8 Ideas to get you back into the garden

Those of you in warmer climes might have never left the garden, but I most certainly spent the larger part of winter inside and tucked under a multitude layers. Now, however, is the time to shine – or look reasonably bright but cloudy, as the weather currently is in south Wales. 

To perk up the imagination after winter, I thought a few ideas wouldn’t go amiss!

1    Fairy gardens!

I’ve been meaning to these for a while now because they look like they’d be such fun to make. Seeing as they’re a blank canvas, they can be slotted into almost any garden design – bright annuals for a quirky courtyard, or herbs and succulents for a cooler, more modern design. 

2 Single colour palettes

You could go brave with this year’s garden design and choose a single colour to stick to. They can be beautiful, such as the pictured white palette. Although it is wonderful to look at, I don’t know if I could pull myself away from all the vibrant colours on offer during summer – so it might have to be an all-white container, for me. 

3 Create a mini pond

Give your local critters a helping hand by creating a mini pond. You don’t need to have buckets of space to do this, just a bit of spare time. Give it a little while and you’ll be able to enjoy the dragonflies whizzing about as you relax in your garden! 

4    Build raised beds

This is a particularly good idea if you find your back getting achy after a stint of planting, as bring the bed up means you don’t have to go so far down – you could even set up a small chair to rest on. Raising the bed can also add well-needed drainage to a clay area. Besides the practicalities, raised beds allow you to add layers and height to your garden design. 

5 Grow a wildflower garden

Want a slice of the wild in your back garden? A wildflower patch can be a welcome break from formal designs, as well as a welcome change for the birds and bees in your local area. Last summer, my local council planted swathes of wildflowers along the roads and they looked stunning come July. 

6 Jazz up your vegetable patch

Orange carrots, white cauliflower, green brussels sprouts – ringing a bell, anyone? There are so many different versions of our dinner plate staples which can add a little pizazz to any meal. Have a search around to find veg you wouldn’t normally grow to add an extra bit of excitement come harvest time. Romanesco broccoli is a particular favourite of mine. 

7 Grow peonies

Peonies must be one of my favourite flowers. They’re wonderfully perfumed, look stunning and make for an impressive display. Another bonus is that they suit practically any type of garden: cottage, formal or eclectic. They won’t necessarily bloom when first planted, so prepare to invest a little more time to get the desired display. 

8 Go for a trip to a new garden

Visiting other gardens is, I think, the best source of inspiration. It is great that you’re able to search millions of ideas online, but seeing the real thing in person is quite a different experience. Experience the scent and layout, play pick-a-mix with the parts you love and – most of all – get out in the open and enjoy being a garden lover! 

They live! Succulents really are fabulous. Five tips for succulents

I brought the rest of my plants back from ‘the uni house’ on Friday, most of which were succulent plants. In fact, every single one of my indoor plants were succulents or cacti.

All of the succulents and cacti had been left indoors, in front of a window, without any human assistance, for three weeks – and survived quite well.

I say quite well, because they did look a little slimmer, as their leaves had shrunk slightly. But the next day, after each had been given a thorough watering, they all looked very happy indeed.

Here is some advice for keeping your own succulents happy and plump:

1.      Soil is key. Succulents need good drainage to thrive, wherever they are. You don’t need to spend a fortune on speciality soil – I never have. Mix three parts bog-standard soil with one part sand or another drainage improver to create a succulent-savvy soil.

2.      Sun, sun, sun. Succulents have their origins in the deserts, so give them what their ancestors enjoyed in bucket-loads: sun. Britain may not be known for its Sahara-like summers, but you can still pop your succulent in a bright spot. I did have a crassula argentea on the windowsill by my kitchen sink, which doesn’t receive sun for a great length of time each day, and it survived. Once in day-long bright sun, it began growing new offshoots, and thrived.

3.      Not all thumbs fit inside thimbles. Pinterest is absolutely stuffed with pictures of tiny succulents in tiny vessels, such as thimbles or shot glasses (you can guess which we have more of in the house). Be wary, though, that these succulents won’t want to stay in those little pots forever. If your plant suddenly looks feeble, weak, or paler than normal, it may be time to re-pot your plant. Choose a pot slightly larger than its current home (two sizes is the general rule).

4.    Thirsty? During winter, succulents and cacti need to be watered every fortnight or three weeks – at the most. During the summer, they’ll need watering more often. Whether the sun’s out or the snow is falling, you’ll know if your plant needs watering by simply checking the soil. Let the soil dry out between watering. The leaves may begin to shrivel and show signs that the water stores are declining, too.

5.      Love! The reason we all keep plants – of any creed – is because we love arranging them, taking care of them, and watching our efforts come to fruition. Have fun with making the succulents look pretty, in teacups, glass vases, or even toy trucks, and get to know what your plants like.

Five ideas to keep you busy

It’s been a slightly manic few months – kept busy with exams, essay deadlines, results, work experience and general busying about whilst moving house – but it’s a jolly relief to be back.

I’m incredibly annoyed at myself for not getting a picture of the garden before I moved back home for the summer – particularly because the wild flowers were just coming into their own (there are no weeds in my garden ;) )! But, I’ll be visiting in a couple of days, so I can get snap-happy then.

In a few weeks (I say under baited breath), my parents will be moving and I’ll be given greater responsibility of the garden. At the moment, our garden is very established and I can’t imagine ever making drastic changes to it. The new house, however, has plenty of options: veg patch, edible flowers, chicken coop, flower beds – the list is endless.

For now, I’ve come up with a list of five ideas – because all good things began with a list – to share with you.

1.      Glue pennies to raised beds to prevent slugs and snails from munching on your goodies. This is genius. Slugs and snails are averse to copper. I’d toyed with the idea of wrapping copper wire around pots and things, but was put off by the price entailed. I saw this idea posted on Pinterest originally.

2.     Start a compost heap. An attempted compost heap went belly-up when a housemate’s boyfriend unknowingly swept it all up and put it in bin bags…but hey ho. Using newspaper clippings, the odds & ends of fruit & veg, coffee grounds, eggshells and lawn clippings, you can make your own organic matter for fertilising your soil.

3.  Harden off succulents. This is to be somewhat of an experiment. Whilst on a trip to Swansea’s Plantasia, I saw succulents spreading over the ground, forming into clumps and generally doing what nature does best – creating a fabulous display with no (or some, in this case) human help. Working from cuttings, once the fresh succulents become established I’ll pop them outside (still in their containers) and see how they fare.

4.   Create DIY plant markers by peeling away bark from a stick and writing the name on it. These look just lovely – and there’s nothing more I can say about them!

5.   Get rid of aphids with washing up liquid. Okay, I lied a little about the list of ‘ideas’ because I’ve used this before. Plenty of times before. In fact, I swear by it and it will probably reappear in a future list. In a spray bottle, squeeze a bit of washing up liquid and fill to the top of the bottle with water. Shake, and spray to your heart’s content on affected areas.