Margo's Big Project

Since we moved into this house in late November, I have been eying the small patio outside our door and making plans to put in a small garden and sitting/dining area. Last week, as the weather turned springlike and my thoughts turned to barbecue recipes and the idea of cold drinks on hot days, I finally got the chance to work on the patio.

Because the space is surrounded on all four sides with walls, it gets a lot of shade. There was only a small patch of ground where I could plant and it was pretty waterlogged and anaerobic. I decided to put in mostly containers with shade tolerant plants, to amend the soil in the ground and try to improve its drainage, and to plant vines that would cover the concrete wall.

On Wednesday morning, this space was completely empty, with the exception of the garbage and recycling bins, and the rattan shelves against the wall.

By Saturday afternoon, following a few trips to the Garden Center, Home Depot and IKEA, plus the delivery of a barbecue from Sears, it looked like this:












The table has removable leaves that expand on either end to seat up to 10 and we have stashed extra folding chairs in the shed.

Mike and I enjoyed a Pimm's Cup in the afternoon sunshine and we inaugurated the barbecue with a dinner of baby back ribs, homemade potato salad and baked beans. Very tasty! Later, our neighbors/landlords came downstairs to share a bottle of wine and Sarah cut up a punnet of strawberries for dessert.

I am looking forward to seeing all of the plants grow to full size. Although really small, it is kind of nice to have a manageable sized garden - where, now that it is planted, the bulk of work is restricted to deadheading the annual flowers, training the Virginia Creeper up the wall, and watering all of the pots - relatively pleasant tasks!

Several of the plants (the Virginia Creeper, the dogwood, the dwarf maple and others) have red foliage in the autumn, so if all goes well, they will be attractive at least three seasons/year.

Cheers,
Margo