I have tracked down photos of the garden that I took just after we moved in. Of course if I had been sensible, I would have looked at the photos first, then taken ones from the same place, but you should get an idea of how the back garden has developed over the years. There was a barn on the other side of the back garden wall, with some of the structure actually resting on the wall, but we knew that it would be demolished, as planning permission had been granted to convert the barn to the right of the garden into a house
we had yet to buy the summer house and convert the old milking parlour into my studio
the main border wasn't quite as full as it is now, and you can see just a little bit of ivy on the neighbours' house ....... most of the wall is now covered in ivy, and that is one of the main nesting sites for our sparrow population
you saw in the first photo that the grass went right back to the wall. But on the far side we now have the damp and shady border, which is home to most of our hostas
there are also hostas in the border Malcolm created on the other side
the garden looked glorious yesterday afternoon - the sun was shining and Malcolm had just cut the grass
the main border is full to bursting - the forsythia has just about doubled in size!
things aren't looking quite so good in the old sinks at the front of the house ....... I shall have to replant them
when I went out into the garden to hang out the washing this morning, the first poppy in the main border had flowered
then this afternoon another one had appeared
I'll be back tomorrow with some photos that are clamouring to appear in the blog, including an orchid update!