Phew - survived

It looks as though the garden has just about survived the recent onslaught from the approach of autumn.

Everything looks a little worse for wear and most things are a little windburnt but nothing has been destroyed. Despite the onslaught the courgette plants have of course continued to supply us with a steady stream of vegetables!

Maybe the shelter we’ve been gradually adding is working as there are still various plants in flower and nothing got snapped off even though the winds blew all day long on Tuesday at about 40 knots.

Time for a tidy up

I do have a bit of work to do out there though as the grass has grown well with all the rain and warmth and there are leaves and pine needles everywhere. In fact, everything is beginning to look a little tired out there as if the garden knows that autumn is pretty much here and winter is just around the corner. What a cheery thought!

The bees seem to have survived as well. The hive remained upright which is a start and there are still some bees coming and going although the activity levels are quite a bit lower than they have been. I’m hoping that all is well within the colony and that some sunshine will have them out and about over the weekend.

Bees Coming and Going

The bees that we have on loan seem to be happy. I’ve taken a look at the hive and there always seems to be a bit of activity around it and there are certainly more bees in the garden. The field behind us is full of clover at the moment too so hopefully they are finding plenty of food there as well.

The idea of having them on loan for 6 weeks is to see how they get on out here and how we get on with them in the garden. Anyone who reads this weblog will know that we like to keep the garden looking nice. We are also trying to create a wildlife friendly garden and grow some fruit, veg and herbs too. There can be some conflicts between things such as growing garden produce or keeping bees and having a nice garden for sitting and entertaining in. Often gorgeous show gardens and productive gardens don’t go hand in hand but we’re going to try to do both.

We aren’t going to extremes with either of the approaches so hopefully we’ll be able to find a perfect compromise and still have a nice looking garden that we can sit in and enjoy whilst also growing some veg and keeping bees.

Of course, the bees won’t like things such as mowers and strimmers so we may well have to keep part of the garden a little more unkempt and wild looking.  If that is the case I already have a plan to separate that area of the garden off with a fence. This will not only compartmentlise the garden more (which I like) but will help keep me sane when it comes to garden maintenance and will provide yet more shelter for us and the bees.

Hive Entrance

So far our time with the bees has been fine. The hive doesn’t look out of place at the bottom of the garden, and we barely notice the bees. I’ve yet to mow or strim mind you  so we’ll see how that goes soon and of course the area around the beehive has yet to get out of hand or overgrown so only time will tell if I can live with that!

We don’t know how the bees are doing yet either but they seem happy enough and hopefully in a month or so they will have a hive full of honey ready for harvesting and plenty of stores to get them through the winter.

Not MORE courgettes!!!

Courgette Glut

Just some flowers from the garden. The Agapanthus have started flowering, and a stand of sunflowers have appeared from nowhere. We didn’t plant them so we can only assume that the seeds came either from the compost bin or the bird feeders. They seem to be doing well though and are now in flower.

Sunflower

As you may remember, on our Anniversary day out in Welshpool, Anna and I spent more money than we had planned and came back with a water feature for the garden. We bought it from Derwen Garden Centre which was where we spent most of our day. They were all very helpful and we’re planning a trip there again sometime soon.

Water Feature

The water feature itself is a ‘twisted column’ of rock and it was supposed to stand on top of a grill covering a sump. The sump contains a reservoir of water and a pump which pumps water up through a hole in the middle of the column where it bubbles out of the top and flows down all fours sides of the column back into the sump. We complicated things a little as we wanted a standing pool of water as well as the water running down the column. The idea was to make sure that there was water available for the bird, bees and other garden wildlife at all times and so that we had a pool of water in the garden even if the pump was switched off.

The plan therefore was to also buy a large shallow pot in which we could stand the column of rock. The water then flows down the column of rock, into the bowl and then over the sides of the bowl into the sump. Perfect.

Hole for Sump

As soon as we got back with all of the bits and pieces I set to work setting it up. The first job was to dig a hole for the sump to sit in. Our garden soil is sand, not sandy soil, just sand like on the beach so this was easy and within 5 minutes I had the hole ready for the sump.

I also had to dig a trench to lay the cable for the pump. This had to go inside some armoured piping and we just happened to have something suitable on the other side of the garden that wasn’t being used so I had to dig that up first.

The first problem we encountered was that the 10m cable on the pump  was a couple of metres too short, so I headed of to the shop and bought an extension and a water proof junction box. Threading the cable through the armoured piping took a little longer than expected, but we soon had the pump plugged in and the cable buried out of sight under the garden.

Installing the sump

The sump was lowered into its hole and levelled up, the pumped was installed and the grill put on top of sump.

Next I had to prepare the bowl. We needed to drill a hole in the bottom of it for the pipe to go through and then seal the pipe into it so that it was water tight. This was all fairly straight forward and after leaving it to dry overnight we tested the water tightness of the bowl and started planning the installation of the column of rock.

Preparing the bowl

We placed some sand in the bottom of the bowl to stand the rock on and then with some help (as the rock is surprisingly heavy) man-handled the rock into position whilst feeding the pipe up through the hole in the middle. We placed a number of rubber bands around the top of the pipe which helped to seal it into the central hole in the rock.

Once it was all in place, we switched on the pump to test it, and it soon became apparent that the rock wasn’t exactly stable. I guess that is kind of obvious really, a metre tall column of rock that is only 8 inches square is never going to be that secure just stood up on its own. We didn’t want it to blow over or worse still get knocked over by a child so a new plan was hatched – We would concrete it into the bowl. The concrete would fix it to the bowl and provide a large, heavy stable base.

It took us a while to find a break in the weather and suitable man-power to help lift the stone but we finally got around to it this weekend.

Getting it level

The main worry was that everything had to be completely level. In order for the water to flow out of the bowl all the way around it, the top of the bowl had to be totally level when sat on the grill. In addition the column of rock had to also be completely level so that the water would flow out across the flat top and down all four sides equally. Trouble is, once you’ve set it in concrete it is pretty much ‘set in stone’ and there can be no final tweaks and adjustments once the water is switched on. We couldn’t turn the water on though until the concrete had set so we had to make sure it was all level and hope for the best.

We got the bowl completely level, man-handled the column into place whilst threading the tube into its hole once again and then fiddled around getting the column completely level. After a final check on the levels of both the bowl and the column we mixed up some concrete and half filled the bowl with it. Another quick check on the levels as it set and that was that.

We left it to dry overnight and then came the moment of truth, turning on the pump. Was it level, had we crushed the pipe, would it all work properly?

The answer was, yes, yes and yes, everything was just perfect. The water bubbled out the top at just the right power, flowed across the top of the column and down all four sides perfectly. The bowl filled with water and didn’t leak and then the water flowed out all the way around the bowl and into the sump. The column felt secure and stable and all looked good.

We then placed a few plants around the base of the bowl along with some bits of slate to tie in with the rock of the columns, sat back and enjoyed the sight and sound of running water in the garden.

Water Feature

The garden seems to have survived the recent winds. There was a little bit of damage to a few things but now that I’ve tidied them up they look fin. Some of the veggies are a little wind burnt too but some emergency stacking here and there seemed to keep most things looking fine.

Morgan and I spent some time the other day harvesting some garden produce and we were both surprised at just how much we got. Bowls full of Chard, Beans (which are delicious straight off the plant), potatoes, carrots and salad leaves from the raised beds and loads of courgettes. We have two courgette plants in the back garden and one (not so successful one) in the raised bed. even with just those few plants we seem to have been living off courgettes for a couple of weeks now and have been giving them away to anyone who will have them!

There were also plenty of raspberries and even some red currants that hadn’t been eaten by the birds. It’s certainly been a good year and seeing as we don’t really have a dedicated kitchen garden things have been growing well and providing us with plenty. We’re already making plans for a new border in which to grow courgettes, peas and beans next year.

The raised beds have been OK but are better suited to smaller plants, so next year we’ll be using at them a little differently. The sprouts are having a hard time at the moment though and are being ravaged by caterpillars. I can’t really complain though as we’re trying to create a wild-life friendly garden as well as grow veggies – If some of the vegetables get eaten by the wildlife then that’s just part of it. I could protect the plants with netting and such like, but as far as I’m concerned feeding the caterpillars is just as important as feeding ourselves. Besides, they’ll turn into moths soon and I’ll be able to record them in the moth trap.

It’s been a good year for the garden so far this year. Lots of sunshine, some rain and not too much wind, plus I’ve spent a fair amount of time tending to it. It is therefore looking good which I’m quite pleased about.

I have just come across a photo of it from a few years back  – admittedly in a snow storm in the winter – but it certainly highlights the transformation. Here are the before and after photos.

Which would you prefer to sit in?

Before

After

Our parents had given us some money as an anniversary present so we thought we’d treat ourselves to some plants for the garden. So, as part of our anniversary day out we went to Derwen Garden centre near Welshpool.

Derwen Garden Centre is actually one of three sites, that as far as we can tell are owned by the same people. There is the Garden Centre and Farm Shop that we went to, the Dingle Garden and Nursery and the Dingle Wholesale Nursery.

Dingle Garden

We’d been to the Dingle Garden and Nursery before. It is an internationally acclaimed, four-acre RHS garden on a wooded slope with a large lake at its centre. It’s a lovely place to wander around with new things to explore at every turn and a garden that encourages you to look around the next corner. However as we’d been there before and had some money to spend we though we’d visit the garden centre instead.

Derwen Garden Centre

The garden centre is an independent family business billed as having a “friendly and relaxed atmosphere for all to enjoy”. We found this to be true and enjoyed wandering around it just as much as wandering around the RHS garden itself.

On our way in our eyes were drawn to a couple of bird baths. We’ve been meaning to add a bird bath to the garden for a while and have a spot in mind so we had a look at these, but then saw a really nice water feature made from a twisted column of stone. We certainly liked it but it needed to be switched on in order for water to be present and it didn’t have a pool of water. As we wanted it to function as a garden feature, a bird bath and a water source for the bees this wasn’t ideal.

We continued on around the garden centre which has a large variety of plants from large container grown trees through to alpines, with everything in between. What’s more, all the plants were healthy and they all made us want to buy them and add them to the garden. Spending our anniversary money was going to be easy, even though the plants were reasonably priced. Deciding what not to buy was going to be a little more difficult.

Themed Gardens

As well as the plants for sale, the garden centre also has a selection of themed gardens. Having been involved in the making of medal winning gardens at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show the owners decided to create their own themed gardens to give visitors the “Chelsea experience all year round”. They have 15 themed gardens all of which are very different and offer inspiration for your own garden. We liked parts of almost all of them and having never been to Chelsea or any other garden show for that matter we were impressed by how much they can fit into a small area without it feeling cramped.

I’m not sure if I’ll use any specific features of any of the themed gardens in our garden, but it has made me think that maybe certain areas don’t need quite so much space and that I could create smaller paths in amongst more planting areas. It’s also shown me that we need some more height in the garden, which is difficult to achieve here on a windswept coast. Come to think of it their seaside garden didn’t have much in the way of height and was the most ‘open’ of the themed gardens.

We then stopped for a coffee and cake – a very relaxed coffee and cake by our standards as Morgan wasn’t with us. Once again we were impressed with the cafe and the prices weren’t extortionate as they often can be in such places.

Maze

After wandering around a little more and thinking about the water-feature / bird bath idea we found the maze in the middle of the garden centre and lost ourselves in it for 10 minutes!

Water Feature

We then formulated a plan and started spending money! The idea was to buy a pot that the twisted column water feature could stand in. The pot would act as a pool that would fill with water then overflow into a sump below. This would mean that when the pump was on the twisted column water feature effect would be seen in all it glory but even when it was switched off there would still be a shallow pool of water providing a water source for garden wildlife.

We picked a pot and asked staff if it would work. They were very helpful, understood what we wanted to achieve, told us about the pitfalls of such a plan and said that it should work. They then priced up the necessary equipment for us, let us think about it and then when we decided to go for it headed off to get all of the components ready for us: Sump, grill, grill access cover, tubing, pump, bowl and the twisted column of stone.

Value For Money

When it came to time to pay, they threw in a piece piping for free, knocked off 5% from the total price even though we didn’t ask them to (although to be fair the only twisted column water feature that they had was the one that had been assembled and on show – so maybe that was why), and then helped us load it into the car. Well, they were going to, but the guy who was going to had gone for lunch so we had to go back in and get someone else to help. At this point they gave us 3 Penstemons for free as well for ‘keeping us waiting’ – despite the fact that we hadn’t been waiting at all!

All in all we were very impressed. Yes we spent more money than we had planned to, but not huge amounts in the grand scheme of things and only because they had a nice selection of products at reasonable prices and were very helpful. They also went the extra mile and made you feel like a valuable customer – not something you always get at garden centres. We will be back and fully recommend it to anyone else.

Of course, now we’re back home have dug the hole for the sump and started assembling the water feature, it hasn’t been all plain sailing, but I’ll save that story for another blog post – The water feature isn’t ready for public viewing quite yet as we need a longer electric lead and some concrete to make it stable.

The weather has been great for the garden so far this year. A lack of wind has given everything a much needed boost and as long as I remember to water the new plants all is growing well.

Aliums

The Irises are now fading, as are the Forget-me-Nots and Foxgloves, but many other things are in full bloom or about to come out. The Thyme is growing like mad and covered in little flowers at the moment. We have a couple of impressive looking Aliums in a pot by the bench and the Loosestrife is making quite a show of itself.

Loosestrife

The daisy bush is just past its best but still looking nice and the flower on the palm tree fills the whole garden with its sweet scent.

The Gunnera is taking over the world as usual and the Marguerites are about to flower. Even our Wedding Bells rose is doing quite well this year and is covered in flowers.

As far as the garden produce goes, we’ve been eating salad like it going out of fashion, we’ve eaten the first of the potatoes and even some of the spring onions. The other potatoes are coming on well, as are the carrots, chard, sprouts and kale. We should be able to start harvesting the courgettes by the end of the week as well, and hopefully the strawberries and raspberries too. The red currants are nearly ready as well, but I’m not sure we’ll beat the birds and bugs to these. The rhubarb is growing well too, but there isn’t any sign of fruit on the Goji Berry bushes yet though.

We are pretty much overrun with herbs, we’ve been eating lots of it but there’s no way we can keep up with the Lovage, Thyme, Sage or Oregano. The rosemary is fine as is the coriander and parsley and as far as feverfew goes we’ve got enough to cure half of the UK’s headaches!

It’s really nice sitting out there enjoying it all and just as nice eating half of it as well.

Following on from the early spring garden flowers which were mainly yellow – Daffodils, Marsh Marigold, Celandine and of course dandelions, the garden turned a shade of blue in May with Bluebells, Forget-me-Nots and Periwinkles and now the garden seems to be moving into a purple mood with Irises, Geraniums, Lilacs and others.