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Painting with nature

The weather has turned cold and grey again…not ideal for summer at all..

So while I am waiting for the summer to return I will make the most of being artistic… in the garden.

When we moved to our house in Kent two years ago there were lots of problems in the house and garden that needed urgent attention, which we tackled in whatever order we could, not helped with the Covid lock-down causing more restrictions!

And of course the fact I had to have a hysterectomy at the beginning of the year also meant that I couldn’t do as much in the garden as I would have liked, so now that I have fully healed I can get back to doing the changes that have been on my to do list for a very long while.

So this week I have been able to take out the impractical metal frame in the raised vegetable bed that has annoyed me since we bought the house as everytime I dug the bed over I banged my head on it. And also the size of the raised bed was far too big as I had to walk on it to dig it which defeats the object of having it if the soil is going to be compacted all the time. Plus the soil didn’t fill the bed so it made sense to reduce the size of it to make it more practical, as well as making the soil fit and fill the area better. That was done this week, and I was able to continue the block paving around it by the path, which also made it far easier to access, and looked better too. We also had more space to make a small raised bed by the pathway with the left over wood, which I was even more pleased about…

So that left me to decide on the plants to go in the revamped raised vegetable bed..also remembering its the middle of July, and probably only a few weeks left of the growing season (but you never know in this country!). So, after a bit of thinking and looking at options….the obvious one..particuarly to an artist was ‘Rainbow Chard’…! A useful plant as a vegetable, for both the stems and leaves…but pretty as the stems are a mix of orange, yellow, and red!

And whilst I was looking for the new plants for the raised flower bed I also wanted to go for artists colours too.. so I’ve opted for a similar mixed colour scheme of pinks, reds, oranges, and yellows with the pretty ‘Cheyenne Spirit Coneflower’.

As well as that I’ve gone for pretty pink Geraniums, Marigolds, and coral coloured Phlox, for the flower tubs by the house.

And today whilst talking to my husband and mentioning I was considering getting a clematis for the fourth pergola pillar (as I’ve put up two pretty climbing roses, and a creamy coloured clematis up the other three pillars last year which are looking great this year). He suggested a grape vine instead, and I agreed it was a far better idea! So I’ve ordered one which will come this week. It’ll be lovely to sit under the pergola with the roses on one side and the pale green grapes hanging down over head….

The garden is starting to look pretty, and colourful, with interest all year around, and its a joy to find things to plant that I have had in previous gardens, as well as new ones for this new garden in Kent….