Sunday 28 February 2016

Making The Garden Grow - The Inside Story: 28

Spring is Coming!

In a season where we've seen Cherry Blossom in December it's been a slow start in the Garden, but finally the bulbs planted by our volunteers and the pupils of the Quwwat-ul-Islam school are finally showing signs of life. Everything looks fantastic in the sunshine and it feels as though everything is about to burst into life.

Daffs & Muscari showing their heads
Welcome sunshine!
A thousand bulbs were planted in mid-December and we're looking forward to a great display of Daffodils, Muscari, Hyacinths and Tulips, which will add some welcome early Colour.

Despite the prolonged cold snap our building team are still hard at it and we're now adding the final touches to some of the main areas. 

The pond liner's been trimmed and fixed in place and the pond itself's been decorated with river rocks and pebbles.  We'll be planting the Water Lily and Iris donated by members as soon as we can raise some money for aquatic soil and baskets.  We're also looking for funding to complete the pond planting, including oxygenating plants to keep the water healthy for aquatic wildlife.

The bed behind the pond's been filled with a mixed later of gravel and rubble for drainage, which is sitting under 1 ton of sterilised topsoil.  Compost will be added next week ready for planting with Yukka, Foxgloves, Irises, Japanese Anemone and grasses,  A mix of pollinator friendly seeds will be sprinkled into the remaining spaces.

The final stage of construction's also underway.  The entrance pergola's been marked out ready for work to start next week - exciting!

Tuesday 2 February 2016

Making The Garden Grow - The Inside Story: 27

It's All Coming Together!


Sophie & Jenny's raised bed
Bill's stage is almost finished
It's funny how everything just starts coming together all of a sudden.  Ever since the pond was lined late last year the garden's really started to take on it's final shape.

Raised beds are going up all over the garden ready for planting and we're starting to place plants ready for planting in spring.  Sophie and Jenny made an amazing bed, complete with trellis backing on Saturday, which will house the wild hop and clematis we found on site when we move in.
The new container entrance
Stepping stones and raised bed

It's difficult to do anything on the side of the garden with the missing hoarding but we've started to edge the path and created a raised bed around the Sycamore.  Once the hoarding's back up we can finish that section off and build another insect habitat.

We're also starting to plan out the final stepping stone paths at the far end of the garden between the Victorian gate, the quiet zone and the pond, which will be dug in next weekend.

A bit of extra work went on during the week and the container now has a permanent astroturf finish (complete with plastic wildflowers) to welcome everyone - a nice match for the 'grass' at the front of the stage. The March deadline's starting to look a bit more realistic now!

You might also like:

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...