Monday 21 May 2018

Garden Tour

Hello

My garden is at it's best in May, a riot of colour and lovely perfume.  I fill the borders so that you can't see the soil, it helps to keep the weeds at bay.



Healthy hosta's I've been lucky this year as a Thrush had moved in, feeding its young on juicy snails.  Yeah.



Gave all the topiary a good haircut.




Rhododendrons are doing well this year, they sometimes struggle as they are in neutral soil and they much prefer acid soil so I have fed them well.





A robin has moved into the bird box, you can see it's moss nest tumbling out of the front.



This Himalayan Lilac is compact enough to live a pot and its smells wonderful.



I love this combination of plants and shrubs, the pink & dark plum colour runs through them all. Repeating a colour in a garden is called The Rhythm of the Garden, when I was training I couldn't get my head around this terminology, all I could think about was a drum kit!  Now that I am actually putting the theory into practice it makes more sense.


Forget me knots flower all over the garden, en mass they smell divine.  They make a good edging plant for a border.


Here is the tamerisk tree (the pink fluffy one)  a week later in full bloom.



The Clematis is getting big, its called 'Broughton Star', its a member of the 'Montana' family but it bit better behaved than its cousin 'Elizabeth'.


Again, in full bloom.


A quiet shady corner to sit.



The apple tree had its crown lifted (removing lower branches) this last winter which has improved the overall shape of it.  Buzz was looking for me.



A clematis in a pot.


My niece gave me this trough as a lovely pressy, thank you Zoe and Violet, perfect choice of plants.


Allium 'Purple Sensation' lives up to its name.


They are seeding themselves nicely, started out with just 3.



This garden has been 'work in progress' for nearly 30 years and very much on a budget, most of the plants have been grown from cuttings or put in as small cheap plants.

This lovely little shrub was a cutting from the one in the back garden that had "layered" itself so a shrub for free




 I find it difficult to actually sit and relax in the garden, its hard to see the beauty when I am looking at it as I am so used to looking for things that need sorting, I spend my time looking at weeds and jobs to do!  Perhaps when I don't garden for a living, this will change and I will enjoy my garden more.

Cheers
Sharon

















Wednesday 9 May 2018

Lloyd Loom Ottoman Refurbishment

Hello

My lovely gardening customer Don had an original 1930s Lloyd Loom Ottoman, the pink Lusty one which had never been touched. The fabric on the top had rotted away so he asked me if I could reupholster the top.  I sorted out a tartan piece which was the right size from my secret fabric store in the summerhouse!  Its amazing what you can hide away in there!

But when I put the new fresh looking fabric next to the ottoman, the wickerwork looked awful so a complete makeover was needed.  As usual, totally forgot to take the before photo.  Here's the after.


I painted the base with eggshell paint.  When taking the fabric top off I saved the tiny upholstery tacks and reused them.


Don was thrilled with it.  Phew.

Its the largest upholstery project that I have done, the other 4 have just been chair seats.

Cheers
Sharon