Sweet sweet pea

I must admit that I never really 'got' Sweet Peas. They always struck me as a strange plant. A bit wild looking, some weak and pastel like colours and very light and weakly formed flowers.

Why oh why would anyone want to grow them.

Then about 4 years ago - I got a pack of free Sweet Pea seeds with Gardeners World and I placed the seeds directly into the soil. I place a few metal spirals around them and just watched.

Great example of how sweet peas can just captivate a spot in your garden

I must admit that I was completely smitten. They were a flower machine!! They just generated flower after flower after flower for months on end. Apparently you take every flower off the bush every 10 days. We were completely inundated with flowers for that summer.

And that is where they came into their own. Not only was there a massive variation of colours - the scent was just beautiful.

Since that year - I have planted more and more and even created a place for a wall of sweet peas that I will plant this year.

Anyway - did you know that there is an incredible variety of sweet peas. Here is a selection of some of my favourites!

This variety is called Painted Lady. Apparently it dates back to the 18th century and is richly scented.

This is a variety from Eagle Sweet Peas called Centenary Collection  - lovely array of strong colours.

Robert Uvedale has large frilly pink blooms. It is named after the Enfield teacher who brought the sweet pea to the UK in 1699.

Orange Dragon is one of the few orange varieties of Sweet Pea. It has long stems and is perfect for filling jugs of flowers during the summer months.

Finally, don't forget about the beautiful pristine Mrs Collier. This heirloom sweet pea has been around since the early 1900s and for a very good reason. They are so perfect looking and have a strong scent. A must for every Sweet Pea lover.

Raised vegetable beds - a higher form of gardening!

I only discovered the joys and advantages of raised beds for my vegetables recently - and now I don't think I would grow them any other way.

Raised beds are fantastic for veg and the soil will warm up a lot quicker and therefore your growing season is longer and earlier.

Also, if you are particular about allowing weeds into your veg patch - the raised beds are great as they give specific boundaries and is a lot easier to manage.

Generally I would recommend that beds are not wider than 3 ft if you can only access from 1 side or 4 ft if you can access from both sides. Otherwise they are too wide and you will have to stand on the soil which is a complete no no!!! You don't want to compress the soil if you can help it.

If you are thinking of designing some raised beds here is some inspiration.

These beds are about 2ft high - an awful lot easier on your back and the paving around them makes them accessible at all times - even when you are wearing your Sunday best!!

Personally, I wouldn't be too keen on these ones. The space between them is really small and would be hard to get around them and impossible to bring a barrow around them etc..

There are raised beds.... and there are raised beds!! These look fantastic!

Of course, you don't have to use sleepers or timber planks for the edges. Logs or cement blocks can be equally effective.









If you are thinking of building a raised bed then you should definitely check out Gary Pilarchik's video.

Rustic Kitchen Gardens

I love the look and feel to a rustic kitchen garden.  When they are done properly they should be inviting and pull you into it. I have pulled together a selection of gardens below that hopefully will give you some ideas as you think of what you will do to your garden this year.

Lovely gates and wooden railings define the boundary and make you want to enter.

Nice symmetry here and the cloches are really nice

Really simple idea of an entrance that completely changes the look and feel of the garden.

Who ever said that gardens all have to be identical or rectangular in shape??

Don't forget height when you are designing your vegetable garden!

And of course -don't forget colour.  Marigolds are super in a garden as they keep greenfly away. There are plenty of complementary plants and flowers that you can and should include.

My poly heaven

The biggest addition that I made to my garden was definitely the purchase of my polytunnel. It is absolutely fantastic. There is no better feeling that when you can potter in there and listen to the wind and rain battering off the plastic – knowing that without it I would probably be stuck inside the house.

After many months of saving and research I decided to go with First Tunnels UK - http://www.firsttunnels.co.uk/. They were super and I would thoroughly recommend them. There was no hassle and even thought there were some errors in the order – they resent the replacements immediately.

The delivery arrived and there was boxes everywhere. It was a daunting challenge – but luckily I had the help of some very good friends and family.  I had cleared the site (quite a big one considering the tunnel was 14ft x 25ft.)

The hoops went first – they were fine. It took 2 of us to put them in – but the challenge was to make sure that they were the exact distance apart from us – something that we didn’t really appreciate until a lot later on!!

After a lot of hard work (and cold fingers – it was February!!) we got the structure up. I even had some very able helpers!!!

The next stage was the plastic. This was a nightmare. In the end we did an ok job – but there was definitely some flapping plastic. We got the aluminum railing – they are supposed to be better. However I have seen the wooden ones in operation and I would probably go for these if I had a choice again.

This is Cormac, my father in law, who was a great help

Many hands make light work - this was attaching the plastic to the steel railings - very stressful!

There were four of us at this stage – definitely the more the merrier.

Being helped by Pippa – our gorgeous chocolate labrador

The kids loved helping build it.

It was definitely an ordeal – but absolutely worth it. I couldn’t believe the instant heat that was generated – even when we just through it over the bars and before it was tightened up.

I will post some more pics etc of what I did inside the tunnel – that took me a long time too. But if you are even considering getting a polytunnel – do it!! I couldn’t recommend it more.

Snowdrops - the winter jewels

According to Wikipedia, the Snowdrop (Galanthus - Greek gála "milk", ánthos "flower") "is a small genus of about 20 species of bulbous herbaceous plants in thefamily Amaryllidaceae, subfamily Amaryllidoideae. Most flower in winter, before the vernal equinox (20 or 21 March in the Northern Hemisphere), but certain species flower in early spring and late autumn. Snowdrops are sometimes confused with their relatives, snowflakes, which are Leucojum and Acis species”

However to me they just warm my heart as it means that the worst of winter is over and that Spring is on its way!

If you were thinking about getting snowdrops into your garden for this year then unfortunately you are too late – but, believe it or not, you absolutely should start thinking about 2015!!

Snowdrops are actually one of the easiest flowers to plant – and they should be done when they are “in the green”.

This means that you find a friend who has plenty of snowdrops and won’t mind giving you some. They you wait until they have finished flowering and then you dig up the bunch of bulbs. Be careful now – you don’t want to damage the little pearly white bulbs. Essentially, just split the bunch into two and take ½ of them. Make sure that you keep all the leaves etc.

Put them into a bag and make sure that you plant them into your garden as quickly as possible – don’t let them dry out. 

Pick a planting position that is not water-logged. Generally speaking, snowdrops will grow in any soil once there is no sitting water.

Place then gently into the soil and water them. This is very important as you want to establish root contact with the soil. Leave them completely alone and let the green leaves etc die back.

Come back next Winter and you should see the gentle heads starting to peep up through the soil!!

Easy. Happy planting and I hope that your snowdrops bring you many happy years!