Picking flowers for the cutting garden

September 30, 2018.Reading time 5 minutes.

I feel incredibly spoiled in saying this given how lucky I am to have all of our growing space, but I am sometimes paralysed by indecision when it comes to growing. Coming from a tiny terraced garden where I had so little space, I’m slightly overwhelmed by the amount of potential I have here. I […]

Unexpected floral finds: cutting flowers from the garden

July 23, 2018.Reading time 1 minute.

One of the projects I intend to tackle in a big way next year is a cutting garden for flowers. I’ve always had fresh flowers in our home and place them pretty highly in the list of priorities of things that make us feel happy when we’re here. Now that we’ve got the space, I […]

Unusual garden pests: the dog

April 24, 2018.Reading time 1 minute.

Canine-human relations are decidedly strained at the moment. Not content with pulling up and eating multiple raspberry canes, a cranberry, umpteen blackberry plants and a whole apricot sapling, the hound has embarked upon a campaign designed to destroy our new long flowerbed before it is even planted. We are slowly accumulating the plants for said […]

Planning a traditional country garden in the front

January 28, 2018.Reading time 4 minutes.

We tend to focus on practical (read: food producing) parts of our smallholding when prioritising projects. But one thing I did want to do when we moved in was to fence off the back garden and paddocks from the front. This wasn’t just to make it more secure for the children and various pets that […]

Gather ye roses if ye may (and ye can’t, the sodding ground is undiggable!)

January 14, 2018.Reading time 6 minutes.

In the spirit of trying to do as much as we can around our little homestead ourselves, we had a good crack at the main flowerbeds in the front garden. This is a slight change of pace for us as we’ve focussed mainly on practical projects thus far, chicken-proofing the paddock for them to free […]

Sowing window box flower seeds with a toddler: Ladybird poppies

March 31, 2017.Reading time 4 minutes.

When planning our tiny garden, we wanted to ensure that we’d have space where GarlicBoy could play safely when we’re home. We also wanted some storage space for garden cushions and tools etc. A playhouse seemed to tick all the boxes and he loves it. My father and I put it together a couple of days […]

How to have a flower garden and cats

March 7, 2014.Reading time 2 minutes.

…The trick? Divided areas. The GarlicCats are much loved members of the family and, as such, we’re eager for them to share our little outdoor patch behind the house. However, I don’t believe that any home is complete without cut flowers and although most of the garden is going to be devoted to edibles, it’s […]