I’ve got a Shed!

Yeh!  I’ve got a shed!  So – I had a shed before, but this is twice the size and is like a “man shed” – the sort that men go to hide from their wives and children in.  There is room for a chair and if I had electricity or a small spirit or camping stove I could brew-up in there.

The shed
The shed

OK, there are 4 windows facing the house, so not a good place to hide – and no-one to hide from…….  And it is much easier to go into the house to  brew-up.  However there is certainly space for potting up when it is raining or to avoid making a mess on the new patio – I just wish I had a potting bench as good as the one at the Lost Gardens of Heligan!

What this means is that I have had a “garden make-over”.  Previously the garden was mostly gravel which was grey and boring to look out on.  I had been considering replacing it with lawn for about 2 years, but there was also a rockery under trees where it never got any sun – so that was really a waste of space.

Looking towards old rockery
Looking towards old rockery

So I had the rockery moved so it can get some sun and the new shed was put under the trees as sheds don’t need sun.  I  had a trellis put in to grow things up to hide the compost bins.

Old gravel and path to compost bins
Old gravel and path to compost bins

Then my old uneven patio and path were replaced.  The stone is amazing – a variety of colours and it has fossils of plants in.  Some of the old patio was used to make a base for the shed.

Fossils in the path
Fossils in the path
Fossil in the patio
Fossil in the patio

The gravel was removed, top soil put down and turf put on top so I have a lawn.

New path, new lawn and trellis to hide the bins
New rockery, new path, new lawn and trellis to hide the bins

The old shed was not waterproof, too small and in the most sunny part of the garden so that was removed and replaced with a (slightly) raised bed where I might be able to grow some vegetables.

Old shed and patio
Old shed and patio
Replaced with slightly raised bed for vegetables
Replaced with new patio and slightly raised bed for vegetables

Now all I need is plants!  Actually, I am watering the lawn so that the turf  “takes” and then I can replace the bird bath.  The rockery needs time for the stones to settle before I put plants in and the cuttings for the cotoneaster and forsythia need to grow rather bigger before I can put them against the fence, where I have planned for them to go.  I hope to grow the present honeysuckle over the trellis, but I may need another climber too – I will wait and see.  I have a clematis near the shed and that might be encouraged to grow over the shed, maybe.

Am I pleased with it?  Mostly, but there are a couple of things that weren’t quite as I hoped – mostly because the landscaper started work when I was on holiday.  I would have preferred the trellis closer to the side fence, for example and a couple of large stones left in place as a feature instead of put on the rockery.  But it is OK.  I should probably have ordered a slightly smaller shed, too but I expect I will get used to it and the extra space is very useful.  It will take several years to get things growing as I want, but gardens need time to establish – I hate these “instant” gardens.

 

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