It’s like Watership Down out there, there are more rabbits eating our lawn than is even normal for us, 8 as I write this post and they have a permanent wet looking coats with all the rain we are getting, so I feel sorry for them but in return they are getting some very lush grass to eat.
I was worried that some of the sun-loving plants would be unhappy with this permanent cloud and drizzle but it appears not to be the case, the tomatoes are growing really well and are now being fed weekly with a Tomorite solution. The sweetcorn and peppers are less happy and have now been covered in cloches to create a warmer environment. I am generally worried about the sweetcorn, they are so far behind schedule I’m not convinced we’ll get any decent cobs this year, but I refuse to give up.
This is a photo of the vegetable patch taken from the glass fronted extension on the side of our house. The upper floor of this extension is where my studio is located, so I get to see this view every day, when I am busy working on sewing projects for The Linen Cat. I’m not sure how clear it is but the ‘lawn’ has a nice stripe to it, this is where I, very badly, but a feed and weed solution on recently, the pale stripes are the bits I missed and they are pure clover and moss, it’s something we really need to get on top of as the moss started to creep into the vegetable patch last year and it’s quite difficult to get rid of.
The whole veg patch is surrounded by a fence that is rabbit proof, for the reasons above; I have then grown common box, which is finally getting large enough to shape into a low hedge, in front of the wire fence to hide it and in between there are rosemary, lavender and fruit bushes. As you can see the fruit bushes are getting a little large, I need to decide what to do there and I’m excited about finally shaping the box into a nice neat square.
The gate is an old stair gate from when the boys where young, covered in wire (again to keep it rabbit proof), it has stone slabs underneath so the rabbits can’t dig under. I do plan to put a proper gate on one day, and the ugly frame above is normally covered in sweet pea flowers, something I didn’t get sown last autumn and am badly missing.
This is the border area, which has very mean borders (I think!). If it were up to me, we would have separated the whole garden up and it would have sections, like rooms; with ideally a pond, an orchard area etc, but M has always been adamant it should be left as grass for the boys to play on.
This is about one third of the garden (the border area plus the veg patch together), it folds around 2 sides of the house, the rest is grass, trees and shrubs and we are an end of terrace with 3 neighbours. As you can see the border is a bit messy and lacking in colour, I was sad to notice that very few of the Allium ‘Purple Sensation’ appeared this year, I think it’s time generally to re-vamp the borders. I recently bought some new plants to add to give more seasonal colour and varied height, where needed, but I think that should be a separate post.
There is still much to do in our garden structurally, we just find it difficult to spare the time and money when the house itself is still incomplete. We’re getting there though and I’m in no real hurry, I quite like the slight wildness of it all.
Rock Cottage Year 
what a beautiful and lush garden you have! I particularly envy the greenhouse. By the way I just discovered your sewing blog. Do you by any chance ship to US? I think the monster purse is lovely and want to get one for my daughter,(and myself) -Lillian
It would not normally look so green but we have had nothing but rain for some weeks now. I rather like it though, I’m from a green and wet part of the UK originally. The greenhouse is by a company called ‘Alton’ and cost a small fortune when we bought it, there is no way we could afford it now but we figured at the time it was slap bang in the middle of the garden and we’d have to look at it all the time so we wanted it to look nice as well as function well. I’ve replied to your sewing question via email, glad you like the monster purses, they are a favourite around here. Bx
I left a message on your Linen Cat blog, and for the first time pressed the rock cottage link I always thought it said rocket gardens out of the corner of my eye, which is a plant company down here -duurr. Now I understand the number of rabbits wanting a free lunch! It is truly a beautiful garden. I’ve had a quick scroll through, but will com back to read more! One post caught my eye which has the Pak Choi going to seed -which mine did after just a week in! Any luck with any more?
Oh so glad you’ve popped over and like my gardening blog as well. As you’ll see it get’s a bit neglected (like my poor garden!) but I find it a nice way to loosely recored my gardening year and it’s very helpful for me to remember how to do things and what has grown well. A lot of my Pak Choi has gone to seed in the past, one that didn’t was’Joi Choi’ so that would be my recommendation. I’m trying some new varieties this year so it’ll be interesting to see how they go. Bx
It looks really good, Beth, frothy planting and tidy vegetable patch. You’re very restrained not to have ‘nibbled’ into the grass to extend the borders a little though! 😉 Fabulous that your box are now big enough to shape, that will look really lovely with sharp edges.
I suspect there will always be structural changes waiting to be implemented in most gardens, as ideas come and situations change…
S x
Hello, hello 🙂 Oh, I do nibble at the grass, I still have to edge the top border and I plan to accidentally borrow an extra foot in depth when I do – shhhhhh – don’t tell the OH 😉 I am pushing for a ‘water feature’ as my main aim at the moment, I hope to slowly wear my husband down. Bx