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amybillinghurst

Dreaming of the garden...


There's something about these snow covered days, that make me miss my time outside in the backyard walking through my garden inspecting all the flowers and vegetables, and observing all the little creatures moving around that make it all work. My scrolls through Instagram consist of many gardeners, and UK design accounts, and it's giving me so much inspiration for this years garden. I've been thinking of some of these ideas for years, but I think my next move is figuring out how to incorporate everything in our very square backyard.


There are a number of gardening books I've got on my list that look absolutely incredible, and are definitely leaning towards more of a wild cottage garden. I often think of how I can incorporate my square veggie and flower garden into more of a curved space with varying heights, fruit trees, berry bushes, and a lot more perrenials around too.


 

"Anyone who thinks that gardening begins in the spring and ends in the fall is missing the best part of the whole year; for gardening begins in January with the dream"

- Josephine Neuse.


 


I've recently found Krautkopf - a German photography couple who lives on a plot of land with a large kitchen garden, wildflower meadow, and orchard. I could browse this website for hours and they have created a beautiful book called Beyond the Meadow, that I can't wait to get my hands on. The other book I'd love to have for inspiration is called Pastoral Gardens.

A big goal I have for my garden and backyard itself is to plant more perennials, and fruiting trees and berries. There is no better feeling then walking out your door to fresh snacks you can share with your family and friends. Apples are high on the priority list as I think they'll do well, given we live across from, and down the street from apple orchards. Also, I enjoy eating them and baking with them year round! Next up for priorities is perennial fruit like blueberries and raspberries. My uncertainty with these is where to plant them, and then how to keep the birds from eating them all. I had grand hopes of collecting elderberry from a large plant that grows near my garden last year and before I knew it all the berries were gone! The other challenge with these two berrie shrubs is that they both prefer different types of soil.


Currently the only perenial that is in my large garden is the row of Lavender I planted 4 years ago! It's such a treat to see these emerge from the snow each year, and let them do their thing, attract bees, with zero effort aside from some weeding.



One of the things I've been dreaming about the longest is a greenhouse. I love the look of them, but most importantly would love to have it for seedlings in the spring, heat loving veggies like tomatoes, and peppers in the summer, leaving more room for flowers in the beds, and also a fun space to pot up plants and store some other gardening things that live in disaray behind my sewing studio. This is likely not the year again for a greenhouse, but a girl can dream! In true Woven Handmade fashion I'm sure we will eventually build one out of salvaged windows and doors, or if luck shines down on the facebook marketplace gods, then i'd pick one up from there too.


Here are a few images of greenhouses I have had saved for years that will eventually be inspiration for my own.



There were a number of things that worked really well in last years garden. One of them was the arched trellis we made out of a 16 foot long pice of cattle fence we purchased from the farm store. We secured it in place with four metal T stakes and twist ties. It was magical watching everything climb up it over the season. It began with runner beans and their peach flowers (pictured below), and attempt at some sweet peas, and then the majority of the season it was tomatoes on one side climbing high, while butternut squash followed on the other side. I don't think I'd change much about it in the upcoming season!



Another extremely helpful thing I did last season was lay black plastic over my entire zinnia row, burning holes for each individual seed or seedling. My husband even commented on how much less stressful weeding seemed to me last year. It worked perfectly and to my delight accepted rainwater beautifully too. I think I watered three times last season. I will likely do this with the new in ground flower row I built last year for my cosmos and celosia. This brings me to my next dilemma which is what to put over top of the black plastic between my raised beds? I had gravel previously, but the weeds got so bad, even in my gravel rows, so i'm slightly hesitant to do it again. The layer may not have been thick enough, and I'd prefer pea gravel this time, but would hate to spend those back breaking hours shovelling it all on to watch weeds overseed themselves back into these rows. I'm sure the answer is to rake your gravel somewhat regularly as to not let small weeds grow big, but this is easier said that done...



The dahlias last season were some of my favourite and yours! I collected buckets of them. I had an entire bed dedicated to Floret's dahlia seedlings which was so fun to watch unfold, but I think i'll likely stick to tubers this year unless I make another new row! The dahlias from seed are beautiful and the bees absolutely loved them, but they were all single's and while pretty, their vase life isn't as long. I did save a tuber or two from that bed so we will see what unfolds this year! Dahlias can be somewhat tricky, as you dig up and store their root system essentially over the winter. Sometimes not all last, but i'm hoping many do! Worste case scenerio is you buy more tubers from a reputable source in the spring.



So as the planning continues i'll be making lists of everything I want to plant this year, and going through my seed inventory to see if I need to order any. I do know for certain there are some herbs I'm missing, and a few new things I'd like to try that I've never grown before. I'll leave you with one more image from the cosmos last year - a flower I will definitely be growing again.



If you're someone who is planning a garden this season, I'd love t hear your plans! Feel free to email me or message me on Instagram!


Happy growing!

-Amy



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