Day 7 - the back nook

 We have a nook in the back garden.  A little corner that perfectly catches the morning sun.  It's hidden away so is a great place to disappear with a book (when it's not overgrown with weeds or cobwebs).  The dog loves to sunbathe on the decking in front of it.  Along the right hand wall is a wonderful climbing hydrangea in which blackbirds nested this Summer, along with a clematis that scrambles across the roof (and in through every gap it can find) of the nook.  There's a sickly gooseberry bush in a tub, next to that are some tree mallow and this Spring I planted a LOT of flowers (gladioli, lupins, fuchsia and many many more).

Today I just spent fifteen minutes tidying up this area.  I cut back a bit of grass and pulled up some euphorbia which was encroaching, trimmed back the clematis and weeded and swept the paving.

I'm amazed at the big difference just those few minutes can make.  Each time it's spurring me on to keep up with this challenge.

Time taken - about 15 minutes

Future tasks noted

• We've got some yucky yucca just to the left of where I'm taking this photo.  They are huge and spiky and I know from last time I tried to get rid of one that they have deep and grasping roots.  They've got to go.  I hate them passionately.

Day 6 - a bushy haircut

The previous owner of our house was a big fan of grasses.  I'm not so keen.  I think they have their place.  They add a nice structural element to the garden and are pretty low maintenance, but they also get very big and take over the whole place.  I'm trying to reduce or remove a lot of grasses in our garden and replace them with edible plants or beautiful flowers. 

 I didn't actually dig this one out down to the roots, just pulled as much of it out as I could by hand.

The result is that I can see a few other leggy plants that need a bit of attention, but this bit of garden looks a bit tidier.

Time taken - about 10-15 minutes.

Future tasks noted:

• plant Spring bulbs in this bed.
• Get solar fountain for the pond and more pond plants ready for next Summer (read up on blue-green algae - I think we may have some in this pond!)

Day 5 - a little trim around the edge

Day 4

A day off already!  I was at work all day and it was my birthday!  I'm sure I could have found a five minute slot for some gardening, but... it was my birthday so...

Day 5

Where I mowed the lawn and then trimmed back the plants that were hanging over it the other day I revealed some raggedy looking grass round the edge of the lawn (probably should have trimmed and then mown!).  This morning I took a large pair of scissors out with my while the dog was doing her business and just trimmed and tidied up this lawn edge.

Looking much better!  This 5 minute challenge might actually work!

Day 3 - just a bit of weeding

Just a quick bit of weeding in the back garden to tidy up the paving and the gravel.  It had got a bit untidy while we were away.

Now looking a lot smarter.

Time taken - about 10 minutes

Future tasks noted

• the clematis will need cutting back sometime this autumn.  
• I'd like to plant some spring bulbs and something for some winter colour in those planters - trip to the garden centre needed.

 

The No-Time Gardener!

 Day 2

You would think that I'd start on Day 1.  That would be the sensible approach.

Alas, if you follow this journey you will find I am not necessarily sensible.

So this journey starts with this book:

(click the picture to find the book on Amazon)

I found it while on holiday in Pembrokeshire and it spoke to me.  I have a gorgeous garden.  Estate agents would describe it as "mature and well-established".  I describe it as "wild and unkempt" or "in need of some serious taming".  Basically we moved here four years ago and despite our efforts, have pretty much left it to its own devices.

We are just so busy - with work, volunteering, family life etc etc that gardening falls way down on the priority list, despite the fact that we both enjoy it, and both want to have a lovely garden.

This book talks about exactly that.  And how you can actually make a BIG difference to your garden by committing yourself to just five minutes per day.  Everybody can find 5 minutes, right?  That could be 5 minutes less fiddling around on Facebook or Twitter.  Some days, I might get involved in a task and it will take longer, other days I'll stick to the five minutes.

So I think I'll give it a go.  

I'm not going to beat myself up if I don't manage my 5 minutes every day, but blogging about it here might give me some extra motivation to keep trying.  I might not post on here every day either, because lets face it, that's another 5 minutes!  However, let's see how we get on.

Before

These aren't quite the Before photos, as I've just completed my second day of activity - but it'll still hopefully show the journey my garden goes on.  I'll try to post photos of the whole garden each month, as well as of each task on a daily basis.

Back Garden

Front Garden

Day 1

Yesterday was an easy decision.  We've been away on holiday for two weeks, so I mowed the lawn. The wildlife meadow in the centre of the lawn is now also due to be mown down ready for winter, but husband has ordered a sickle, so I'll leave that for him to do when it arrives.  I also cut back a whole load of dying flowers that were overhanging the lawn on the right hand side, and took out the brown garden waste bin.

Time taken - about 25 minutes

Future Tasks noted - 

• trim or strim the grass around the edge of the lawn
• reseed areas of the lawn where there is a lot of moss or where the dog has peed.

Day 2

You can't actually see how big this shrub was.  I only intended to reduce the size by half, but once I started bringing it down, I could see that it needed to be taken down to the ground. It's a nice shrub with variegated leaves, but there were also two other shrubs growing through it too.  The main problems with it were both how large it was and how it encroached on the lawn.  I'm confident that it will regrow and be easier to keep in shape. Daughter helped me put a lot of it in the garden waste bin, and the rest on the flower bed nearby, ready to take to the recycle centre when I have time.

Time taken - about 40 minutes

Future Tasks noted - 

• take vegetation to recycle centre
• go to garden centre and find some things to plant around the area.  Maybe an elderberry, some spring bulbs and something with some lovely yellow flowers.  I want everything that grows in my garden to be either beautiful, useful or edible.