insects

This is the time of year for insects, and there are a lot of them in the garden! Here's a selection:

Bumble Bee

Caterpillar

This did not come out very clearly, but it's very cool - a big spider caught a fly in its web and proceeded to wrap it up and... I guess cocoon it.

There's also lots of butterflies - I'll try and take a decent picture soon.


Today I cut the grass for the first time - I don't know what Ben complains about!

new additions

Early in the Spring, there was a special offer for buying bulbs, which I took advantage of. I planted about 100 bulbs haphazardly, not really expecting anything in particular to grow. Luckily, I have had some successes, and this is one of my favourites. I call it: The Big Daisy:

The herb garden is coming along nicely. The mint has been re-potted in a much bigger pot, purchased in the Wilkinson's sale. We also got this lavendar - for only £3! I really like the lilac colour of the pot.

New bee house - a birthday present from my lovely sister-in-law :)
We've had lots of bumble bees and butterflies visiting the garden all summer. Also, very recently, we've had big spiders building webs. I mean HUGE big spiders. I tried to take a picture but it didn't come out very well. I'll try again during the week. 

 This area of garden has been a complete failure - nothing's grown at all. If we stay in this house, this will be a big project for 2012. I think, with lots of work, it will become the vegetable patch.

 New patio rose bush. Again, a present. From Ladybird Nursery in Suffolk. Re-potted again from Wilkinson's sale (great deals on gardening stuff!)

friends

Meet the newest members of the garden:

All the way from Suffolk

All the way from Liverpool

cat- (or fox)- astrophe

I came home from work yesterday and found a HUGE hole in my herb garden. Lots of pots over turned and emptied. I'm taking it personally that some local vermin is attacking my plants. Here's the sad evidence:

Herb corner with the big hole in the corner.

Close-up of the hole and the empty pot (used to contain lavander)

Seedlings of lavander with vermin poo :(

blooming

The weather has been good for the garden lately. Today it was dry enough to cut for the first time in... months. We worked hard for a few hours this morning and I have to say, it all looks pretty good. I've lots of new picture and flowers blooming.
Also still so many apricots, and blackcurrants growing on the hedge.

Chives... not doing so well yet.

Sage I think...

Mint - very healthy!

Brambles - more to come!

Blackberries.

Pretty blue and red flowers. I hope they last and more come!

Pretty flower

Apricots galore

Just 5 minutes picking the reachable apricots in the garden led to this huge bowlful. They are already rotting on the branches. I hope more last til the weekend when I have time to get a chair/ladder to pick more.
Any ideas for how I can store them (jam? freezing) are most welcome.

why does it always rain...

I spent so long in the spring preparing the garden for the summer- planting bulbs, weeding, tidying up.
Unfortunately, right now, it's an overgrown wilderness. The grass is totally overgrown and too wet to cut.
There's a mini rainforest of weeds and green that I don't know if I'll ever be able to break through.


There were three new flowers out this week. Here's some pictures of some very (wet) pretty flowers:

I remember this time last year we were sitting outside in glorious sunshine eating apricots straight from the tree. Today we're sitting inside, nearly with the heating on, and every few days I venture outside to pick an apricot off the tree, then run back inside to dry off.

inspiration

As I mentioned before, and from the link above, my inspiration for this writing came from a book. I'm going to quote some of my favourite parts here sometimes.:
I'll start with:
Most garden manuals offer a wide range of horticultural advice. They carry detailed technical instructions about plant propogation, soil acidity  and grafting tehchniques, which exercise the left side of the brain. 
This blog is not scientific, or should be used as a gardening manual. I don't know what type of soil I have, or  the latin names of any of the plants. It's purely here for my personal enjoyment.

photos

Most things growing in the garden were there already - generally anything I try to grow ends up dead.
But this spring, I managed to keep daffodils alive. Here's the evidence:

These pink flowers were all across the west wall when we moved in. I pruned them over the winter and they're so pretty this spring:

These orange flowers appeared beside the pink a few weeks ago - I noticed them one Saturday when I was sitting reading the paper outside. They only appear in the midday sunshine so I only see them at weekends and half-term. Pretty!! I've no idea if these came from some of the seeds I planted or not.

I only discovered this pink bud today: how exciting, more bright colour!

the basics

OK, since I am at home all week with no money to go anywhere or do anything, I thought I'd take the time to measure the garden, as some readers have requested. It's south facing (I think) 4.5 x 10 metres garden of a terraced house in East London. When we moved in here first (January 2010) it was completely overgrown - brambles creeping all across it, big (ugly) bushes taking over the corners, weeds everywhere.
Slowly, mainly working in the school holidays, we cleared it up. Patio (well, mainly broken up bits of brick) has been mostly cleared of weeds.


Early last spring, we bought a composter. I checked it early this spring, and it wasn't usable yet, but just recently I checked again and it seems the warm spring has changed it. How exciting. I sometimes get obsessed with composting and want to buy this book.
I have also had great interests in: bees, chickens, vegetables, flowers.
So far I have just made it as far as planting flowers. This is a long term project. And I am a lazy gardener.


I use weed killer for the patio - ideally I'd like to only use organic materials, but sometimes weeds just have to be sprayed with something deadly.

Our garden is currently dusty. We try and water the lawn regularly, but the hot weather means the grass is looking yellow and dry. Last weekend I sprinkled more grass seed down but it hasn't started growing yet.
We also suffer from foxes. They come along most nights and make a racket - knocking over plant pots and digging holes.
I've tried leaving a full bottle of water in the garden (apparently they're afraid of this?). One of my year 7 students told me that foxes are also scared off by tiger dung. I haven't managed to get my hands on any tigers nearby yet.


Probably my favourite thing in the garden is the apricot tree. It's actually growing next door, but most of the shady branches cover our garden. I remember last June/July we had a fantastic crop of apricots and I can see them ripening on the branches now again. Last year I didn't get further than eating them all myself, this year I'd like to at least make some jam.

In the beginning...

I've been reading The Therapeutic Garden and it recommends keeping a garden journal. So... here it is! I'll update with pictures, arrival of flowers and my observations.
I'm not a gardening or blogging expert and  I'm doing this more for my own enjoyment than for anyone else to read. That said, I'd welcome any input or words of wisdom you may have!