A little inspiration

We've had such a lot of rain this week that even if I hadn't been in work all day I wouldn't have been able to do much in the garden. We've been deluged with fat drops of what seemed like never ending rain but this morning, my day off, we awoke to a dry but frosty day. The sun is now shining and it pains me to be indoors writing when I should be out there, digging the sod. First thing this morning I sat in the conservatory and glanced through a favourite book of mine called Rejuvenating A Garden. I got this book second hand a few years ago and treat it like an old friend. When I need some inspiration I pull this book off the shelf and it never fails to motivate me. Today I read .., "There is no need to be ashamed of wanting a lawn. Today there are pressures to make us feel lawns are environmentally wasteful, green deserts in which no creature lives......, Think of the open spaces as the relief - the foil - for the busier, flowerier parts of the garden. Better a a calm open space than dreary, unloved borders you have too little time to maintain." I liked that. We should be creating a garden for ourselves. There's no need to impress anyone, this is YOUR garden, enjoy it however it works best for you and don't make it onerous. It's there to work for you whether it's practical or beautiful. Remember William Morris' misquoted, "Never have anything (in your house) that you do not believe to be beautiful or know to be practical" It's the same for gardens, it's yours so do what you will with it. I love to share mine with creatures that were here before I was and will be after I've gone. Apart from rodents I am happy to see birds, bugs and garden animals sharing the space. I was not so impressed when I found Jack's cat, Socks, hovering over a half eaten large mouse in my herb garden though. Having spent just ten minutes reading the book this morning I was suddenly struck with new ideas for my garden. Some people prefer to plan a garden our and make it work in one fell swoop. My tumbled thinking means I work on one area then wait for inspiration before I tackle another bit. Although I should be working out the climbing roses and wild flower garden at the very back of the garden I can't do much till Luke has taken out that last remaining fence post holder and I can walk the area whilst hoping my ideas start becoming firmer. Today though I suddenly imagined a bed, shaped like a backward comma, in front of the raspberries. I have drawn a bird's eye view of the garden and pencilled in the new bed. I have looked out of the bedroom window to imagine how it will look from above as well as standing by the French windows and viewing it in my mind's eye. I will then either use a trickle of sand to make the shape or use a length of hosepipe to do the same. I'm thinking of tall white foxgloves with some leafy hosta in front of it but I'll need to think a little longer to make sure I don't make an expensive mistake. After all I don't want a bare patch for most of the year but a point of interest to walk around and change the garden's structure at any time. What I don't want is a straight and narrow viewpoint but meandering vistas and hidden gems. Fanciful thinking...


 


I did a little sketch of our garden whilst sitting outdoors with my cloudy lemonade. Yum.

So, I will use this shape to work on before cutting cutting into the lawn, adding the essential compost and sand and then filling with flowers. Well, maybe next year.

Refreshments anyone?