Monday 25 March 2019

Welcome to the Smaller Garden


 Welcome to my Smaller Garden.

I think it's time I took you all on a guided tour. 

If we go down from the deck to the lefthand side, as you step out of the Van door, we come face to face with the shed ... and my newest little acquisition, it's an early birthday present from Alan ... a little tin bath.

It was much cheaper ... and more environmentally friendly ... to get a vintage one rather than a modern reproduction from a garden centre.  It's less than half the size of the one I have full of herbs back in Wales and it will soon to be my little veggie growing bath. 🙂


It has had some holes made in the bottom for drainage and a good layer of stones.

On the other side of the shed doors is Alan's chimnea.   Hopefully we'll get to use it this year if we have some Summer nights that we can sit out on.


 Then to the right we have the main flower/shrub/herb growing area.

It's looking a bit sparse at the moment but we tidied it up over the weekend and there are lots of signs of life.  I'll add some more herbs to replace the ones that died off over Winter and maybe a few veggies too.

You'll notice few little brown planters dotted along the tall trellis, they all contain climbing plants.  A selection of Ivy, Clematis and Wisteria, these are all just starting to spring back to life  ♥️

The planters have had the bottoms removed so that the plants can send their roots deep down into the soil.


If we turn to the right there is the big bowl of Chives happily springing into life after lying dormant all Winter.  I love the way Chives vanish at the end of Autumn and then come back stronger and more vigorous than ever each year.

Then we have the oak bench that Alan made from a pair of vintage bench ends and some lengths of oak.  He is going to give it a fresh coat of stain next week if the weather is good enough to do it.


Turning slightly you can see the green painted planters that hold up the little trellis fence.  Alan made them out of offcuts from the workshop cladding wood, and I lined them with empty compost bags to give them a longer life.

 They are filled with Winter Pansies, more Ivy,  kale, spinach and spring onions at the moment and do a good job of helping to divide the garden area ... making it safe for the dogs to play out ... and the parking area.  As well as giving me a bit more growing space.  


Turning again we are back to the steps.  

The space underneath the decking is paved, and as the skirting goes right along the bottom of the caravan, although the dogs can go under the decking area to take advantage of shade they can't get under the van.  It's also a useful storage area for Alan's electric lawnmower ... I went old-school and bought a little push one that I love  😁


Up the steps and onto the decking we have just got our two chairs and the little table out of the shed and put them in place on the re-instated Astro-turf.  We got them reduced at B&Q at the end if Summer last year as one of the chairs had lost one of it's little feet, so I just took all the feet off the table, put one of them onto the chair and put our three 'spares' in the shed in case we need another replacement. 

 It makes a good sitting out place for a read and a coffee as the decking is a nice little sun trap although the Summer.


With the front gate closed the dogs can safely watch the world go by and bark at passing dogs to theirs heart content.

That's it folks ... a complete guided tour of my new Smaller outdoor space.  To give you a sense of perspective I would guess the garden area is about 14ft square and the parking space and the decking area the same width but a bit longer.


Sue xx



16 comments:

  1. Looks very neat and well planned, Sue. And a lot easier to care for than your Welsh hillside garden!

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  2. It looks serene and beautiful. Just the right amount of space to putter around. :)

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  3. With your car in place (which I guess it always will be if you are there) I love how much privacy you have. Suky will shout at anyone who passes by so you could have a lovely snooze in the sun without worrying.
    Which direction does it face - morning sun on the grass or afternoon?

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  4. Nicely planned and organized. The ivy and such growing on the fence is going to give you even more privacy. Love it.

    God bless.

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  5. Very nice! I can not wait until we can start planting here in PA!!! I miss all my fresh herbs! Annster's Domain

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  6. That is a lovely garden! So well planned out with everything in its place.

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  7. Lovely, enough to potter but not enough to worry over and take up loads of time and energy, " perfick " !

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  8. What a lovely, tidy spot - just perfect for a wee bit of gardening - but nothing too overwhelming.

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  9. Lovely. This small garden is just my speed. It makes me want to plant some herbs in pots and I think I have a good corner close to my front door.

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  10. You keep on solving my problems for me, first the natty little shelf in the kitchen and now the garden! I have terrible clay soil that I can't dig through because of my lower back problems but ...... I want to plant some shrubs that will grow tall and give me bit more privacy. Had not thought of using planters with bottoms taken out (I assume you did that by drilling lots of holes round the bottom and then hacksawing/knocking out?). I was thinking I'd have to get someone in to plant my shrubs and pay them for that. Money saved now with your idea. Thank you! Savannah.

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    1. I just found a weak spot underneath and used one of my best carving knives ... shhhh, don't tell Alan 🤣🤣

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  11. Looks absolutely lovely Sue - what a beautiful quiet, restful place you have created. Well done Alan for all your wonderful work - the bench is great and all the planters. I can see you are going to enjoy some lovely summer evenings relaxing in the fabulous area you have created for yourselves. Really enjoyed the tour - as always - thanks.

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  12. You have everything you need in a smaller space, well done on your planning, it’s a lovely homely area!

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  13. Looks great, and everything is just the right size! That's nice you'll have shade under the decking for the dogs. I think the chimneas always look so cool, what do you think of them?

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    1. I'll have to be honest and say ... we've never lit it 🤣

      It was one of Alan's spur of the minute purchases from our local Facebook selling pages, it was £20. We'll fire her up this year and I'll let you know.

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