The Patio

I think of the garden as being in three parts.  

At the bottom of the garden is the gravel area which is pretty much in sun all day and has a couple of seats and table for those half hours here and there in the summer when you can step out with a cuppa.  

In the middle (and the largest section) is a lawn with a five foot wide border each side; this is pretty much for looking at, although my three year old grandson gets a lot of running around joy out of it. This has very mixed levels of daylight.  It is predominately in shade as the back of house faces North, but it will get some hours of sunshine as we move into summer and the sun is higher in the sky, reducing the shadow of the house.  

Nearest the house is the patio area with seating for four.  This actually got a lot of use during last year's long hot summer as it gave some respite when it was too hot and, to my surprise, proved a very pleasant place to sit in comfortable warmth and minimum squinting.  It does get a little sun in the late afternoon.

The largest and, I hope permanent, plants in this area are some ferns and roses.

The ferns have done their usual browning off and crisping up over winter and I absolutely know I should be cutting off all the rubbish to help the new growth come through but when you have spent an arm and a leg on something it takes nerves of steel to hack away at them.  I promise myself I will do it on the next fine day when I can get into the garden.  It is currently cold and wet.

hart's tongue fern

soft shield fern

Happily its not all doom and gloom out there and this is the right hand  corner which I see all the time from my dining room patio doors.

a bought-in hanging basket

its fraternal twin

a chimney stack which  I planted with some lovely huge primulas

Beneath the hanging baskets is a teeny herb bed which served me very well all last year and has kicked back into life.  Reading left to right:  Rosemary, Sage at the back, Parsley (I have a new plant to replace that), Thyme at the front right edge, the two plants at the forward edge are very healthy chives.  I may take those out as I barely use them.  The mint is grown from new each year in a large pot.  It will replace the dying muscari and daffodils seen here.  I never put mint in the garden as it can be a nightmare to control.

On the other side, seen from my kitchen window is a small rose border and another hanging basket.   The roses were chosen from David Austin as a good 'doer' in shade.  They do seem to be vigorous and flowered for ages last year so I am very pleased with those.  White flowers and scented and will only grow to 3.5 feet tall and 3 feet wide.

three Susan Williams-Ellis

Above the roses is another hanging basket

a bought-in basket ,but different from the ones opposite.

The Christmas tree has survived its re-potting and is putting on new growth.  It should never grow beyond 120 cms/4 feet, so the plan is to bring it round to beside the front door and light and decorate it every year as we did for our first Christmas here last year.

Alberta Spruce - Picea glauca 'Conica'

Wooh, look at those weeds creeping in under the fence - must get to those pdq.