheelbarrow shop, I saw this vintage clothes rack which I thought would be great for the guest room (click on the photo to enlarge it):


On it, I have hung a quilt from Texas that has exquisite hand stitching. You can get patchwork quilts here too but the designs are not as intricate and fine as those from the Southern states.

We are heading to the antique market again this Tuesday and with summer just around the corner, I am hoping to pick up some wooden deck chairs for garden barbeques. If any of you want to visit us during the warmer months, please do as we love having guests!