Last year in February I set out all the garden improvements that were going to be made and reported back in September with the results of my labours, or in some cases the non-result of my inactivity. This year I will offer a similar undertaking, mostly concerning last years unfinished jobs.
I will
1) Convert the bit of garden next to the summer house and behind the swing chair from last years rubbish dump to an area of aesthetically pleasing land, perhaps using some chiminea components as flower pots.
2) Grow more raspberries.
3) Cultivate the front lawn so that in summer it is green rather than yellow.
4) Repair the summer house and stain the new doors we put on last year.
That’s it, a short list I know but now the teak has gone and the rattan is here there’s no maintenance to be done and I can concentrate on what I enjoy best, BBQ’s, drinks outside in the warm evenings, playing football with the kids and general good outdoor living.
I will report back in September with what I hope is a 100% pass rate.
Tuesday, 5 April 2011
Thursday, 3 February 2011
Plants & Furniture
Looking out of the window today I see fine weather, bright sunshine in a blue sky and 10 degrees C, very respectable for this time of year. I also see problems and work, respectively at the front and back of the house.
The problem I allude to is what I think are two dying Clematis Armandi (see former blog) and if not dying then they certainly don’t seem to look very healthy. Now I know I write this blog about the goings on in my garden and if you read through them then you will see that I enjoy all different aspects of gardens and gardening but that does not mean that I have green fingers. I think the problem started with bindweed and Verdone weedkiller. Bindweed was growing heavily around the clematis so on a very still day I zapped it with the Verdone. It’s gone and whilst I didn’t think I got any on the clematis that seems like it’s going too. An optimistic neighbour of mine reckons that the clematis will survive, I’ll give it until the end of March and then if it remains more brown than green it’s going and a replacement will be planted.
The work I allude to is the annual ritual of trying to make the teak furniture look shiny and new. I bought the current set off of eBay about 3 and a half years ago (before I dealt in garden furniture myself) and frankly I don’t think it’s very good. No matter how much I treat it, it is more a grey in colour than ‘teak’ by the end of the season, and that’s before the winter, the duration of which it lives in the relative warmth and dry of the summer house. Now I am very excited about Garden Games & Leisure’s latest import, due to land in the UK in 2 weeks time. It is a fantastic range of extremely good looking and extremely high quality Rattan Wicker furniture, and it’s weatherproof. So the actual work I’ll be doing is either finding a home or disposing of the teak and setting up a shiny new set of my choice.
The problem I allude to is what I think are two dying Clematis Armandi (see former blog) and if not dying then they certainly don’t seem to look very healthy. Now I know I write this blog about the goings on in my garden and if you read through them then you will see that I enjoy all different aspects of gardens and gardening but that does not mean that I have green fingers. I think the problem started with bindweed and Verdone weedkiller. Bindweed was growing heavily around the clematis so on a very still day I zapped it with the Verdone. It’s gone and whilst I didn’t think I got any on the clematis that seems like it’s going too. An optimistic neighbour of mine reckons that the clematis will survive, I’ll give it until the end of March and then if it remains more brown than green it’s going and a replacement will be planted.
The work I allude to is the annual ritual of trying to make the teak furniture look shiny and new. I bought the current set off of eBay about 3 and a half years ago (before I dealt in garden furniture myself) and frankly I don’t think it’s very good. No matter how much I treat it, it is more a grey in colour than ‘teak’ by the end of the season, and that’s before the winter, the duration of which it lives in the relative warmth and dry of the summer house. Now I am very excited about Garden Games & Leisure’s latest import, due to land in the UK in 2 weeks time. It is a fantastic range of extremely good looking and extremely high quality Rattan Wicker furniture, and it’s weatherproof. So the actual work I’ll be doing is either finding a home or disposing of the teak and setting up a shiny new set of my choice.
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