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Originally Posted by jennyb  Colin, what a lovely set of photos. Since I started taking "Macro" (I hesitate to use that word after the "macro" thread!) photos of flowers I have realised how exquisite some of our flowers are. Each is a work of art in itself and some so tiny that you can hardly see them with the naked eye. By taking "macro" shots, it is possible to really study the intricacies.
Your garden must be a mass of colour at this time of year - any photos of the garden itself?
Jenny |
Well, Jenny, you asked for it!
I have tried to give a flavour of our garden which is larger than average for an estate house, but not that large. The layout is quite strange but makes for an interesting set up with several small gardens appearing as you change perspective. There is a normal back garden on the west side of the house that ran down to a fence with a gate leading to the garage forecourt. Beyond the forecourt and alongside the further garage wall was a long strip of garden averaging 6 feet wide and which we could not see from the house because of the fence. We took the fence down and converted it into two double pairs of gates that then ran on from the main fence separating us from the accessway. This had the advantage of including the narrow strip within the visible part of the garden and providing privacy when working in or outside the garage. There is also a 6 foot strip of garden running along the western side of the house.
This first view is from the back door straight down the garden
The next is from half way down the back garden and across to the garage - note the heron
This is from the same view point but squarely across to the eastern fence
This is a reverse view to the back door from just inside where the original fence used to be
This is from the garage forecourt and shows the planting where the original back fence used to be - you can catch a glimpse of the 40 foot ash tree that came with house. There is a honeysuckle in the foreground and a pair of blackbirds reared two broods in a nest that was 3 feet from the back gate. They seemed quite unaware of the traffic.
This is a shot from the front of the garage across to the eastern side of the house and plot, and shows our 'water feature' - I was not permitted to consult Charlie Dimmock. The fir tree was given by a friend whose son planted the seeds from a cone brought back from Tenerife - I expect this was illegal at the time but the tree seems happy enough
Now we are looking up the eastern side of the house. We keep the water butt and compost bins here but they are obscured. There used to be grass all along here. We originally took up most, leaving a path and using the rest for vegetables. Poor sunlight and aridity made this hard work with not much return. So we decided to make something of a dry garden that would still allow us to get to the butt and bins. It also cut down the level of gardening - we are both (very active) pensioners - so this was a practical decision all round.
Here we look from the east towards the garage. Two sets of great tits reared broods in the nestbox on the wall
This shows the garage forecourt and the 'wild' garden that we have started at the bottom of the garden - our wild flower seed was not very successful, but we shall persevere
Finally, this is our fruit and veg part alongside the garage. My guv'nor has had good crops of lettuce, radish, beetroot, raspberries and broad beans. The cultivated thornless blackberry has just started to produce fruit. I have built a small fruit cage on one side, and our latest venture is the raised bed on the right. Right at the bottom, are some rhubarb, two hawthorns and a hazel
No doubt things will change and the aim is to make the soil invisible.
Colin