Saturday, January 12, 2008

the garden...finally


Its a good time of the year to start planning a new garden. The thought might be a bit overwhelming as is the temptation to rip out everything in sight. Gardens are made up of areas and layers and although our garden might look a mess at the moment and may not be reflecting what we would like to see in it, I am sure that it has some lovely bulbs hidden in the layers of leaves that clutter the earth. I look forward to their surprising entry into the world.

Logs and dead foliage do however provide shelter for small animals, hedgehogs etc so leaving them untouched is not a bad thing either. Some of the flowers have seed heads that birds will love when the weather is cold.

The way we will be tackling the garden will be in sections. That way, we will have areas that can show us what is there, we will have less impact on the residential wildlife and we can feel less overwhelmed.

The things we are considering are as follows:

1. What to keep where it is now.
2.What we want to keep but possibly move.
3.What we definitely want to get rid of and why.
4. Any pictures of gardens we like (from magazines etc): this provides inspiration.
5. Any favourite colour scheme.
6. A plant budget.(If there is one).
7. Do we grow plants from seeds or invest in some bigger plants?
8. Freecycle a list of plants for cuttings and offer any plants we do not want to other gardeners.

We will concentrate on an area that is least sightly and turn it into an edible garden. As it is a rather shady plot it should provide a nice area for salad greens and some herbs.

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