A month ago, the garden looked like this. Since then it has been a struggle to find time to do any work outside – I have been in Malvern for a couple of long weekends, and the weather has been rubbish. This week, however, I have found 5 whole hours of suitable garden time! And the garden now looks like this:

14 June

I have emptied the third and final compost bin. Dad is taking the two big black ‘daleks’ to Malvern; I have set up the third, smaller bin with a fresh batch of material to compost. Doing so required me making an effort to start weeding the wild area at the end of the garden – the comfrey is flowering and was awash with bees, and the brambles were making a recurrence. There’s plenty that still needs doing, but now it’s well-hidden behind the Grow Dome.

Raised beds

All of the compost has been distributed between the three new raised beds, and I have been planting out some of the plants that aren’t making the trip to Malvern (mum and dad don’t have room for everything).

Raised bed 4

The honeyberries are at the back of this bed, and the Chilean guavas (which have never been entirely happy in their containers) are planted out in front of them. The herbs are oddly spaced because they are leftovers from the previous herb bed. I will try and fill in the gaps.

Raised bed 3

The middle bed is almost completely empty, but dad is bringing me a couple of his spare squash plants, and they could go in here.

Raised bed 2

I’ve planted out the healthier of the two loquats in the end bed, and one of the self-seeded elderberries. In front of it there are a couple of marshmallows and musk mallows. Again, there are herbs in front from the previous design, and wild strawberries making a bid to be the dominant ground cover.

Raised bed 1

All I’ve done to the patio raised bed is remove one of the Buddleia “Buzz” plants, as it died, and replaced it with a buddleia mint – sinking the pot rather than planting out the mint to prevent it going nuts and taking over the whole bed.

It is now raining, so all of the newly planted plants will be nicely watered in. And I have entirely filled my green waste wheelie bin, which won’t be emptied until next Friday. I do feel better for getting my hands (and everything else!) dirty though, and I have an idea for a garden project for the time I’m still here… but more about that later.