Along Came Summer

It took 12 months after the storm for the insurance company to get around to clearing the fallen tree, removing several dangerous trees and erecting a new fence. It was lucky for us that the tree did damage the old fence as that was the only damage that could actually be fixed by the insurance. That and the power cables that had blacked out the whole district for four days!!

By the  following summer - two years after the storm, the garden had taken shape and we were amazed at how quickly everything had grown.

A very satisfying start.

Liz Needle

February - A New Start

 I'm afraid my good intentions did not last long - February already. Still on with the show!

Instead of planting large trees and shrubs as we did before, I decided to go for perennials and small shrubs that would attract birds, bees and butterflies. I had fallen in love with the Salvia family and here I was with a large bare expanse of land just waiting for them. I was also keen to plant more roses and irises as my earlier ones were becoming either shaded out (roses) or over-crowded (irises).

Once the area was levelled and raked over, we shaped the edges, then laid some pavers through the middle. A few smaller plants had survived and I had planted bulbs during the autumn to give us some Spring colour  I didn't plant much that winter as it was cold and wet, but as the weather warmed up I started  choosing plants.

I put camellias along the back edge to give some wind protection and to my delight a lovely deep pink magnolia decided that it was going to live, though all that remained after the disaster was one broken trunk about 3 feet high.

By Spring we had some colour with some daisies, salvias and tulips.

With Spring here, it was time to visit nurseries and get planting in earnest. I had the bit between my teeth.

Liz Needle