This is the journal of my endeavours to grow a range of fruit, veg and flowers from seed, grow organically, and my attempts to create a personal paradise with 1/2 acre of maintained gardens and 1/2 acre wild meadows. Northern Ireland's average daily high temperatures are 18 °C (64 °F) in July and 6 °C (43 °F) in January. Soil type: Clay

Friday 9 August 2013

Community Gardening Update

Above: Design plan for the area below (every dot represents a plant).
It's August and the garden club I've joined is still trying to get caught up on planting flower beds. We had a slow start in Spring and we haven't really made up for lost time. However, we've gelled really well as a new group and we're having lots of fun. This month we're hoping to get all the flower beds planted - there are about 7 beds to plant and it takes way more time than you'd ever think. Also, we're hoping to start growing vegetables this month and will be taking part in a workshop to learn about this.
Above: 'before' photo - the blank canvas.
Below: 
'after' photo - using the planting design plan we put in the plants.
Above: 'before' photo: In June we planted  raised beds with annuals: snapdragon 'arrow orange'; perilla 'laciniata' (purple foliage); begonia, lobelia 'crystal palace' (purple); alyssum 'golf white'; and a variegated ivy-type plant.
Below: 'after' photo: showing how the beds have filled out in six weeks time.

Above: Two of the largest borders have been planted and almost finished - just a few gaps to fill. There are many bee friendly plants in the beds e.g. verbena, marigold, snapdragon, salvia, lambs ear, scabious, hydrangea.
Another area in progress.
Ever wonder who steals the shopping carts / trollies from the grocery store? Well it wasn't our group, however, a few of these showed up on the property - they were a great help in transporting plants!

Copyright: All words and photos are property of Kelli's Northern Ireland Garden.

6 comments:

  1. I see lots of progress being made and the beds look really pretty. I love the look of the bee friendly beds. Hope you show us it again later as it fills out.

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  2. It's all looking wonderful. I think that first 'after' photo looks fabulous.

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  3. It's coming on a treat - I bet it is really satisfying!

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  4. I see you have made a lot of progress in the garden, it looks wonderful. At first I was a bit astonished about the shopping cart too, haha.

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  5. Great progress and all looking good - love the blue and yellow combinations.

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  6. I hope these beautiful gardens in a great location that will get plenty of visitors to enjoy the beauty and all of your hard work.

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