Grand garden plans

When we moved into this house we put lots of effort into setting the back garden up as a vegetable garden ready for ‘operation Good Life’. However, since taking on the allotment a few months ago the space has been used in a different way. The raised beds are now overflowing with bee friendly plants but everything else is looking and feeling a bit all over the place.

Random piles of mess keep appearing anywhere there is free space and nothing feels like it has a home.

The grand plan

Scott and I made a list of things that need sorting out:

Seating: Our garden is fully paved and had no permanent seating so this was a priority. We normally end up perched on the edge of a raised bed or on the concrete steps (sorry bottoms).

Potting bench: I really wanted somewhere to store all the gardening bits and bobs I use frequently. They normally end up strewn around the garden or getting lost. The raised area at the back next to the shed gets chock-a-block with seedlings in pots which is a bit annoying because it’s hard to get in the shed or through the back gate!

A greenhouse: I know what you’re thinking, “Hah! There’s no way you’d get a greenhouse in there”. You’re right! There is literally nowhere to put it. I’d been looking at ways of starting plants off earlier in the year and came to the conclusion we need a cold frame. They are small too, so you don’t need a great deal of space. Win!

General tidy up: Still need to do a bit of work on this but we got off to a good start by jet washing all the moss and algae off the patio. It was a smelly, messy job but made a massive difference. I need to clear up all the seed husks from the bird food and empty pots of knackered plants. I enjoy a good tidy up so this one will probably never be ticked off the list.

Ta-dah!!!

With a little help from Asda Outdoors we’ve been able to give our garden a bit of a makeover! We ticked seating off the list with this three seater wooden bench. It’ll get lots of use over the Summer and in the Autumn we’re going to get the kadai out for an evening BBQ and stuff ourselves full of smores!

Our neighbour’s dog was rather taken with the thick base cushion and seemed a bit miffed she had to share it with me…

We now have a potting table! Happy days! No more clutter all over the garden. All the seedlings can live in one place until they are ready to be potted on. This is going to make me look like a proper gardener 😉

The cold frame arrived today and needs to be assembled. With this, we can start growing much earlier in the year. We planted broad beans out at the allotment and felt really proud of them until we saw some three times the size on the plot next to ours. Theirs had been started a few weeks earlier and it made a massive difference. It’ll get used the most in the Spring but I plan to use it protect plants from frost aswell.

So what do you think? We’re really pleased! They might seem like small changes but they’ll make a big difference to us. Thanks Asda!

This post was written in collaboration with Asda. All photography, thoughts and opinions are my own. Asda provided complimentary garden products of my choice so I could take part in the #AsdaOutdoors campaign.