Autumn

October arrived and London and our garden took on autumnal colours.
One quiet Sunday we spotted two foxes sleeping on the neighbour’s garden-house roof all afternoon. The location covered in leaves which they choose for their nap matched their fur. The sight of these animals in the midst of a metropolis felt very peaceful and fairytale-like.

 By now the vine leaves turned red and orange:

 and a storm blew the sunflowers over

 I started to clear up the garden for winter

Over the summer I had made a friend, who comes to visit me from the flat downstairs
most times when I spend time in the garden, Stanley the cat:

 So the clear-up activity has begun:

A Hackney garden in summer – part 5

In August the runner beans were ready for harvesting:

and had developed what I didn’t expect: pink beans 

 

 By September the sunflowers were more than 2 metres high:

 

A Hackney garden in summer – part 4

A closer look at the garden in July and August.
First year Hollyhock plants grown from seeds, on a fresh summer morning. These plants only flower starting in their second year. 

Pink and White Dwarf Godetia:

A wild star-shaped flower:

Floor covering Five Spot Nemophila:

Plants in our staircase garden:

Delicate, silky Ipomoea flowers growing through our Star Jasmine terrace railing:

Double African Marigold:

A Hackney garden in summer – part 3

Mornings in our garden in June and July are wonderful.
At the back you can see that the runner beans grew a meter tall and started to flower.

 Runner bean blossoms:

 A few wild flowers blossomed in the ‘meadow’ section of our flower bed: 

 A detail from our staircase garden:

Another wild flower, Borage:

 

Hosta flower:

 

 Star Jasmine:

 And our friendly visitor, the neighbours’ cat Stanley, who comes round every morning

A Hackney garden in summer – part 2

My second update on gardening progress this summer.
I finally found the best suited space for an ivy plant I had for the last four years – it is now on the terrace, facing North-East and finally doing very well:

 I love spring and summer in London

In June it was time to come up with some new decoration outside the front door:

And see the runner beans grow taller

A Hackney garden in summer – part 1

It has been a long time since I last updated you on my garden here in Hackney in London. The last you probably know, is that in April I decided to take part in the National Gardening Week. I cleared out the entire shared garden and started to plant seeds.
I can now tell you that the whole project was a success! Over the course of the summer the garden has gone through several stages , which I have recorded whenever I had a moment to take a picture. Observing the different plants develop was very fulfilling. Here is the first of a few updates : )

Step one, seedlings growing in a propagator:

 

My home-grown runner bean seedlings ready to be planted outside:

 

 

 

Three rows of freshly planted sunflower seedlings:

At the back, runner beans and marigold; at the front, dwarf godetia and five spot nemophila;
at the centre, nectar rich wild flowers to attract butterflies:

  A few weeks later: 

Lavender:

 Lavender, herbs and the flowerbed in the background:

 

It’s Spring – The 2014 gardening season has begun!

 

2014 is the third year I’m writing this gardening blog and I’m very happy to have you as my followers –  many more than when I started.

I never advertised much that I have a blog among friends, family or colleagues, so I can really say that, if you are thinking of starting a blog yourself, go on and do it. I recently read an article and completely agree: if you have an interest or hobby, write about it and share it in a genuine way, people with the same interests will find you.

This year, I started planting later than in previous years, but nonetheless there are plenty of posts to come. I hope you enjoy reading and seeing the pictures of my urban gardening efforts in London and here is to a successful 2014 gardening season!

 

 

Seven small improvements to my garden

Hi everyone!

I have five hours of solid gardening work behind me. Yesterday my determination to clear up the garden for the summer suddenly took over! Once I got started, I could not stop. Now below are photos of my efforts.

As it turned out over recent weeks, some of the pots on the staircase had too many plants in them and the leaves were getting into each other’s way and sunshine. To address this, I bought two new pots and bamboo sticks to redistribute the plants. In half an hour I built two pyramid-shaped climbing structures. At the top I tied the bamboo sticks together with garden wire and covered this with cord for a nicer look. I then attached fishing wire to the bamboo to create a climbing grid for the sweet pea seedlings.

At the moment the seedlings look a bit miserable due to the re-potting.
The idea is that they should grow up the trellis in a triangular shape.

Next, I decided to make use of what plants we have in our garden, be it climbers growing through the fence from our neighbours’ garden or plants left by tenants that recently moved out from our house. To that effect, I attached a plastic grid to the wooden garden wall and started to guide a climber that grows through the fence, up this trellis.

I also provided a bamboo stick as support for a wild climber that has started to grow out of the soil.

It was also time to remove the faded tulips from their pot and to place them into a box so they dry and can be re-planted in November. For more information on what to do with tulips throughout the year, here is a link to my blog post on tulips.

As only very few of the Freesia bulbs I received for free from the Guardian Gardening Centre have sprouted, I added a plant from the staircase into the middle of this year’s low cost plant arrangement.

I checked on the tomato seedlings and my staircase project (part of separate blog posts), and to finish things off, I re-potted the lemon cypress, re-positioned the torch-light from last year and cleared up the floor. Job done, I was pretty tired, but hopefully you like the result :  )

• Trellis Envy (smcommunitygardenblog.wordpress.com)

Tomato growing

6 June 2013:  
The seedlings have been re-potted into tomato cage pots

As their new position is less protected than the window sill, a transparent plastic sheet at the back helps to keep away draughts:

31 May 2013:
On the window sill

12 May 2013: 
Moved to the window ledge

28 April 2013: 
Grown from a package, the tomato seedlings  indoors: