Monday 11 November 2013

#NaBloPoMo November 11th: How Does Your Garden Grow?


The first fruits of our labour this Summer!
So I've given myself the weekend off from #NaBloPoMo...I figured a blog a day, five days a week, was probably the best way forward.  A little like full-time blogging!

Today, I thought I would share some of my ideas for growing, maintaining and keeping a garden, in a very small space!

Our little house is absolutely lovely!  We moved into the terrace in September 2012 and have been extremely happy here.  But, like most projects, our house is always a work in progress and there are still bare walls and unfinished works of art to be getting on with!  Our garden, is something of a bugbear of mine, a cute but small and concrete space that have never looked anything other than 'pokey' to me!  

This year, we have harvested our first batch of lovely homegrown tomatoes and have also started growing herbs and flowers - with some success!  With winter drawing in, we are tidying up our garden, ready for the cold weather; but I've started thinking about what I'd like to do to our garden, ready for next Summer.  So if you, like me, have a small garden space to work with, here are some great ideas for sprucing up a small space into a growing haven!

Plant Pot Pond
This idea really appeals to me - a pretty, rockery style pool built inside a simple terracotta pot, with layers and greenery to give it a 'miniature pond' effect.
  I'm not sure I would go as far as putting fish in there, but one or two of these pond babes would sit really well in our garden space!

Hanging Bottle Garden
I love this idea of using wall space to grow small flowers and plants, even herbs, without sacrificing ground space to move around.  The bottles in this image have all been corded together and screwed in to the walls.  If I were to do this, in my garden, I would most probably paint the bottles to disguise their, well, 'bottley-ness', but this is a great space saver and would look so pretty with the addition of some colourful flowers.

A Window Sill Greenhouse
As I mentioned, we have had some success growing herbs throughout the summer, most of which were grown on our kitchen window sill.  They thrived in the natural light and we were able to keep them fed and watered - plus picking fresh herbs straight from the plant made for some very flavoursome sauces!  

The start-up materials for growing herbs are really very small.  We used old tomato trays for growing seedlings and egg boxes work really well too.  If you find you have lots of herbage leftover - why not chop and separate into ice cube trays, fill with water and freeze.  These are great for adding straight into sauces and prevents waste.

Upcycled Garden Furniture
I LOVE antique garden furniture and I am always on the look out for an old garden furniture that I could restore to its former glory! 
Right from my childhood love of films such as The Secret Garden or Moondial, I have loved antique furniture and statues and have inherited two garden statues that belonged to my Nan - this little angel sits pride of place with her broken wing in our garden!


Jam Jar Tealights
I would love to use our garden space for entertaining and have seen some lovely ideas for jam jar tealights to light up your garden on a Summer's evening.  Simply place your tealights or candles inside an empty jam jar, cover with a thin gauze or mesh and Bob's your uncle!  A very cost effective way of lighting your garden space - but be careful to keep these out of the reach of children!

Just writing and researching a little about this, I'm really excited to get my garden up together next year - and we haven't even had snow yet!  There are plenty of other things you can do - if you have time, simple plant pots and colourful arrangements can brighten up a dull outside space and also encourage pollination!

Do you have any hints or tips for a small outside space?  I can't wait to get started!


1 comment:

Ellen said...

I love the bottle garden.