Why I Love my Garden

How blessed have we been with the weather? We've had more glorious sunshine than anyone knows quite what to do with. For our family, this has meant lots of time out in the garden - working and playing.

One of the jobs that we wanted to achieve was to fence off our ponds. We managed to do this with one, but the other needs a rethink, with maybe a metal grid over the top to make it safe.

When we were house hunting six years ago, one of the criteria high on our wish list was to have a large garden. We were very lucky to find a house with a nice big plot and an extra piece of land at the end that many years ago,  the homeowners along our road had been given the option to purchase. Luckily for us, the previous owner bought the piece of land allocated to our house AND our neighbour's. This extra bit of garden contains my vegetable plot, fruit trees and has been used for the odd football match. Separated by a hedge from the main garden and accessed via two narrow side paths, it has always felt exactly what it was - a bit added on. When we were fencing off the pond, I had the lightbulb moment that by removing a dead section of hedge and laying some turf, the two parts of the garden could be connected and made to feel as one. Almost as soon as I had thought it, my husband got to work doing it and ably assisted by a little worker, my vision was realised.

To make the most of opening the garden up, my husband somewhat impulsively purchased a Jungle Gym that would provide all sorts of play opportunities for the little ones. It was supplied as a box of fixings, colourful accessories and a big pile of planks and posts in different sizes that had to be pieced together. Thankfully, also supplied was a booklet of fairly comprehensive instructions.

It was wonderful watching my husband, my daughter and her boyfriend working as a team to turn the components into a fantastic construction.

 

If I had been consulted regarding the purchase, I would have probably said that it was maybe age inappropriate for my little ones - aimed at slightly older children. I am glad I was not consulted. Four year old Addy clambers up and down like a monkey and loves being "up in the trees". Dylan, not yet 2, pushes himself beyond the limit of what he has ever done before to climb up and although he still needs a reassuring hand when he comes down the slide, it won't be long before he is whizzing down independently. As he pulls himself up the little climbing wall feature, I smile to myself that this is exactly the sort of boy I want him to be - strong, capable, determined, not afraid of challenges.

The garden is coming together so well now. There are always hedges to  trim, grass to mow, borders to weed, vegetables to tend.... but it gives us all pleasure in so many ways. Not least is how much I appreciate turning this:

into these:

Rhurbarb Muffins - serve with a blob of creamy custard

Happy days!

What I did this weekend

What an absolute treat the glorious weather has been this weekend.

My next door neighbour's Magnolia looking lovely against the cloudless blue sky

Unable to go out anywhere because my poor little lad is suffering with chicken pox, we had a day in the garden.

Both my little ones love to be outdoors. We have built a large, enclosed decked area for them to play safely with minimal supervision but they yearn for the grass beyond.

I have two ponds in my garden. Tragic news stories regularly remind me about the dangers of water in gardens. I have been giving much thought on how to make the ponds safe so that the children can have the freedom to explore the whole garden. I have plans for garden parties over the summer and I don't want to be constantly worrying about where the children are in between serving drinks and decorated cakes.

We have decided that the best option is to fence off both ponds.

Whilst the ponds were very much front of mind, I also realised how in need of some work they both were. Our fish population has been decimated by the recent cold winters, a cat with far too much interest in them and a visiting heron that, although stunning, is really not welcome to use my garden as a handy snack bar. There are also a couple of ducks that occasionally come for a swim and bob down under the water. I'm not even sure if they eat fish but they are certainly enjoying something in there.

Our filter systems needed a bit of a rethink to get them working efficiently and one pond was overrun with lilies and pondweed whilst the other had practically no plant life at all.

We decided that the good weather presented a window of opportunity, before the frogspawn turned into tadpoles, to empty one of our ponds and start from scratch. We transferred anything living that we could rescue across to the other pond then emptied it, cleared the leaves and slime and blanket weed, and finally refilled it.

It was not an easy job!

The pond was one that we inherited when we bought the house six years ago. It is a concrete construction which is quite unusual these days with the flexible liners being so reliable and easy to use. I am very fond of it.

Although it was a dirty, smelly job, it was a real pleasure to see it clean again, especially with the flower beds around it weeded and tidied up.

I thinned the plant life in the overcrowded pond (which was very much harder than it sounds) and transferred some into my new clean pond. Hopefully they will establish quickly and before long I can have the pleasant task of taking the kids to an aquatic centre to buy some new fish.

Lilies exploding out of their planting basket

Thinning the plant life in my second pond has given that one a bit of an instant makeover too.

The next job is to get the fences constructed and I am very much looking forward to making my garden a paradise for my children and having the peace of mind that they can play safely.