Vertical and vibrant garden

This is probably going to be my last garden blog post for a little while as the creative phase is pretty much over for this year. Now I’m just going to sit back and enjoy it.

At the weekend I finally lifted the pallet garden into place. My goodness it was heavy! My daughter and I just about managed to walk it up to the wall and we leaned it there at a slight angle. It looks great!

The pallet leans at a slight angle to try to reduce fall-out, and so that it won’t pitch forwards and fall (scary thought).

A few flowers are already emerging – some marguerites, marigolds and another yellow flower I have lost the card for so can’t remember what it’s called.

The gaps between the plants are larger than they could have been – lesson learned for next year. That’s a solar light and there are two more at the top. There are also petunias, ageratum, alyssum, lobelia, dianthus, geraniums and verbena in there.

I’ve watered it twice since it was lifted into place and I’m noticing some soil erosion so I’m being as careful as I can be. If I’d stuffed the plants in more tightly as I should have done (didn’t read the instructions as I went along – stuffed them in along the top and spaced them elsewhere) this would be reduced. Still, they should hold and I can keep an eye on them.

The plants will have to change direction now, having been moved 90 degrees.

Most of the flowers are starting to emerge – the orange and yellow ones are leading at the moment.

Elsewhere in the garden, some of the verbena and lobelia are venturing into bloom, and several of my rescuelings (50p bargains from the ‘almost dead’ shelf at the garden centre) from previous years are maturing nicely. I have two lovely lavenders, a sage that’s flowering now, and various trailing flowers which will come back year after year.

A lavender rescued from near death two years ago provides some maturity.

Verbena, marigold and the one whose name I can’t remember.

I bought loads and loads of lobelia – they’re one of my favourites and they flower for months. They should be out this week.

Tiny lobelia provide wonderful sprinklings of colour – and they’re beautiful close up too. This was the only one out on Sunday.

Alyssum growing in various places – including a boot-shaped pot that got smashed in the wind last year. The way this plant grows quite suits the uneven shape.

While the pallet was settling down after the shock of its 90 degree shift, I got to work painting the terracotta troughs I hadn’t had time to do last weekend. Again I very quickly painted decorations – this time using the twisted pattern moulded into the shape of the troughs. They don’t bear close inspection but they really brighten up the corner.

Simply mixing up the colours makes everything go together. There are potatoes growing in the jute bag you can just see on the other side of the bench.

And the bench finally got its facelift. For this I used wood preservative paint (Cuprinol Garden Shades – Iris). I’ve used this colour elsewhere in the garden, on the frames of some of the mirrors I have around the place.

So another afternoon’s work with striking results. Even though I won’t be doing a garden blog for a while, I will keep you updated as the flowers come out and post some photos of the pallet in full bloom.

I’d love to see your garden creations, and if you’ve made a pallet garden I’m eager to hear your maintenance tips. I’m definitely keen to do this again next year. So do leave a comment and why not sign up to hear about updates as soon as they’re posted.

A new bright look for a previously neglected corner of the garden

Cheap and cheerful in the garden

This weekend I managed to grab another day to myself and spent the time in the garden again. Last week I put together a pallet garden, but I can’t lift that into place until next weekend so I had to find something to do so I wouldn’t give in and move it.

I still had a lot of bedding plants left over and had stuffed some of them into various containers (saucepans, a pair of stillettoes, an old boot and some cracks between the wall and an old railway sleeper). I popped out for some cheap terracotta pots and planters and dug out all my bargain tester pots (none more than 50p or left over from when we started decorating the house).

Cheap and cheerful. I tend to avoid primary colours for the pots but that still gives me plenty of scope.

The original plan was simply to paint everything, as I had done with several larger pots last summer. But once I got going, I first decided to make the wider rims a different colour, and then it seemed natural to add some simple decorations.

I painted the largest pot green and splashed each of the other colours onto it for a random look.

The small pots used up some slightly muted paints which were almost empty. It doesn’t take much paint for each pot so I had plenty to splash on the green pot afterwards (and still have some over).

Simple decorations were painted on quickly and randomly. No point worrying about being perfect when they’ll be partly hidden behind foliage soon.

The larger pots were done in stronger colours – but you can see that the general range of colours is similar. Just go with whatever you like or whatever you’ve got. If you use more than three colours, suddenly everything ‘goes’.

Slightly more complex designs but again you can see that I’ve done them quickly – they still look effective so don’t worry about whether you think you’re ‘arty’ or not. Or why not get the kids to paint some?

As the terracotta pots are so porous, the water-based paint dries really quickly. Most tester pots are matt, but even some satin finish paints behave the same way so you can get all the painting done on one sesssion. This also means that the pot can still ‘breathe’.

The ‘Pollock’ pot.

Then it was time to plant them up. I had a few alyssum, some mixed verbena (some of which had started to flower) and still lots of lobelia of different types (upright and trailing) and different colours. The lobelia I planted last year flowered profusely and continued right through the summer until October so they were a natural choice.

The pots were put in place alongside my most recent £5 charity shop mirror (you can see my other garden mirrors in one of my garden project posts from last spring). They’re going to look great when they start to flower and settle in. For colour in the evening I have a lot of pretty solar lights and some painted lanterns (which I did last spring, also using tester pots and leftover paint).

Double the colour (and flowers) with a few well placed mirrors around the garden.

A riot of colour.

Because of the decorations, I didn’t get to paint the three planters so that’s another job for a sunny evening after work this week, or maybe next weekend. I also need to treat and paint the bench and get my tomatoes off the kitchen windowsill and into the garden.

I’ll show you how I get on next weekend when I’ll also be raising the pallet garden to its vertical position. Why not sign up to hear about updates as soon as they’re posted.

Still plenty to do this week.

You don’t need a big garden, just a few ideas.

 

Upright pallet garden

My Pinterest ‘Garden’ board has been brimming with pictures of clever pallet gardens and I’ve been dying to make one for ages. Today I did just that.

A couple of months ago I took delivery of a settee and sofabed which arrived on a sturdy pallet, on the kerbside. I was almost as excited about the pallet as I was about the furniture. They took some time and effort to assemble so the pallet project was put on hold for a while.

It’s been propped up in the garden all that time and I did get as far as buying a few lobelia trays but then … well you know how it is sometimes, other things take priority. Plus the weather has been very wet lately.

There are a lot of guidelines online for pallet gardens. I followed this one from Life on the Balcony because it had good clear instructions, and good photos. I did deviate from the instructions from time to time, so the following is my own experience of putting together a pallet garden.

First confession is that I didn’t sand anything down. I just went for it.

I’m not sure what landscape fabric is, and I couldn’t find any at our local garden centre chain so I bought a small tarpaulin (3m x 2m – bigger than I needed but it only cost £7). I stapled it across what would become the bottom, and worked my way around the frame, stapling, folding and tucking as I went. I allowed some overlap to the front of the pallet too – just so the whole thing was secure.

Neat hospital corners.

The top.

As I had a lot of tarpaulin I was able to double back at the bottom where I was worried the weight of soil would accumulate.

I went mad with the staples – better safe than sorry. There were only three planks across the back – top, bottom and middle – so I did as much as I could there.

Sizes will vary of course. The tutorial I followed suggested two bags of potting compost. I had bought three 60 litre bags. I’d also bought enough bedding plants to cover a small field. I went for what they had and chose things I thought wouldn’t get too big. I’m no gardener so I might get a few surprises.

I started by stuffing plants along the top of the pallet. Very random, but trying to keep taller plants to the back. I followed the instruction to jam them all in.

I can’t remember everything that went in here but there were lobelia, alyssum, geranium, verbena, petunia …

… marguerites, marigold, more lobelia (upright and trailing) and a few I’ve forgotten the names of – all crammed in tightly at the top.

I then poured in two of the bags of potting compost and started planting.

Pallet gardens take a lot of soil or compost.

I love lobelia so the second row down was all trailing lobelia – a mix of colours according to the label. After that I went random with everything I had bought (though no more lobelia except one or two fillers – they will go elsewhere in the garden as they flowered ‘forever’ last summer).

The tutorial suggested buying six plants for each opening but I think their pallet was smaller than mine. However, even though they said to cram the plants in as tightly as the top, I did leave some gaps. I might regret this when I lift the pallet but we shall see. I have enough plants to plug any gaps if necessary and the upright lobelia could do well here.

I randomly assigned six plants to each opening. Some plants had more complex root structures and therefore had wider spaces to occupy.

Working from the top down meant that I was able to pack the compost ‘upwards’ as I completed each row. Be careful to stuff compost into the sides and don’t forget the space where the central bar is. I hope I didn’t leave too many gaps or loose areas.

And that was that for today. Long and tiring work, so make sure you have plenty of time – and don’t forget to look after your back as you work. I used two and a half 60 litre sacks of potting compost in the end – this will depend on how big your pallet is of course.

All planted up – those gaps might need filling too.

I’m going to do my best to be patient and wait the two weeks before lifting it into place. Hopefully the regular watering will show any spaces that could do with being filled by more plants, and the roots will begin to form a structure to hold it all together.

All that remained to do was give it a good drink and put some sticks in to try to prevent my cat Bob from lying down on it. That, for now, is my biggest worry.

It just needs to settle in for two weeks and then it can be lifted into place against the wall.

Have you made one of these? Do you have any hints and tips to share – I’d love to hear from you.

I will post an update once the pallet has been raised to vertical – why not sign up to hear about updates as soon as they’re posted.

 

 

 

August 2012 Calendar

It’s the end of July already – but at least the sun is shining now, so there’s no excuse not to get out and about to the weekend markets in Cardiff and pay a visit to Eira on her InnerCityPickle stall. Wherever you live, check out your nearest markets and buy from local traders – it’s the very best way to keep your local economy thriving and it’s great for the environment too.

Keeping it in the city, InnerCityPickle’s goodies can now be found at the Caesars Arms Farm Shop at Creigiau (CF15 9NN), so if you can’t make it to the markets, you needn’t miss out. There might be some delicious elderflower cordial left if you’re quick.

We mentioned last month that InnerCityPickle will soon be appearing at the St Mary Street Market in the city centre. This has been delayed a little because the next two markets have been cancelled because of the Olympics. However, Eira will be at Roath Farmers’ Market on August 4th and 18th, and her first St Mary Street Market should be Saturday 11th. Why not pop along, have a taste of her delicious jams and pickles, and say hi.

Details of forthcoming market appearances can be found here, and look out for a brand new InnerCityPickle blog for the autumn.  You can also visit the InnerCityPickle website or follow on Twitter for all the latest news.

The calendar has been made using photographs taken by Eira and Sean, in the Cardiff kitchen “as it happens”. If you’re lucky you might pick up a printed version on the stall!

To download August’s calendar page, just click on the image below and you’ll be taken to a full sized version which you can download and print. It works at A4 and A5 so take your pick!  The September page will be available at the end of the month. If you don’t want to miss it, why not sign up to see new posts as soon as they appear.

July 2012 Calendar

As usual, Eira’s been very busy in her Cardiff kitchen making wonderful things for you to enjoy.  There’s caramelised red onion chutney, a new aubergine, pepper and tomato chutney, and tomato and celery chutney. She’s also just finished a one-off batch of ‘Mam’s Red Sauce’. If you’ve tasted her ‘Mam’s Brown Sauce’ you won’t want to miss that!

All these lovely wares can be picked up at Roath market, and as from July 14th, Eira will be at the new city centre markets on the Saturdays she’s not at Roath. If you’re not living in Cardiff, it’s definitely worth paying a visit. Eira tells me there’s also a very lime green coloured lime pickle (because she used only green chillis) available this month and she has topped up her supplies of spiced carrot and garlic chutney, all of which you can now wash down with her wonderful elderflower cordial.

Keep an eye on the Inner City Pickle website or follow on Twitter for all the latest details of market appearances and new lines.

The calendar has been made using photographs taken by Eira and Sean, in the Cardiff kitchen “as it happens”.

To download July’s calendar page, just click on the image below and you’ll be taken to a full sized version which you can download and print. It works at A4 and A5 so take your pick!  The August page will be available at the end of the month. If you don’t want to miss it, why not sign up to see new posts as soon as they appear.

All sewn up

As if to remind me that I need to get a move on with my decorating (I’m going to make the spare room into a cat-free zone so I can make things in there), this May has had a bit of a sewing theme.

Earlier in the year I created a logo for Swinky Doo of County Kerry and this month I’ve been working on some leaflets to promote Karen’s beautiful handmade work.  She makes stunning personalised pictures and bunting for children, adults, babies, weddings – anything you like. She has also just launched her brand new website and I’ve been making banners for that too.

As with the logo, the leaflets and banners echo the style and the mood of the Swinky Doo brand. Karen says:

At Swinky Doo we love the idea of using up odds and ends of fabrics, old summer dresses, torn denim jeans and broken bead necklaces – transforming them into beautiful, unique and colourful gifts that will be treasured by their new owners.

Why not check her out. She ships to most places and you can be guaranteed a unique gift or keepsake. She’s on Facebook too.

Today I got some exciting news from fellow Southsea resident and maker of wonderful things, Georgina Giles.  Every month, Georgina picks the name of one of her subscribers out of a jar and the lucky person gets a present in the post. This month it was me! I am so looking forward to receiving these lovely hand stamped, fabric covered buttons.  Take a look at her blog – and why not subscribe? You might be next month’s winner.

I don’t know what I’ll do with them yet, but I’d better get on with sorting out that sewing room!

Sign up to this blog to hear about updates as soon as they’re posted.

 

Update: Georgina delivered the parcel to me today. So beautifully wrapped, and the buttons are gorgeous.

June 2012 Calendar

It’s already time for the June page of Inner City Pickle’s 2012 calendar which is free for you to download and print. It really will brighten up your kitchen, as would a few jars of Eira’s delicious wares.  This month she’s been working hard on some new Aubergine Chutney, and Dukkah (which she tells me is “ground roasted nuts, seeds and spices – nice when dipped in with bread and olive oil”). What I’m really keen to taste though is the new season Strawberry Sauce – it always looks so amazing. Sadly for me, Inner City Pickle is low carbon footprint, local produce for local people – if you’re in Cardiff!

If you are in the Welsh capital, however, you can find Eira and her Inner City Pickle stall at Roath Market three times in June – 2nd, 16th and 30th. No excuses – pop along and have a chat.

The calendar has been made using photographs taken by Eira and Sean, in the Cardiff kitchen “as it happens”.

To download June’s calendar page, just click on the image below and you’ll be taken to a full sized version which you can download and print. It works at A4 and A5 so take your pick!  The July page will be available at the end of the month. If you don’t want to miss it, why not sign up to see new posts as soon as they appear.

May 2012 Calendar

Well I’m sure Eira hasn’t been out much with her “wally trolley” collecting jars this month, but I know she’s been filling them with more of her wonderful jams, pickles and preserves. You can stock up at Roath Market – this month the Inner City Pickle stall will be there on Saturday 5th and Saturday 19th. Pop along and say hello to Eira, and see what she has for tasters!

The calendar has been made using photographs taken by Eira and Sean, in the Cardiff kitchen “as it happens”.  Just look at the colour on that strawberry sauce! I keep seeing photos of it but I still haven’t had any.

To download May’s calendar page, just click on the image below and you’ll be taken to a full sized version which you can download and print. It works at A4 and A5 so take your pick!  The June page will be available at the end of the month. If you don’t want to miss it, why not sign up to see new posts as soon as they appear.

Spring projects (part 2)

I’ve been at it again. After the successful chair and lantern painting of a couple of weekends ago, I’ve forged ahead with four more chairs, two more lanterns and a couple of mirrors too!

Today I headed out to a local charity shop in Southsea which sells furniture and lots of household things – The Ark on Albert Road. It’s utterly brilliant, and its profits go to The Stubbington Ark where we got our two lovely cats.  A few weeks back I’d spotted a large dressing table mirror going cheap. A little scratched but that didn’t matter – I wanted it for the garden.

It was quite heavy to carry because of its shape but I managed to get it back home in one piece and started by putting it in place to make sure it was going to look how I wanted it to. It illuminated a dark corner very well so I set to work and painted it with some exterior wood paint (I bought a few sample pots last summer) after a quick sand down. I’d already painted another, smaller (and rather badly scratched) mirror in the same lavender colour – that one is propped up on my garden table and featured briefly in my previous blog entry.

It was a nice warm afternoon so it was soon dry enough to put back in place. I’ll need to paint the back and give it another coat on the front but it will survive until Sunday afternoon. I like it.

My new garden mirror brightens up a dark corner

I’d already painted and covered another two chairs last weekend and, completely bitten by the bug, I grabbed my two mis-matched chairs to give them a new lease of life as well. The four matching chairs are in the colours of (from left to right) my daugher’s room, the kitchen, the living room and the bathroom.  The red chair is the same colour as the dining room and will get a cover to match the covers in there, and the green matches another room.

Finally, I’ve painted two more of the lanterns – also red and green. I gave them a little ‘extra’ with a quick spray of gold paint (I’ve bought nothing for this project except today’s mirror – all the paints I had in my ‘stash’ already).

I should point out that I haven’t done all this in one day! I haven’t gone completely mad.  I have had a lot of fun doing it, but I’m going to turn my attention to indoors for a little while now. I’ve been collecting garden ideas on Pinterest so I can add to it again later.  I’ll be thinking about herbs next.

All I need now is a party and some bums to put on the seats!

I’ll be posting more home and garden projects in due course. I have a few pieces of furniture I’d like to renovate (so far I’ve only read a book about it!), two rooms to decorate and a workspace to plan. Do let me know about your home projects – and if you’ve enjoyed this, why not sign up to hear about updates as soon as they’re posted.

Spring projects

It’s been such a long time since I posted regularly, but now that the spring is here I’ll be making a start on some of the many ideas I’ve got buzzing round in my head. Before I can get properly underway I need to sort the spare room as it’s the only cat-free zone in the house – then I can get out my fabrics and make, make, make!

I have been doing a few jobs though – a quick renovation of a chair to match my daughter’s room now that she has a desk to sit at, led to a second chair being kitted out to match our kitchen and dining room. The chairs will be for the garden eventually and I want them to reflect the rooms indoors – there are two more waiting to be done when I’ve located the right fabrics.

Last summer I bought some cheap metal lanterns. They were all different shapes and sizes, but a rather dull cream colour. I bought them with the intention of sprucing them up and we made a start on that this weekend. I’ll be using up more of the left over paint from decorating the house, and also some of the gazillion match-pots we bought to try out different colours. Many of these are similar to the colours we eventually chose, so again these garden adornments will reflect what’s inside the house – and what a cheap project! Lots of us have some leftover paint, either from decorating or from craft projects. They can be put to great use in giving something a new lease of life.

I’ve definitely got the bug again now, so I hope this weather keeps up so I can spend more time in the garden painting. I’ve also got some small pieces of furniture to renovate so, watch this space!

I’ve added a few mirrors to the garden too – they add a wonderful further dimension – and double the lights! I’d love to know what you’ve got planned for the spring.

Why not sign up to hear about updates as soon as they’re posted?