My Garden in July 2024

There's so much work to be done in the garden, mainly tidying, moving soil, bricks and wood. Most of it is being used in the construction of raised beds, compost bins and a cold frame. It hasn't stopped us using the garden and it hasn't stopped us growing a few things. What has slowed us down has been all the rain in terms of getting the work done and with the rain all the slugs and snails that have eaten their way through most of the things we have grown.

Most of the wood has been stored down the side of the house.

Not much to clear from here now the raised beds are built.

Peter will build a slated fence behind the raised beds to provide a screen for the water butt, the BBQ and the cushion box.

The raised beds are now in, so this soil is being sifted, the weeds will fill the council waste bin, the stones will be used in the paths and the soil will fill the beds. Once cleared this will be the area where the compost bins will be built and the cold frame will be assembled.

The garden has been used as a work station and there won't be any improvement here for a while yet, while the rest of the work takes place.

We're going to have to rethink when we dig this fir tree out and re lay the path as we've now where to put the soil other than levelling off the front the lawn, but we won't be doing that until the spring time, so for now, it's going to stay put.

I've repotted some herbs

I need to sort out drainage, the pots just filled with rain water and the seedlings were drowning.

I bought these trees at The Gardeners's World Show, they're doing very well in the pots by the shed, sheltered from the wind and they get a lot of sunlight and just the right amount of rain.

The front garden will be next years project.

The shrubs are really slow growing. I want to level the lawn off, there's quite a slope here, thinking of using bricks left over from the extension build and the soil from the soil from the back garden which will give the shrubs more nutrients and should help them grow quicker.

I'd like to continue the fencing down this boundary as the neighbour drives me mad with her plants over hanging our garden as she takes little care and the plants kill our grass, it'll have to be a lower fence so we can see to get off the drive, we struggle at the moment as she has let her shrubs grow quite high, it's a hazard as the school entrance is next to her house and kids are coming and going at times when I leave for work and arrive home.

The daisies have gone over now so they've been dug up and made room for the hydrangea and other plants.

The hanging basket is doing well, it will be restocked with winter plants when these ones finish flowering.

The Hollyhocks aren't very tall but at least they've flowed this year. I grew them from seeds I collected from ones growing wild during covid.

I seem to be growing more weeds than actual plants, there are climbers in here to cover the gates so I need to weed carefully and can't take the pots down to do it properly.

I need to replace this pot before the climber takes hold properly. Eventually we'll replace the gates with solid ones.

The cold frame has protected the chilis from the slugs and snails and we even have cucumbers growing.

The pumpkin has been lost though.

The herbs are growing well, as is the chard, that keeps reseeding itself.

The tomatoes are also doing well. They like being out the front of the house where they get the sun in the mornings and the evenings.

How is your garden doing in July?