Garden Update | May 2021

Last year I wrote a series of garden updates because it was my main hobby during lockdown and the uncertain summer that followed and I wanted to kick start them again. I really enjoy looking back on the changes over the year and at which point I reached each milestone. Thanks to spring being unusually cold in Scotland I didn't bother with an April update because we weren't outside much.

Instead, I'm kicking off with a May update with some background to bring everyone up to date. If you don't follow my other posts we moved house in September 2020 so not only do we now have a forever home but I have my forever garden too. Hopefully I'll be able to find a greenhouse soon and plant things not just for the short term but the long term too. 

Our big project at the start of spring was laying turf in the back garden. The old lady who lived here previously had low maintenance stones but we hated them. However, we weren't sure we'd have the money and/or time to make the change this year and thought we'd just try to live with them. Spoiler - I couldn't and after a weekend of backbreaking work clearing stones, digging the ground and laying turf I'm so happy with the outcome. So happy in fact that we decided to do the front garden too!

We saved quite a bit of money doing the project ourselves and we have the satisfaction too!

Other than the grass it's been a case of tidying up the borders and gradually switching out plants to ones that are more our taste. In the front garden I dug up a shrub that Scott hates and replaced it with this cherry tree - an offspring from one in my parents garden which I think adds a nice touch and I can't wait to see the blossom next spring from the bedroom window. 

One thing that we inherited in the garden that I absolutely love this this big lilac tree - it has beautiful purple flowers in the spring and the most amazing fragrance. 

I've also done quite a bit of work tidying up the pots on the patio to bring some colour to the area. These big blue ones were a Facebook marketplace steal at only £5 each. Let's hope we see some more colour soon now the spring bulbs have died away. 

Going forward we'd like to change this wall to something more modern but I like the way it breaks up the garden and it will be a few years until we can change it so I've wrapped some solar powered fairy lights round it for some evening sparkle. 

This little border on the opposite side of the wall is one I've properly dug out and started to plant some of my own flowers in. A pretty Oxalis I saved from the area we are preparing for a greenhouse, a bleeding heart plant I bought recently in the garden center and some Chelsea daises which are already flowering. 

Not only was the garden filled with beautiful spring bulbs earlier in the year but now yellow poppies and these aquilegia have self seeded and filled the borders bringing much needed colour. I tried growing them myself from seed last year but I was unsuccessful - obviously they do better if I'm not involved. 

In my mini greenhouse at the moment I have some zinnias, sea lavender, signet marigolds, Californian poppy, a few cornflowers and one lonely sunflower which is the only one that came from the head I saved last year. I definitely need more space though because I still have seedlings in our 'office' but I'm hoping it will be time to plant some in the ground and rotate the rest this weekend. 

Now we've got a garden I'm not worried about leaving in a few months I planted out a lupin (I tried to keep it in the pot last year) and this orange geum which is now flowering. One last thing I've been working on in May was feeding the numerous roses that were already in the garden. I bought some farmyard manure from the garden center so hopefully they thrive this summer with a little love.