Shedspiration

This year we are focusing our efforts on the garden, the first job being replacing our rotting shed. We have decided on a shed/garden room. The garden room will house a little potting station for me, our garden furniture and an old rocking chair I picked up from a car boot that I will be given a little makeover to. Who hasn't dreamed of a little house at the end of the garden to go and hide in, drink tea and read a book??? 

I have been searching online for inspiration and came across all these beautiful images and I thought it stupid not to share. So inspiring. My shed unfortunately will not look anything like these but hoping to take a couple of little aspects from some of them - I definitely want to paint the interior white and love the colourful drawers in the top image, the hanging baskets and hooks. I will also need some shelves to store my growing collection of tatty terracota pots (my favourite things). I want to also incorporate my apple boxes and vintage beer boxes in there. Hope you enjoy the images as much I do.

Source: www.eva-fotojournalist.no/

Source unknown

 Source: calgarygardencoach.typepad.com

Source: whimsicalraindropcottage.tumblr.com

Source: http://daintyanddangerous.tumblr.com/

Source: mylovelythings.blogspot.co.uk

Source: vitaranunkler.blogspot.co.uk

more bloomin' flowers

These are my most favourite flowers, these were featured heavily in our wedding. I think they are so impressive, the colours, shape and sheer size of their heads. They are in pots in all over my patio and if you keep dead-heading they will flower all summer. They are joyous.

The garden is in bloom..

Having never owned a garden until last year when we moved in, it was very daunting when I first ventured out there with my pink gardening gloves. Particularly daunting as our soil is clay...actual clay. Just to get the fork into the ground burned my days colorie allowance. 

It took a lot of hard work and many trips to the osteo to get it looking the way it does today and I've only really sorted one bed. 

Things I have learned through my gardening adventures;
1. Ivy is a bitch. 
2. Snails are bitches. 
3. Slugs are worse bitches. 
4. Bindweed is vindictive. 
5. Clay soil makes me cry. 
6. Good gardening gloves are difficult to come by. 
7. Plants are expensive. 
8. Weeding NEVER ends. 
9. Roses are particularly difficult to look after. 
10. My husband has no interest in gardening. 
11. Chickens will ruin your flower beds if they get in. 

So, the garden looked pretty bleak last year and then it was covered in snow which was beautiful but the snow didn't last and soon it melted and the bleakness was on show once more. I got stuck in. 

I managed to rope in husband to turn the soil and get bags of compost in - it made a big difference. I spent a few hours online and compiled a list of plants and flowers that would do well in clay soil and then went to a few carboots to purchase. I got most of the ones on my list and went about putting them in the ground. Another two things I learned: 

12. You really need to understand the difference between annuals, perenials and shrubs etc to avoid a Nelly-know-all coming around and telling you that you have to move things around as it's 'all wrong'. 
13. That when things 'don't take' and die or get ill, it's very upsetting and it's hard not to take it personally. 

I was hell bent on having a rose garden because I used to love the smell of my grandmothers garden, full of roses. Members of family bought us different roses for the said garden. Let me tell you, the stress these roses have caused, the extreme emotions they have provoked is indescribable. Everything that could have gone wrong has gone wrong...mildew, blackspot, multicoloured aphids and chicken attacks. I am so ridiculously precious over them. But it's paid off as they are starting to bloom and it is THE most rewarding feeling. 

So anyway, as hard as it is and surprisingly emotionally charged it is, I am enjoying my new 
hobby.