About Me

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I live in Kent with my husband, toddler Tilly (henceforth known as Monkey) and another baby due in November. We have two cats, Duncan and Lady Macbeth, and four chickens who kindly lay us eggs daily. We live in the picturesque seaside town of Broadstairs. I enjoy reading, knitting and cooking. I'm trying to be a bit 'greener' (not sure how successfully), and to be a gentle parent. Extended breastfeeding and co-sleeping don't freak me out, we use cloth nappies and try to follow some of the ideals of Attachment Parenting. If that sounds as if I know what I'm doing, I don't! I am also a psychotherapist with an interest in Focusing-oriented therapy, and I have a small private practice in the area.

Thursday 18 February 2010

Help me discover some green fingers!

This is our new garden, and I don't know where to begin!
I think we are going to put our chicken ark somewhere near the decking towards the front of the photo, and I am planning to put in a couple of raised beds alongside the fence to grow vegetables.
I also want to grow something along the fence, not necessarily to cover it up but to make it not look so bare and fence-like. Any suggestions?
How did you begin to learn how to make a garden? I feel intimidated and I don't know where to start...

6 comments:

Joxy34 said...

Honey suckle; the flowers are wonderful and edible.

Good size garden :-)

Dawn said...

Goodness, what a lovely blank canvas to work on. Good luck with your planning.
Does the fence get much sun? You could train some lovely fruit trees or bushes there.

willow81 said...

Hi Dawn and Joxy! Oh yes, some sweet smelling honeysuckle would be nice. And I had considered fruit trees and bushes. How would I go about that then? I need to dig a border beneath the fence presumably in order to plant things in? (sorry- I really am a total novice and I've been in awe of your excellent garden advice on the GP forum!)

Dawn said...

Hi - just dig a border so that any grass or other plants/weeds aren't growing amongst the weeds - fruit likes a bit of good compost to start them off. Water well for a while. Fruit trees are much cheaper bought as bare-rooted from Autumn to Spring (just before they start growing) so now is ideal if you know what varieties you'd like.
Might be worth getting advice from plant nurseries about training them along the fence too or checking out some fruit growing websites to get the best out of them. There's nothing like picking your own home-grown fruit.

willow81 said...

Thank you Dawn :-)
I went to the garden centre this afternoon and saw that they were selling fruit canes 4 for the price of 3, I might go back for some.

Anonymous said...

Ooh, lucky you, that's a nice chunky size of a garden =] how about blackcurrants, they fil up a whole corner of our veggie patch, they are ;aden with lovely fruit, and they are tall and spacey enough to provide a "house" for certain little people.