My gardening view #1

The first in an occasional look at the garden from my potting shed.

The lovely people at Burgon and Ball are really to blame for my latest gardening project. They kindly gave me a Hang It Pegboard when I saw them at the Garden Press Event back in February. Back home, I soon realised there was nowhere to put it up.

For years, my gardening work space has been a corner of the garage on a bench made from a piece of old kitchen worktop, salvaged when we re-did the kitchen in our first house. It lacked good light and getting there involved negotiating bikes, the lawnmower and the other paraphernalia of family life. What I needed was a potting shed.

Luckily, my OH is good at picking up hints and a shed duly arrived as my birthday present. Supplied and put up by Fords Garden Buildings in Gloucester, it has a long, slanted window down one side, a smaller one at the end and a long potting bench.

Disaster struck just before it was delivered and a broken wrist, swiftly followed by a broken shoulder have meant that I am only just able to start using it properly. So, not everything has been moved in and I’m still working out how to arrange it.

The outside has been painted in Egg Shell Blue from the range at Protek Wood Stain  – I think it may need another coat this summer – and I’ve decided not to paint the inside. This is going to be a working rather ‘Instagram shed’ and trying to keep a pale interior clean would be impossible.

Along with moving the rest of the essentials from the garage, it does need some storage for hand tools – the bigger things will stay in the garage – and somewhere to sit! That will probably be a stool at the bench, although the idea of an old armchair does appeal . . .

And so to the view. From the shed I can look down over most of the vegetable garden. It’s hard to remember that this was waist-high in weeds and brambles when we took it over nine years ago. The ground was also full of rubbish, including several types of wire from thin to barbed, and there was so much glass, I resorted to sieving the soil. Even now, bits of old china and pieces of glass sometimes rise to the top of the beds.

The best bit was inheriting the lovely old apple tree. Keeping the mistletoe at bay is a regular job and more needs to come off before the tree comes into blossom and leaf.

Running alongside, is the beginnings of a pleached hornbeam hedge that divides the vegetables from the fruit beds and the rest of the garden. Deciding we couldn’t afford the £100 a piece for trained trees, we’re doing the DIY version and started with much cheaper whips three years ago. They are finally beginning to take shape and tying them in and pruning is another task on the long list of jobs.

At this time of year, there are just a few things growing: shallots, garlic and red onions are in the far beds, while the winter brassicas, including savoy cabbage and sprouts, are under the makeshift protection. This has to stay on because of the resident pigeons. There is also purple sprouting for the spring.

This year, one bed is home to the perennials that were lifted from my main flower bed. I’m planning to replant that in the spring. You can read more about that here.

For many years, I cultivated the veg garden allotment-style, before adding first the raised brick beds that you can see in front of the shed and then the raised wooden beds at the far end. Finally, realising I was spending more time weeding the wood chip paths than the borders, I saved enough to pave the paths. It’s made the area far easier to keep tidy and is so much better in winter rain.

The brick beds have some celeriac – not a huge success this year – overwintering lettuce, which may have been hit by frost despite the cloche, and strawberries, far too many strawberries. They have spread to cover two beds and culling them is another job for this season.

One bed is also given over to cutting flowers and needs a good tidy-up before the growing season starts.

I’ve got plenty to think about and lots to plan. There really is nothing like a new project to kickstart the gardening year.

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