Hello Spring!

With the first day of spring arriving, its a good reminder of the wilderness that is my garden!

Although I love gardening, my garden is a bit of a challenge. The soil quality is very poor, a combination of very ashy ground one end and heavy dense clay the other. This makes for rather difficult planning when it comes to planting.

Through trial and error, I have found hardy plants such as Camelia and Rhododendron grow really well in this strange combination. As do my Roses luckily as they are one of my absolute favourites.

Recently I have been inspired by the programme The Edible Garden with Alys Fowler . Her aim is to avoid all shop-bought fruit and vegetables and live off her own, home-grown produce.Her fruit and vegetables are grown amongst the flowers and shrubs in her terraced garden.

 Whilst I am under no illusion my gardening skills are not up to her standards, the principal of growing my own food from scratch is certainly appealing. I have been successful with runner beans, tomatoes and potatoes in recent years . Even the rogue brambles in my more *ahem* 'organic' parts of the garden have produced some sizable blackberries ! 

My aim is to make most of my borders and tubs this year and attempt to grow a wider variety of produce. With plenty of surrounding villages having Honesty stalls ,my local Stewarts Garden Centres and the lovely plants for sale at Kingston Lacy NT being very close by, I should be able to gather up some good quality seed and strong plants to help me on my way. 

Watch this space !

XxP&TxX

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