When we moved into our new (to us) home last September we knew we had a lot of work to do, both in the house and with the land outside. We inherited a lot of land (including two gardens and another large grassed area), but unfortunately came a lot of junk too which we are still trying to clear – I imagine we will still be doing that this time next year! The main thing I wanted to sort out though was the back garden, as the back door is the one we use most so it is a focal point, and it’s where we relax and the boys play so it was important to me to get it looking nice and have a garden makeover.

It was a bit of a mess but we are slowly getting there. As I have never had my own garden to look after and make pretty, it took me a while to find my green fingers, but they have appeared and I am loving it now! I love going to the garden centre for plants, and we have started growing fruit and vegetables too. Though, that is only in containers and a mini greenhouse at the moment as we still have a little area to sort out for growing more veg. 

The first area we tackled was these corners on our patio. They had big ugly prickly bushes in them and I just didn’t like them. So quite simply, they came out – well, it actually took hubby and his brother to pull them out! I then found a box of shake and sprinkle scented wildflower seeds in Aldi, so I sprinkled those in there and I love how much they have grown! Well, on one side anyway as one of them got neglected for a while and ended up with a huge nettle growing onto it from the hedge, so some of the flowers got squashed and pushed out, so I’m currently sorting those out.

We then made a start on the borders either side of the grass. They had completely overgrown with grass so hubby dug those out; when digging a bush root from the side nearest the patio we actually found a lot of bulbs deep in the ground that hadn’t grown, and in fact when I am planting I am still digging them out! The boys are also growing sunflowers down this side now.

We have planted a tayberry tree, which I actually thought was a raspberry tree when I bought it, until I read the label before planting and saw it said tayberry. They’re quite nice actually, being a cross between a raspberry and blackberry. I bought TomTato® and Egg & Chips® plants and they have been potted for now, along with some Capsipop plants which are currently in my mini greenhouse. I also had some strawberry plants in there that I was kindly given from a friend, but they’ve been brought out and repotted into trough containers now they have grown up!

We’re going to have a herb garden too in one of the corners next to the wildflowers. I can’t wait for this, it will smell amazing! Next to the herb garden is going to be where we will be growing some veg. It was originally a water feature connected to the pond, but we’re going to clean it out and fill it with soil ready for planting.

Compared to how it was when we moved in, I am so pleased with how the garden makeover is coming along. I just need to keep on top of it now to keep growing fruit & veg and keep my flowers alive; something that I’ve not been very good at previously…

Have you ever had to do a garden makeover?