Making a Rockery in my Scottish garden

Do you remember what I started off with?
The rocks were already in place for the rockery, so all I had to do was choose plants  - mostly alpines  - and then what type of gravel to put at their base to improve drainage and stop them rotting.

This was before, you can see the rocks on the left of the photo.

Here are some of the plants -

 the gravel is "golden buff" colour - on a dull day, it looks a pale stone colour

on a bright day, the gravel looks white!

So there's my rockery planted  - next is to plant the climbers for the trellis, get the paving laid, new gravel, then I can plant the main body of plants!

Garden transformation

The next thing we had to do in our Scottish garden transformation was to demolish the old shed!

and finally, it's completely gone!

Next we took up the concrete slab, painted some trellis green, installed it on wooden posts in metposts (concreted in)

There are old slabs on the right to take up, as well as the rockery in front to plant. That's before we start on re-paving and dealing with the lower level of the garden, too! It's very enjoyable though, giving living things a new place to grow and be happy.

Making a creative space in my Scottish garden.

I am a creative person and I love to have a space which is conducive to creating. You all know we've moved recently and I have a new garden.
Well, I have this...

It's the ultimate in low maintenance gardens - and whilst it would suit some, it doesn't do anything for me. So I am going to change it. I thought too, that I would blog all the changes, so if you want, you can watch as I make a creative space. Like a very slow motion Ground Force, for those of you who remember the programme!

When we moved in, the removal men put a lot of Paul's wood store in that shed. That shed is rotten. I wanted it gone. The first thing therefore, was to make a new store for all Paul's woodturning pieces.
We decided it would have less impact up against the garage at the other end of the garden, especially if we painted it green.
The transformation of our 30x30 plot begins!
Wait! I hear you cry. 30 by 30 foot? Pat, that's tiny, compared to your old garden. That's true, it is. I'll let you in to a not-so-secret. I am getting older with every day. I have moved to a beautiful country. I don't want to be like so many of my older reflexology clients, who were tied to garden work all day because they still had their large gardens. I don't mind some garden work, but not at the expense of seeing this wonderful new country, Scotland. Its magnificence will be my wider garden - and no mowing involved. Why not keep the ultra low maintenance garden then? Because I still love to see plants and flowers and all gravel with no green doesn't do it for me. Are you ready now? Shall we begin?

The woodstore starts...

 The woodstore completed, inside all shelved out and containing Paul's wood.

Have you ever seen any of his turning? Here's a small example... my very own wand and wand stand...





























 
We'll go back to the garden. What does every garden need but a plan?
So, here is the plan, worked out on graph paper, so that everything will go in its place.

Plants have been ordered through J Parkers HERE
Some specimen pieces and rockery plants will come from Bridgend Garden Centre HERE
and if I happen to be in the supermarket and can't resist a special offer, I may pick up the odd piece too.
Mostly though, I am guided with my ordering and specimen plants as to what will grow in Scotland - and it is this book, Garden Plants for Scotland HERE, given to me as a present from my friend Lynne, that is invaluable in making good choices.

This is a long post, the next ones in this journey will be more pictorial. Will you join me for the transformation?

Snowy Lomonds, stunning skies and new gateways!

Here we are in February, we've been so busy, I'd almost forgotten my blogs!
We had a little dusting of snow over the Lomond Hills, enough to look pretty, but not enough to cause problems.

We've also had some gorgeous skies - and I've even seen the Northern Lights since we moved. The stars here are phenomenal  - well, they are full stop - but what I mean is the visibility here is so much better than we ever had in Essex. I'm a lover of stargazing, so this makes our move even more magical.
I haven't any star skies to show you, but a sunset - oh yes...

We had a couple of storms, where there were some gale force winds and they knocked our old driveway fence apart. We decided we'd replace them with wrought iron. The blacksmith came over to give us a quote, stayed for a coffee and a chat and when he returned with the gates, not only had he produced the driveway gates and fence, he'd given us a pedestrian gate for free! He told us it was because we were genuine folk. How lovely to meet such wonderful people.

and in book news, I am still writing "The House in the Leaves" and hope to finish sometime this year. All in the Leaves and Leaves for Chloe are available online, should you wish to read the first two in the series.

Catch up again, soon!

Back online!

Good morning friends!

I am back online after a month away, following our house move!
We now reside in the beautiful Kingdom of Fife, Scotland.

The great outdoors is literally on our doorstep... here is our morning view, as we awake..

We've been out exploring while we were absent from our online world.. and Paddy really enjoyed it - as did we!

Around every corner, there is something new to see - and better views of the Lomond Hills to be had.
The land is farm, so it's like having a living tableau to view daily. The fields were ripe when we first arrived and within a couple of days had been harvested, hence the hay bales!   

It truly is a landscape painter's delight - and I am sure once the house is straight, you'll start to see some paintings of my new locale.