Mary's English Garden: Spring Has Sprung

Spring has sprung at last making it a pleasure to work in the garden. Peter and I really love gardening (or at least I do and he loves the fresh air and doesn't mind doing the heavy work) but we do find the lawn and flower beds in the back garden, plus the vegetable plot, are as much as we can comfortably cope with. The small garden we have in the front is just one job too many. For that reason we approached a local gardener, Tracey, and asked her to design a low maintenance garden, carry out the work and maintain it afterwards. She has done a sterling job, removing a forest of weeds and ancient plants and transforming it into a neat, tidy and attractive area. She did this by covering the soil with black plastic and topping this with green slate. She then decorated some containers and filled them with perennial plants including a camelia and a rhododendron. There is still some work to be done but we are delighted with the progress so far.

While Tracey has been busy in the front garden we have continued with the work in the vegetable plot and it is now taking shape very nicely. I have planted out some lettuce, swiss chard and courgettes grown from seed in the greenhouse. The potatoes are romping away and we anticipate our first crop in just a few weeks time. We shall ignore the spoilsports who suggest there are just too many calories in potatoes and thoroughly enjoy eating every single one (even occasionally with butter on top). It is fun to be naughty sometimes!

I have this week started some more seeds in the greenhouse, french beans and marrows and will watch them daily with eager anticipation until they germinate. A container of rocket on the patio is also under way ready to mix with lettuce and baby spinach for a delicious salad. I also thinned out the turnip seedlings to give the little darlings room to expand.