Country Garden

When I left my garden in 2010 to go to NY, It was looking like this 

When I returned in 2011, It looked like this

Clearly things were in need of attention!

I thought a lot about what to do,

start again?..... but there were so many plants in there

dig everything out ?.... where would I put them , would they survive?

In the end I decided

to divide the bed into sections and tackle a patch at a time

So I have been using the beautiful weather we have been having in Ireland 

as the perfect opportunity to get stuck in 

Digging out the path

-above I have laid the first lot of sand over the soil 

laying the path

and more path

The paving slabs are recycled from my Mum

I also moved a lot of plants 

splitting them in half or transplanting

I acquired some new ones too

nasturtiums, Lobelia, sweet pea

waiting to be planted 

Delphiniums, Lupins, and sage all waiting to be planted

I buy most of my plants from a local gardener
he propogates everything himself....... but never knows what colour the flowers will be
So, it is a bit of a pot luck
The delphiniums he says are white to pale blue
The Lupins you can tell by their stem if they will be pale or dark
(pale having a green stem ,dark having a reddish tinge)
so It is a bit of an experiment
but that's ok
My garden will be the kind of garden that it won't matter 

I also moved things to add a little bit of formality 

like planting Alchemilla Mollis all around the edge of the path

image via Here

I want it to billow over and soften the edges 

and repeat planting the same species 

Things look better en masse 

A garden is always a work in progress
Here is some of my inspiration

 

Image via escapade

Sissinghurst

Image via house to home

Lots of colour , and variety but a little more structure 
thats the plan

This Gentleman's garden is one of my absolute favourites a real inspiration

I will show you some updates over the season

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