I think we’ve all got a spot in our garden that niggles at us. This week I’ve been tackling the one that’s been niggling at me for about 5 years now!
We don’t have a garden at the front of our house, but there is a small raised bed which we look out onto from the lounge. This bed was home to a very stubborn ivy which was always engulfing the gatepost, and the soil was constantly escaping through the stones onto the drive.
I wanted to try and rejuvenate the whole thing without buying lots of new plants – always nice to set yourself a challenge, eh?! I decided to go for mainly Spring flowering plants, to give us something lovely to look out on early in the year. The plan is to add bedding plants to give it a boost in other seasons.
The first job was to clear out all the plants and tackle the dreaded ivy. Now I don’t have anything against ivy, but this one was damaging the mortar in the wall and taking up valuable space, so it had to go. I’ve been cutting it back ever since we moved in, but this time I gritted my teeth and dug it out completely. It was quite a workout and I had to get stuck in with the saw at one point, but it was sooo satisfying when it was out!
Next job was to clean the mossy stones and try to stop so much soil escaping. This was another elbow grease kind of job and I had to improvise a bit with tools; I now need a new a vegetable brush!
I used a roll of plastic lawn edging tucked in behind the stones to hold back the soil. It’s not perfect, but I didn’t want to cement the stones back in and I think it’s going to be a big improvement on the way it was before.
Finally I got to the fun bit; planting. In went a camellia from the back garden which has been crowded out by another shrub and needed a new home. Then a couple of heathers which have been languishing in pots for a while, some lovely hellebores which I recently bought, and the variegated shrubs that were there before (any idea what their name is?). You can’t see it in the picture but there’s also a hosta hiding under the earth in the middle, this had grown too big for it’s container so will have room to spread now. Finally I re-planted the Spring bulbs which were originally there, hopefully they will bulk out over the next couple of years.
It’s definitely still a work in progress and it was very tempting to go and buy lots of new plants to make it look great straight away, but I’m really pleased I’ve managed to use plants that we already had instead. It feels like I’ve tackled it properly this time, cleaning it up thoroughly and thinking about what plants will work well together at a particular time of year. Hopefully it’ll be looking great next Spring – and my over-indulgence on the seed order this year will give me some bedding to perk it up in the Summer!
Joining in with Annie’s ‘How Does Your Garden Grow’ series at Mammasaurus
What a transformation! I hate ivy with a passion having dug it out, as you did, a few times. It never ceases to amaze me how deep and string it’s roots are. I could never be in one of those pretty country houses half covered with the stuff without going mad!
The plastic lawn edging was an inspired move by the way – it’s all going to fill out and look fab come Summer – thank you for sharing this Catherine x
I agree, walls covered in ivy would have me itching to rip it all off every time I saw it! I hope it does fill out reasonably quickly, I’m so impatient once I’ve done something like this!
Good work – and love the inventive use of a vegetable brush 🙂 Ivy is nice, but it’s also a pest when it just grows and grows, I know that problem – amazing footwork too! #hdygg
I think ivy needs to be in a container doesn’t it – I don’t think the people who lived here before us agreed though!
Lovely makeover and nice to look out and feel satisfied that you have achieved something. Looks very pretty.
Thanks – yes a sense of achievement is great, it helps me think the backache was worth it too 🙂
It looks great Catherine, sounded like hard work but well worth it! x
I think it would count as a weight-lifting session for sure!
You’ve done a wonderful job, looks amazing! I’m feeling inspired to make something similar in our front garden.
I detest ivy, the neighbours have some which we’ve just discovered has destroyed our workshop roof and thus £100’s of tools ruined by rain, grrr to all the ivy!
Oh no, that’s awful about your workshop. You often can’t see the damage with ivy can you – I found big gaps in the mortar on our wall when I pulled ours out, I had no idea it was that bad. Hope you manage to salvage or repair some of your tools.
Looks like it was worth all the hard work, it’s a great makeover. I can’t believe how big that ivy root is, no wonder that stuff grows like a triffid. We’ve got heather in our little patch at the front and it adds a nice spot of colour at this time of year.
I didn’t think ivy had roots like that either, it was a monster!
I’d be feeling very satisfied and proud if I did a proper makeover like you. You can see really see that it’s worth going the extra mile. Look forward to seeing what the plants look like in coming seasons.
Thanks, it really didn’t take that long to do it properly – wish I’d thought about that every time I just fiddled about with it over the last few years!
It looks great, so much nicer to look out on, too. It’s actually my front garden that niggles me, too, though like you, it’s just small bed areas. I will tackle it soon…!
I’ve realised I was always looking out of the window and feeling bad about not doing what needed to be done. Now it’s done, and I feel good when I look out – result!
You’ve been very restrained with your planting! I know what a temptation it is to fill a new patch with lots of flowers straight away. What you have done really is a big improvement and looks very smart.
Thanks, I really was so close to a trip to the garden centre but for once I had some willpower!
Your hard work paid off it looks wonderful we had to clear ivy from an apple tree once so you have my support as its a bugger to get rid of
It really is a pain once it’s established isn’t it, I’m crossing my fingers I got all the roots!
Brilliant transformation – I hope you sat down with a well earned cup of tea just to admire how lovely it now looks!
I certainly did – and also with something a little stronger later that day too!