MANY MAYS

We have now been here for over 14 years, since Feb 16th 2007 when we first moved in.

By May 2007 the outline of our evolving garden had begun. The first veg beds were double dug and manured but much of the rest was rough grass and so on.

 

By May 2008 the path structure was in place and there were flower beds by the house. Lawn, or even mowed as opposed to strimmed grass was yet to come.

By May 2009 the garden was beginning to flourish. Sam's rhubarb was being pulled and the asparagus bed, in the foreground, was starting to mature. The various damson trees given to us by Kerry and Steve were on the march and the ash tree to the left of the image had not yet been felled. We had a new shed to the left of the house.

Now we are at May 2010 and this is the view from the house along the main curved path with shrubs and herbaceous plants, roses and our great white cherry painted on the left. In the distance you can just make out the line of the stream - it was later moved to the hedge line.

2011 and the Cherry Prunus shirotae is flowering above tulips Madame Lefebvre and Queen of the Night, forgetmenots and wallflowers. We have had to fell a large ash tree infected with honey fungus.

2012 and the Wendy House is down by the small pond, a writing retreat for R. The trunk of the ash tree has been roughly made into a seat (though we rarely used it until I did one year and found it had become a red ants nest!)

2013 and the flower beds are maturing well. On the left the copper beech hedge I gave to Andrew and the end of the willow tunnel are visible. The latter got too big and was grubbed out.

2014 and Prunus shirotae is a Wow! Several bits of fencing are in to try and divide the garden into areas. Lawns actually look like lawns though all I have done is cut the grass.

2015 and with encouragement the woodland is glorious, full of red campion, pignut, woodruff and bluebells. The spread of daffs and snowdrops has begun. Our son Roland has made us a path up between the trees.

2016 and we now have a new big pond and an old plastic heron from my brother. It does not deter wild herons and the mallard on the pond is studiously ignoring it. The seat on the decking is there best (only) place to catch the late evening sun. We face south east with our backs to the sunset. (But do get spectacular sunrises).

2017 and then self sown aquilegias have taken over. The sundial, carefully placed in the shade, has come all the way from Liverpool and  R's family. The tree behind is the great white cherry and it is getting big. Every year I put off pruning it.

2018 and I cannot resist putting another photo of the wood in this blog.

We have a paining of our wood done by Fiona Clucas - a touch of magic.

2019 and the damson to the left is now overshadowing the veg beds, However Sam's rhubarb seems to be quite happy and our first asparagus of the year is showing in the bed in the foreground. The house has an extension to give us a large living room with big windows and sliding doors out onto the garden. Upstairs is a new writing room for R.  The rosebud is now paved and a new bed has been made further out with the help of a gardener  Just a half day a fortnight but a godsend with heavy work and strimming etc. 

The Wendy House by the pond now houses a forlorn sofa bed and table for seedlings and cuttings. 

2020 and the new extension is a delight, especially on cold but sunny days when it acts like a heat sink. The two cherries arch over the long path though the shirotae to the right has had two branches reduced as they were getting too big.

Now many of the trees we planted are maturing there is a different play of light and shade throughout the garden.

 

SELF SEEDERS, SUN, SCOTLAND

There are some plants in the garden that sow themselves year on year - orange and yellow welsh poppies, forgetmenots, aquilegias, honesty, white hesperis, camassias, fritillaries - that are welcome. There are others not so welcome depending where they are - wild garlic, bluebells - and some positively not welcome - goosegrass or cleavers, bindweed, horsetails etc etc etc.
 

 There are some that spread relentlessly unless culled like the geranium on the left and white rosebay willow herb.

So, lawns mown, a walk up the garden and a tawny owl floats silently from the bottom hedge. The ducks are back on the shed roof, the garden is so dry and the pond low - so three cheers for a borehole and a top up. Nevertheless the bogbean and water lilies are doing well (as is the blanket weed.)

R has found a recipe for what she calls jam but I feel is more of a conserve or something -
Rhubarb and Strawberry Jam - 600g rhubarb chopped, 300g hulled and quartered strawberries, 450g sugar, juice of half a lemon.
Mix and leave overnight to extract juice.
Boil 5 to 10 min.
If any scum - add knob of butter.
Put in hot sterilised jars - or - we put some into the freezer as it only keeps up to  a month in the fridge.

I have added petunias to the wallflowers in the pots by the back door and put in the erigeron, anthriscus and perennial wallflowers from Sarah Raven. A few seedlings are appearing, reluctantly, in the veg beds. Put in some flat leaved parsley and sweet peas. We continue to gorge on the asparagus.

Elsewhere in the garden the hedge parsley flowers as do the azaleas. In the leaf litter under one of the rhododendrons hoverflies seem to be gathering.

The new extension and paved area (hate the word patio) give new seating areas but we have yet to get into our heads that we can just walk out from the living room instead of round from the other doors. The orange gerbera which has lived and flowered all winter in the kitchen is now in the new bed.

And the fruit - abundance this year, mildewed gooseberries (but no sawfly (yet)), and the pear tree will fall over when the fruit get to full size. The strawberries I dug out last year had sent out runners around the edge of the bed, so I left them, and now we have fruit coming with no loving tender care.

We are not long back from Scotland, cliffs laden with sea pink (thrift), campion, tormentil and gorse at Balcary Point on the footpath to Rascarrel. We have seen a dolphin from the cliffs in the past but not on that day.

A visit to Crawick Multiverse, still a work in progress, just adults behaving like small boys damming streams? And a walk around Drumlanrig Gardens through the azalea scent where the most interesting thing was a remote control mower for steep bankings - love one - but £10,000 and then some, so no go.

So much to do and so little sense of urgency, cuppa and a sit in the garden.