Now that the inside of our home is as good as it's going to get, I've become more than a little obsessed with making the outside look just as fab.
I'm away from home this week and have entrusted Mr VKH (not your average...horticulturalist) with it's care. I imagine the way I'm feeling about it is a little bit like how a new mother feels when leaving her baby with someone else for the first time: very nervous, constantly checking to see if it's ok and wondering whether it'll still be alive when I get back!
I've always had a mild horticultural interest, passed down from grandparents and parents but now I've clearly reached that age. I find myself watching Gardeners' World voluntarily -sometimes I even watch it on iPlayer, eek! - and actually paying attention to the progress of Monty Don's tomatoes. Ahem.
It saddens me greatly when I see pictures (usually on estate agents' details) of neglected, untidy gardens. Space is such a premium in the city and it annoys me that people don't make more effort to maintain what precious little of it they have. Of course, I understand the reasons - gardening requires time and effort, or for those wanting an instant fix, quite a bit of cash. If you share a garden it can be difficult to persuade co-owners to help out. But, if you are willing and can afford to put in the initial hard graft you could easily maintain it with as little as twenty minutes each day, depending on the size, and maybe add a little bit of value to boot.
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| A little bit of colour hides an ugly drain |
I find it quite therapeutic just pottering around with a coffee in the morning (wine in the evening!) deadheading and pulling up the odd weed, and a good planting or digging session not only helps me to properly switch off, it's also a great workout!
I'm also learning patience, something which, my family will vouch for, I have very little of! It's very rewarding when you can see the progress in such a relatively short time, so I wanted to share a few pictures that show just that. I'm no expert at all - it's more trial and error than knowledge but in just one year our unloved back yard has been transformed in to a place where I want to spend all my time.
I hope it will inspire you to give whatever outside space you may have a little TLC.
October 2011
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| After the wind blew down the plum tree, it just had to go. |
April 2012
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| I began by ridding the beds of weeds... |
June 2012
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| A tidy up and some new plants (thanks mum!)... |
April 2013
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| We laid some new turf for just £35... |
June 2013
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| What a difference a year makes! |