Sunday 17 July 2011

The Patriotic Garden

My back garden is very small and has the added problem of a neighbours very tall and unwieldy conifers shading it and taking all the goodness out of the soil (I hate the damn things!). I spend a lot of time in my garden in summer - it becomes an outdoor room for me to sit and read/eat etc. A pop up Gazebo ensures that summer showers don't send me scuttling back indoors. I'm going to spend the winter months re-thinking and planning my garden for next year. Currently, we are still flying the Royal Wedding bunting, which is complementing the very patriotic red, blue and white planting scheme.

A MAJOR source of delight for me has been watching my very dead looking Bay tree spring back to life big style after the cold winter set back - it's never has such enormous leaves on it. "Green Shoots of recovery" is often a term used for financial recovery - fingers crossed that the world economy recovers in the same way that my Bay tree has. If only my bucket of Comfrey Soup feed worked on the GBP/Euro/Dollar!

21 comments:

two bones and a bagle said...

Hello conifers bah humbug - luckily we dont suffer but they are a real pain. Garden is looking good - mine is also in need of a rethink - its ok at one side (long and skinny sideways - does that make sense) I just tend to buy perenials and stick them in willy nilly. When is your craft fair?

Janet said...

My bay tree took a battering this winter too-glad yours is recovering !
I`am forever changing my garden around -bit like re-decorating but on an outdoor scale ! x

Jo said...

Glad to hear your bay tree is recovering well. Many gardeners lost lots of their well loved plants last winter so it's nice to hear that your bay wasn't another casualty. Winter months are great for thinking ahead and planning the garden for the following year. Looking forward to hearing about your plans.

Susan T said...

We have the same problem conifers down one side of the garden planted by the previous owners - having said that it isn't all bad as our neighbour has a gi-normous Rotweiler. So they do give us some privacy.

I chucked my bay trees Arrgh. I wonder now if they would have survived.

A garden just outside Venice said...

LOL! I must remember to send you some Sunflowers seeds along with many others at the end of Summer! I know you love freebies! :-)
Then you're telling me that Colin is mine?! :D
xxxx

cieldequimper said...

Very pretty!

Signed: Marie-Antoinette (next time I'll have bread!)

Elizabethd said...

Bay trees have a wonderful way of coming back to life. I love the scent of the leaves.

Carol said...

Well done on the bay tree resurrection. I hate conifer hedges too, next-but-one had one that was as big as next door's house. One bonfire night a rocket hit it and set it on fire, could have been nasty but fire was put out, they were then persuaded to chop it down to about 8 feet.
If you 'need' any plants let me know, I usually have plenty of selfsets, especially hellebores, aquilegias, etc.
Carol xx

Rosie said...

We used to live in the garden, too but for the last two or three years have hardly had the gazebo up - it went up in April when we had the hot weather this year and came down again quite quickly - must put it up again for a while! Glad your bay tree survived, our tree was well and truly dead I'm afraid - I wonder if some of your comfrey soup would have brought it back to life? Love your bunting:)

Little Blue Mouse said...

My bay's romping back to life too now, and some eucalyptus trees that suffered the same fate in winter.

potterjotter said...

And mine too! My bay tree went all brown and I thought that was it ... but it has made a miraculous recovery!

two bones and a bagle said...

Hope to pop across - Bric a Brac just doesnt sound the same - mmm although if I see a sign for a bric a brac at a Church hall or similar I do love a rummage and normally find something.

John Going Gently said...

love the bunting too

Rowan said...

I don't like conifers either, they are gloomy things. So glad to hear that your Bay tree has recovered after the winter.

menopausalmusing said...

Our Bay died last winter too, and in fact I chopped the trunk down to ground level at the weekend since it has grown a subsidiary one from the base (yay!) and now I face a long, patient wait so that I can train it into a ball shape at the top again!

Angie Burrett said...

Your garden is looking lovely Diane: Our bay trees keep growing profusely - something in the Devon air! Thank you for your comments on my new Blog - much appreciated.

BadPenny said...

A friend is giving me a cutting from her bay tree...fingers crossed xx

greenthumb said...

I to hate those conifers, I have by bay tree growing in a large pot.

HippieGirl said...

I just adore the pics of your garden that you always put on here. Makes me wish I didn't live anywhere near forest. Every time me and my sis plant flowers, at night the deer come out of the woods and eat them. Last summer we both planted knock out roses and Asiatic lilies and the next morning they looked like they had been eaten away! If I see any deer eating the flowers me and my sis spent so much time tending to, I'm going to declare open season I swear!!!! Stupid wildlife!!!

Homes and Dreams said...

We lost so much in the garden over the winter but unfortunately weren't as lucky as you were with your Bay.

Love the bunting x

Louise said...

Bay grows like a weed in my garden! Yes, Conifers are a definite no-no, especially in built up areas. I've a neat little book on perennials as a giveaway over on my garden blog, if you fancy entering. x