Here is the garden before the work, and then the last time you saw it, a whole year ago:
By the end of last year we had completed the tyres and they were all planted up, our new play house was in situ and the ivy and jasmine were all in place ready to flourish. We had set our personalised stepping stones in the ground and added solar lights to finish them off. The decking was newly painted and ready for a table and chairs.
So here it is today:
There's definitely been some development in the last year!
The Tyres
To say these have come on is an understatement! As soon as the sun hit in June they sprung to life. The honeysuckle has really taken off and is covering the fence beautifully and the winter flowering pansies have flowered all year long! From daffodils to tulips to gladioli, the bulbs I planted over the year have risen from the ground gloriously and the little sprinkling of lobelia adds dashes of colour. Every morning one of the first things I do is go to the back door and gaze at them all with pride, and it is definitely my favourite part of the garden.
The Play Area
The play house is still one of the main areas of play for the children, however we have had to have a reshuffle when we received the Little Tikes swing set. We need to extend the floor play area a little to compensate this, but the children absolutely adore playing in the garden now and can be out there happily for ages. I would like to add an area for them to dig and plant, but I'm not sure if there is room really. We do plan on adding an outdoor chalkboard next to the playhouse though, which will be one of next year's projects.
The Decking
Unfortunately the decking area hasn't been quite as successful as we would have liked. Whilst we love having an area we can sit out on, we are yet to find an affordable table and chairs we like. We have also had problems with the paint, which almost completely peeled off over the winter and needs cleaning down and repainting, a job we just haven't got around to this year. It is also overridden with spiders, to the point there are nests everywhere and quite large ones crawling all over it. I'm not afraid of spiders, but it isn't the most pleasant thing to be sat amongst. I need to find something to try and repel them, but all I can find is sprays that kill them which I really don't want to do. We also lost one of the jasmine plants over the winter, which was shame. However so far the second one seems to be doing ok and climbing nicely.
The Garden
The rest of the garden is pretty similar to last year. We removed the solar lights from next to the stepping stones as the bulbs in them died. They were also getting in the way of the children playing and they were often banging into them or tripping up over them. The ivy has been slow to start, but finally looks like it's taking hold ready to cover the ugly brick wall. We eventually got round the buying a hose reel so the messy hosepipe is neatly away now. Next year I am thinking of adding a vertical pallet garden to the middle fence panel in an attempt to brighten up this side of the garden, as well as putting together some nice hanging baskets.
I absolutely adore our garden. Whilst it might be nice to have a larger space and somewhere I can really let loose with my ideas, for now it a fantastic space for the children to run around and get fresh air. I am now turning my attention to our front garden, which has been neglected since we moved in, so keep your eyes out for that post coming next year!
