Thursday 11 January 2007

WHAT IS A GARDEN?

Since starting my blog I've been lucky enough to receive many nice comments about our garden. It's been a joy to be able share it with so many of you. Mick and I knew nothing about gardening when we first met; but once we started we got well and truly hooked. Year by year another piece of the once fully concreted garden was dug up. Much sweat, many brandies and cokes, a lot of love, heapsful of manure, countless hours of watching Geoff Hamilton, loads of failures, a multitude of successes and here we are today! I remember the first time we grew geraniums from seed; we put them in the airing cupboard so that they would have the warmth to germinate...we left them in there for ages; they germinated ok and we were so proud of the spindly, yellow 6 inch seedlings we had grown......of course now we realise that they needed more light and that a short sturdy seedling is going to make a far better plant in the long run. The first time I pricked out seedlings I was almost in tears, so worried that I would kill the poor things. It took me hours to do them....now I just pluck 'em out and plop 'em in. We've come a long way since those early days and are still learning all the time.



Of course our style of garden isn't for everyone. Some prefer the neat and tidy regimented garden, some the Japanese look, others just go for containers....there are too many variants to mention. Mick and I are just plantaholics...if we can find a gap we probably have 5 plants that could fill it. We are running out of space now; we have had to start going upwards and even have window troughs outside the upstairs windows. The one thing I do regret is that we don't have more space for vegetables. We have over the years grown many different types; squeezing them in between the flowers, growing them in pots and hanging baskets..........our favourite are runner beans due to the fact that we get such a good yield with just a few plants. Some of my blogvisitors/friends have wonderful allotments..........imagine all that lovely fresh veg!!!!!!!!!

As I have said; all gardens are different. Take our neighbour for instance; his garden is really of quite a different style to ours.

Notice the clever use of every day objects to create a colourful atmosphere. Unfortunately I couldn't manage to zoom in enough to get a clear shot of the old fish tank which he strategically placed a few years ago; it is a haven for the mosquitoes that breed in its stagnant water. At this time of year you will not appreciate how high the grass can grow; dotted with dandelions which blow their seeds gently over the fence to nestle and grow between our own plants.
The pile of shingle is much loved by the local feline population who decorate it with abandon, leaving behind their deposits; on a warm summers day the delicate odour wafts across competing with the heavy musky perfume of our lillies.


A wonderful collection of containers too; unlike ours which are usually full of flowers that cascade down and obscure the container itself....his are left empty to show their natural beauty.

Note too the tyres; recycling at its best....I think he may have got the idea from Bob Flowerdew. Bob stacks his up though and fills them with soil to grow vegetables in....but I'm sure his looked like this once.





Last, but definitely not least, on our communal fence he has a wonderful specimen of Russian Vine; aptly nicknamed the mile-a-minute plant. Most people would only think to use this in a large garden, perhaps to cover an unsightly outbuilding but he has cleverly designed his side of the fence so that the vine can flow over and wrap itself around any plant in our garden that it can reach.







"No two gardens are the same. No two days are the same in one garden."

~Hugh Johnson

18 comments:

Libbys Blog said...

There are some people who garden and some who don't! But junk and rubbish never understood that. Reminds me of that programme 'A Life of Grime' with Mr Trebiss and all his clutter!!!

Auntie Noo said...

mmm have to admit my garden has a few unwanted objects - Not that many though!!!! - Great to see you got the pictures and text thing to work!!!!

RUTH said...

Yes I'm finally getting there auntie noo. Thank goodness for bloggers paradise!
Rx

Analía said...

Ruth I'm soooooooo happy!! Finally a garden that looks worse than mine!! LOL...about the mosquitoes..watch out!!! the first window they see when they leave the tank is yours!!!
I love this post, well actually a love all your posts :)
Kisses and hugs

Anonymous said...

I have come to the conclusion that I will never understand what goes through some people's heads, especially when what they do or don't do encroaches on others' comfort.

Anonymous said...

Hmmm... not even I could get a garden to look that entertaining.

I'm more into pots myself. If I had even a patio I'd plant a pot garden on it. I think they look really cool. There's a homebase about 3 minutes from my door, I've often gone in there and looked enviously at their plants but I've nowhere to put them (I live in a genuine "garret" ie a sloping attick room). Okay I'm rabbitting... will shuttup now... take care... hi Mick... bye...

RUTH said...

That's no excuse; you could have a bottle garden, it won't take up much room and you don't have to worry about remembering to water it too much or hang an indoor basket from your ceiling. And you rabbit all you like; I like hearing from you.
Rx

Christina S said...

Ruth, why have you been photographing my garden? Oh, wait, it's your neighbour's you say ... phew! Was worried for a minute there ;-)

Rubyx

RUTH said...

LOL Ruby...wish I could dump my spare tyre (the one round my waist) as easily. We've got away quite lightly with the winds...watched the Anglia news; they were in Bury; I kept wondering could that be Ruby they're interviewing.

Anonymous said...

Do your neighbours own their home? Perhaps if it was rented you might be able to get something done about it.

I really can not comprehend someone who lives in a mess like that. I would love to see what the owner looks like - well I can imagine!

Mauigirl said...

Got a real chuckle out of this post, Ruth! I know what you mean about the terrible vine. We have one that climbs over the chain link fence into our yard and entwines itself onto everything. Our neighbor didn't want it either but the darn thing kept coming back. We finally got rid of it, we thought, but it still pops up now and then. Luckily it's gone enough that it can be kept under control.

Mauigirl said...

Just looked through your 2006 photo album of your garden - how gorgeous. I am inspired! We have a garden too but nothing like yours. I am getting lots of ideas from your pictures!

Elsie said...

Hi Ruth

Just a quick note, (will catch up as usual with all your new posts this weekend- I promise)

You can bake the muffins at 180 degrees Celcius or 350 degrees Fahrenheit. For gas stoves maybe 3 or 4 ???

Sorry I missed your comments,(think I also forgot to apply e-mail notification in my new blog) I had a lot of trouble with blogging since Blogger did some maintenance on Tuesday. Could only post again tonight

Anyway, stay well and I'll be back

Elsiexxx

RUTH said...

Thanks Elsie; looking forward to making them. Blogger has been a right pain.....after their outage I couldn't upload photos for a while. Then I couldn't comment...one thing after another...hopefully one day it'll all be ok!!!
Rx

Merle said...

Hi Ruth ~~ U have just taken the tour of your garden. Huge congratulations
to you and Mick for creating such a wonderful garden. I am so sorry that yor husband has that illness, but glad you can amnage to take him out to your garden, which must help a bit. Thank you for your visit, and we could sure use some of that cyber
rain you mentioned. Take care, Love,
Merle.

Women on the Verge said...

Ruth--

What a gorgeous garden your neighbor has!!! I just love the insightful way he displayed all that interesting modern art... by any chance, do you think I could arrange a wine and cheese tour for my garden club???

RUTH said...

I'm game for anything if wine and cheese is on the menu! It may be better to leave it till the summer; the tactile pleasure of the brambles should have formed by then.

Women on the Verge said...

Brambles too?????? The man is a GENIUS!!!!!!!!!!!!

SKY ALBUM -

EVERY SUNRISE AND SUNSET WE SHARED WAS PRECIOUS

A TOUR OF OUR GARDEN 2006

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