Allotments 4 All

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Well I have been quite busy over the last few months converting my garden into a more 'edible' version of what it was before so had a walk around it this morning with my camera in hand so join me as I look over the changes;

Pic 1=The entrance into my back garden;

Pic 2 = Some new Lewisia I purchased for my baskets

Pic3 = New Phlox paniculata I have purchased and Hibiscus I have sown from collected seeds. Plan on planting these out in the autumn.

Pic 4 = The Rockery with a Clematis montana in full bloom.

Pic 6 = View across the garden from my sitting area.

Pic 8 = My mini allotment with a dozen Sweet Corn at the back, Chrysanthemums bordering the footpath plus 2 containers of Onions and 1 of Leeks on a raised shelf*

* The shelf doubles up as a bench in my 8x6 greenhouse in the winter!

Pic 10 = What was previously my herbaceous bed.

As you can see I have 2 Apple trees, 1 Pear tree and 1 Plum tree against the fence.

Beneath these, I have planted out a dozen Brussel Sprouts.

To the front of these, I have planted around a couple of dozen Gladioli in a chevron pattern and in the vees, I have planted a Sweet Pepper plant ( 6 in all)

In the next row, I have alternate Alstroemeria and Achillea plants where I plan on planting out some Beetroot as I think the leaves will complement the flowers and give me something to eat as well!

In front of these I plan on growing some Carrots as here again I think the ferny tops will complement the flowers.


In the front row, I have potted Strawberry plants in sunken pots where, when the strawberries are finished, I will remove the potted strawberries and replace them with Potted Geraniums.

I will move the Strawberry plants to the growing-on area (Pic 12) and take runners.

Pic 9 = At the top end of the Herbaceous border, I have planted Sweet Peas to hide the bare trunk of my Ornamental Cherry tree and behind that, I have some Rhubarb I brought up from the allotment!

At the other end of the herbaceous border, I have transplanted a Red Gooseberry bush and a  Blueberry bush I brought up from the allotment, so now you can see that my Herbaceous border is still relatively "Ornamental" but there is also quite to a few things that I can eat. So fingers crossed all will go to plan.

Pic 11 =  Here I have my 8' x 6' which I have crammed full, but hopefully not too full that the crops within will suffer.

The layout is as follows; to the left is 11 Sweet Pepper Plants, at the back is 5 Climbing French bean (Cobra) and to the front of these 4 cucumbers (Passandra) To the right I have 9 Tomato plants and a Trough/Planter containing Carrots (Sweet Candle).

....and that concludes our walk around the back garden.

The front garden (Pics 13-14-15) is still a "garden in progress" as much of the stuff I had in the back garden prior to the changes have been transplanted in the front!

....and that folks is the state of play of my ornamental/edible garden.

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I've got a line of carrot seedlings coming up. They are only very small as yet and are not even at the true leaf stage.
When would you suggest covering them with fleece to stop carrot root fly.
I don't tend to do it after sowing as one year the seedlings were gobbled up by slugs whilst they were under the fleece.

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Our dog has been in mourning for his friend who recently passed away. But he has started eating again and getting protective for his new chum.

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Has anyone grown this successfully from seed? Is it best started in modules and then transplanted?