The garden we have is here is much bigger than anything I’ve ever gardened before. So much so that there’s a bit at the bottom of the garden, that we’ve not really ‘got’ to until now, nearly three years after we arrived. We’ve repaired lots of important things in the house, and got the front garden into better shape, and replaced the old shed, and put up a greenhouse, and new decking, and a pergola… and a pond.

But right down at the very bottom of the garden, there’s a smallish hedge, and behind that a fairly large space, that’s bigger than the whole of the garden in our first house. We have used it for nothing but compost and wildlife until now. We half-heartedly put some planters in there, realised they were foolishly out of scale for that spot, and then got waylaid by all the other things in life that needed doing.

So that’s when Simon the gardener got stuck in. Today, while I was doing my day job, marketing responsibly sourced, locally grown timber, and my voluntary work, supporting a local forest school with their governance and fundraising, Simon did more in this spot in one day than I’ve managed in three years, making us a raised bed and clearing out the overgrowth.

In a little while, this raised bed will be about half full of compost. We’ll add a layer of topsoil, and then start planting some veggies in this huge new planter…

Exciting!

Meanwhile, I’ve been watching out for the ‘last’ solar powered fountain of the year.

My shadow was very long this lunchtime, and there’s precious little sunlight to catch the solar panel that powers the fountain.

This sliver of sunshine at 1.30 on 17 Nov might not be the very last of the year to hit that panel, but it does feel like we’re not far from the end of the season of solar powered water features… I’ll keep you all posted, of course 🙂

Whatever you’re up to, I hope your plans and plants do well, and that you appreciate the last slivers of sunshine as the winter solstice approaches.

I’ll tell you about the new rose bed next time…

J x