Vi's Garden - Progress

The first stage building this part of the garden is complete. We have a new patio area to house the shed, the BBQ, compost bin and the rest of the mess, which should be hidden from view by the shed. The shed will stand on the left side of the pation and hide the corner from view.



The entrance to the shed will be camouflaged by a strategically placed acer.
The next step will be moving the shed and preparing the space for the new greenhouse.
Watch this space ...

Levens Hall - Cumbria

While we are very fond of exotic places where good wheather is virtually guaranteed, this year we desided to spend our vacation closer to home - a week in the Lake District and a week in Cornwall.

In the Lake District, the weathther was mostly miserrable so instead of hiking in the fels we used the bad wather as an opportunity to visit some gardens.

Levens hall is by far the best of them (there is some family debate about this, with Sizergh castle coming close second - but it is my blog after all).

Levens hall garden dates from 1694, and some of the larger topiary structure are over 300 years old, mostly yew. (a few of them sport round benches underneath, and are very effective when it rains).

The structure of the garden remains unchanged through the seasons, the enclosed areas between the structures are planted with anuals, providing seasonal interest.
There are other interesting areas in the garden including a perennial border, a kitchen garden and orchard all enclosed by hedges, and featuring topiary and formal elements, but it's the topiary garden which is the most impresive. A true inspiration.

Vi's Garden - The Master Plan

Finaly we managed to agree on the layout for this part of the garden, after some serious shuffling of features i.e. movin the shed into at least 3 different positions (metaphorically speaking), before the final layout took shape.

So here is the plan:


The tiled patio is the first step, after which we will dissmantle the old greenhouse and and move the shed to it's new position.
The new greenhouse will arrive at the begining of October just in time for my birthday, putting it together should keep us busy for a few weekends.

The tree in the corner is already in place, it's an Acer platanoides 'Crimson King' (Norway maple). It's a lovley beetroot color, and should be fast growing, so should shade the storage area prety quickly. What the autum colour will be like remains to be seen. (picture to follow)