Our little plot

Our front garden is a tiny affair – approximately 8x7m. When we first moved into our bungalow, it was just a patch of boggy grass.  After a few years, I figured I couldn’t look at the grass anymore and we hired a local landscaper to do some work for us.  Tony was a friendly chap and it was him that came up with the idea of creating a little courtyard garden. The garden is framed on two sides by hedge, and the other two with a low wall built from Belfast brick. So he created four borders, one in each corner, with the central area filled with gravel and some stepping stones made of sandstone that lead to a small bistro table and two chairs.

Over the years, plants have come and gone.  We’ve lost lavender to the harsh winter and had to some goodbye to rampant lady’s mantle that threatened to take over the entire garden.  I love, though, that the seasons make their way round the garden – moving from hellebores in one patch, to alpines in the next and to my favourite – the herbaceous perennials in the far corner.  It’s always a work in progress here and I am really trying hard to extend the flowering season as long as possible (tips and ideas welcome !). But there is something about May, when the garden finally seems to get going and those much longed for blooms appear, that seems to make all the effort worthwhile. For its in May that the dicentra, aquilegia, primula and veronica appear and a pretty pink haze develops where before there was nothing.

And although this little patch of ours will never make it to the Chelsea Flower Show, I like to think of it as my little ‘walled garden’…somewhere to sit and unwind and enjoy a cup of tea amongst the flowers. So, thank you Tony, for starting my love affair with gardening. I can’t thank you enough really…

I’d love to know what’s flowering in your garden right now, or if you have a favourite spot. Feel free to share in the comments below.

Wherever you are, have a lovely Sunday x