March In The Garden - Bringing it Back to Life

The last few weeks have seen much improvement in the garden.  If you read my February blog you will know that the phrase 'Things can only get better' was my mantra for the month.  

The mud and mess of the last few weeks has started to become a distant memory.  The builders have finally left the garden and although there is still much work to be done it's good to see what a difference a few days of TLC have made.

From Building site to blank canvas. 
This area has been dug over and prepared for planting in the last few weeks

So far I have lifted the gravel that once formed the base of the playhouse and removed the membrane that sat underneath it.  The gravel has been recycled into the border to improve drainage and we have dug out a new base for the brick path that will eventually join the house to the allotment at the bottom of the garden.  

We've always had a lot of old bricks lying around the garden, possibly a relic of the railway buildings that were on the site before the houses were built.  My plan is to reuse these as much as possible to create an interesting walkway across what is a very wet space in the winter.  

The first step in the construction was to dig out the ground to a depth of 10cm and then back fill it with recycled sub base from Mone Brothers in Bramhope.  Next I am planning to cement a line of bricks on their edge along either side of the walkway creating a slightly raised framework into which I can lay my recycled bricks filling in the final hole in the middle of each square with broken pottery shards and sea glass that we've collected over the years to add a bit of colour and interest to the path.

         Emerging Hemerocallis and Hellebores                      I'm planning on laying the bricks in a spiral    

        with some of the bricks I've been collecting                 pattern before infilling the centre with found 

                                                                                                                              treasures

Not content with one project to complete We've also dug out an area at the other side of the garden which had previously been a small seating area.  What was a beautiful place to stop and appreciate the garden when we created it about 10 years ago had become overgrown as our needs changed, so I decided it was time to do something else with it.  The bricks and gravel that once defined the space are being recycled into my new path and I'm going to be planting shrubs in the area together with additional herbaceous planting for summer colour.  This will add interest to the forgotten corner and give us a nice view from the new patio area to the other side of the garden.

While I rest my aching bones from all the digging and moving that's been going on over the last few weeks I'm also going to be turning my attention to the allotment and the process of seed sowing. I've recently picked up my copies of Veg in One Bed by Huw Richards and The RHS Allotment Handbook for some inspiration on allotment growing this year. 

I'm constantly frustrated by my traditional rotational system of growing on the allotment.  We can't eat a full bed of lettuce in one week so I end up with crops going past their best no matter how well I try and plant successionally.  Half the problem, I admit is that I can't bear to throw seedlings out so I will often plant far more than I need then lose hope when we can't consume everything we grow.  I'm not naturally a veg grower and despite having an allotment garden for at least 10 years I just can't seem to get the knack of it. Ornamentals are definitely more my thing!

My plan this year is to keep some of my beds, once prepared under cover until I am ready to plant them and have six planted in rotation with successional sowing of shorter term crops going into each bed alongside long term crops like Kale and Parsnips. That way I feel like I will have more of a planned approach to our vegetable consumption.  I also have several beds dedicated to permanent crops with fruit and perennials such as globe artichokes in one space, Strawberries in two different beds and a bed of kitchen herbs that was newly planted last year in anticipation of removing the herb bed in the front garden now it's no longer outside the kitchen door

Jobs for March

• Clear weeds from raised beds and cover to help warm up the soil before planting
• Sow seeds indoors including Broad Beans, Peas and Sweet Peas 
• Weed perennial beds and feed crops with an organic fertiliser
• Prune Cornus for winter stems
• Prune back remaining standing herbaceous growth before new shoots appear
• Prune summer flowering shrubs and roses ahead of the growing season.