My garden in July 2026

There's been a lot going on in the garden this month, despite there being no rain. I've been amazed at how well things have been growing, there have been a few loses along away, mainly the lawn, but that really doesn't bother me.

I'm starting with the neighbours roses, all this on one stem, no scent, but glorious to look at. 

This rose is highly fragranced and it's in our back garden, it's called Stephanie and was a gift from a friend. The irony is that Stephanie was anything but.

Having the pots grouped together has cut down on watering and kept this area cooler.

Our granddaughter can't decide if this is her and her brother, her mum and da or me and granddad.

I didn't notice the gladioli had bloomed as it was hiding.

Finally the fir tree was removed, the soil will be moved to the front and we can start the new path soon.

The front lawn is an absolute disaster, I've done very little with anything in the front, just allowed it to grow. The ground is very dry and extremely hard.

There has been a constant stream of fruit and vegetables. Tomatoes, raspberries, cucumbers, courgettes and rhubarb.

There has also been a lot of mold and leaf damage due to under watering, the basil has thrived but the parsley has yellowed.

We got the sun umbrella assembled at last.

It gives great protecti9on in the mornings, but the fence gives great afternoon shade, so in the afternoon it jsut puts the washing line in the shade.

I didn't realise how big the bouganvilliea had become and repotted it. In our garden in Dubai, it thrived in the dry weather, I'd love to have it grow year round here.

This spider was brave or frightened as it didn't move.

The grape vine is doing really well and there are loads of grapes, I hope they're sweet.

And we're full circle now back to the neighbour, who has had ivy growing so much that just before covid when we had tenants, it caused our fence to collapse, so we've been keeping on top of it since we've been back in the house. I managed to persuade her to let us cut I back hard this week and try and irradiate it completely. We've left our fence panel propped up so I can keep attacking the roots with weed killer.