Men & Sheds

Men need sheds ... apparently.

Last year a potting shed was installed in the garden, taking up a mass of space and it wasn't even for me to pot up my seedlings. It was for Chris to potter about in (",)

But this shed has created problems with the original design of the garden. I had not planned on a large shed in the centre of it for a start.

Two problems arose: firstly the original planned depth of the flower border opposite the shed would make the garden appear very straight and narrow if dug at the same depth from the fence the whole length of the garden, and secondly, the garden path disappeared slightly under the shed making it very narrow and difficult to get to the bottom of the garden, past the shed, without walking on the lawn (a very muddy option in the winter).

The path I will need to find a solution for later, my first priority is the flower border.

To prevent the optical illusion of a very long and narrow garden I decided to make the flower border narrower in the middle section, opposite the shed. In the middle of this section we planned to place a garden bench so that it was in amongst the flowers (although the unmissable view of the shed is not my idea of a focal point). However, this is the shadiest part of the garden in the heat of the midday sun (which can be too hot to sit out in on the patio) so a perfect spot to sit in the summer. Clematis montana 'Elizabeth' will be planted either side so that the fence behind the bench can be smothered in blooms filling the senses with the vanilla scent.

However, since ordering the obelisks for roses and clematis to climb, I have realised that the flower beds are too narrow to comfortably house them so that the plants are free to grow up it as well as the lavender hedge in front. There is just not enough space between the fence, obelisk and brick lawn edging that I laid last summer. It would just look cramped. So the design requires a rethink.

The solution: the garden bench section can remain narrow to break up the long straight line but the flower beds either side will become deeper so it really does feel like you are sitting in the thick of it. Basically the flower borders either side need to be the depth that I originally intended. The brick lawn edging will have to be shifted out and more of the lawn (just a small bit) will have to be removed. The obelisks should create interest and height and the plants will fill the borders creating a 3 dimensional depth that distracts the eye from the long narrow garden, I hope.

Well that's the plan now, anyway.  Move the lawn edging ... job for next week (",)