have a beautiful garden

My garden wouldn’t win any awards, but when I look at what it was (ugly, overgrown, filled with trash and weeds) and what it is now (loved, lots of flowers and plants, tidy, with a few little found and hidden treasures here and there) I feel like it – and I – have come a long way. And I am always glad for a little space to sit in on a warm day, or even a cold night.

Between yesterday evening and this morning I’ve spent about three hours or more in the garden. This is what I’ve done:

• Weeded beds
• Watered everything
• Built a new bed with a brick edging
• Planted beans
• Repotted herbs
• Swept the paths
• Pruned the palms and some shrubs
• Replanted a gardenia and took cuttings

It’s looking good but there is still so much to do. I am trying to be patient! This garden has been neglected for years so it won’t be stunning overnight. I need more flowers, I think that’s what making me impatient. We have sown a cottage mix in a large bed and they are starting to come up, though.

This morning when I woke up I went out into the garden with my man and we spent about half an hour checking the plants, watering, doing a little weeding, deadheading and pruning. It was fantastic. What a great way to start the day, pottering around with cups of coffee in our hands. I cut back the mint, coriander and lavender as they were all getting a bit messy. I popped the cuttings in a pot of boiling water on the stove and now the whole house smells fresh and fragrant. I will drain the water off and cool it, then use it to water the plants. Yeah! I dig gardening the most.