Our soil is very heavy clay - it's either like a bog, or baked solid! We have 2 Japanese Acers that do really well in this soil and are really pretty small trees.

This is the garden - excuse the awful lawn and general mess. Its not a great time of year! Lawn recovers in summer.
The area beyond the washing line is very shaded and damp, so at the moment is a ‘shade’ garden of ferns, hosta, lilys and rhubarb.

Then we have a lot of lawn, and fence, am planning a little stoned area, with a bench, in the middle along the fence, and then maybe a wild flower area to the right.

Finally the more sunny area at the other end. Hoping for porcelain paving, new furniture, some lights, and lots of cottage garden flowers etc.

This is the paving I like -

I can imagine it’s hard going on the feet and legs. Nice to chat to people though 😀
I’ve just seen the post with the garden photos too. It’s a nice sized garden, a lovely blank canvas for a landscaper to work with. I can’t wait to see the after photos 💞

Your plans sound lovely. I love the idea of the wild flower spot in the sunny area with the seating nearby to enjoy the flowers. The paving is beautiful too. Can’t wait to see it finished 💞

I had my 2nd jab just over 2 weeks ago now so my immunity should be peaking. Things have definitely improved in the hospital thank goodness as you could feel the fatigue of many of the staff and I'm off for over a week now 😁
I only have a small garden with mostly patio a decked area and some fake grass it works for us as we're not disciplined enough to keep it groomed
DH made me wooden planters to go along the edges with a plan to fill them with perennials that will be low maintainence but struggled to get enough compost last year after lockdown
I fancy a couple of small trees that can be kept in large pots already have a tiny olive tree that's survived for 3 years in the little spot that manages to get a bit of winter sun in the garden. It flowered last year but I didn't get any olives 😂 I must re pot it this year going to try and be at the front of the compost queue!
I want to keep one of the planters for wild flowers too I've ordered Beebombs which come from Dorset I sent some to our friends for their Wedding Anniversary last year and they looked lovely in their garden I'd post a link if I knew how 😂 but if you google Beebombs they come up
Hope you've have a wonderful time visiting your son today DD you must have been so excited and emotional to see him after lockdown and so lovely you are now free to travel in Wales
I'm so ready for a walk out on the moors here and feel like it will be acceptable for us to do that from Monday and looking forward to a bit of milder weather so DD and her partner can come and have a cuppa in the garden
Loiuse glad you've been enjoying the Census work and hope your DH is doing well with his treatment
It'll be nice to see photos as your garden develops too your plans sound lovely have a look at the Beebombs for you wild flowers cottage garden area 😊
Sue great your leak sorted nothing like having a few countdowns to look forward to 😊
Lovely that everyone is ok this last lockdown has felt endless but there's light at the end of the tunnel now and I do feel more positive that some plans will happen this year enjoy the easing of restrictions everyone 😊

glad you have had your jab - I had mine this morning and apart from an aching arm I feel ok so far. I was so proud of all my bulbs coming up in my pots and for the last two weeks I have looked outside to see them slowly disappearing one by one :omg: I expect to see a very fat squirrel in the near future :grin: we too are starting on a garden sort out (though I seem to have to do it very year) have go some new fences and was considering tiles like loopylooloo but have first going to try and paint the ones I have a dark grey:omg: have spent £150 on paint which got good reviews and if it doesn't work then a new patio will be in order!

Brilliant news that you’ve had your second jab. It must be so reassuring for you especially as you are working in a hospital.

I found the bee bombs, what a wonderful idea. I do hope they grow well for you. I have a potted Olive tree that seems to grow well but no olives yet sadly. I also planted a fig tree in a pot last year that grew very well but it doesn’t seem to have survived the winter sadly, even though it was supposed to be ok outdoors and we put it in a sheltered spot.

We managed a short visit to our son’s garden and finally exchanged Christmas gifts 😂 which was wonderful at last. The weather isn’t too good though so it wasn’t a long visit, hopefully we can see them one day over the long Easter weekend next week too. Seeing him and his fiancée again is definitely the best thing about our stay local rule being lifted though 💞

It is good to think that restrictions all over the UK are slowly and cautiously lifting though, and along with the vaccines, makes us all feel a little more optimistic 💞

Congratulations on your jab, I do hope you only get mild or no side effects.

Oh no, your poor bulbs. Greedy squirrel 😢 We have a large garden but we rarely plant successfully in it due to squirrels and rabbits eating everything. That’s why we use planters on our raised patio

Tile paint sounds a great idea. I can’t wait to hear how it goes. I may do ours if yours work 😀

We also went out for a drive in the Welsh countryside and a walk with the dog yesterday. The weather wasn’t fantastic but it was lovely to be able to go out further away from home again after so long of the stay at home and stay local restrictions
Some beautiful views and my very windswept hairstyle 😂

Look at you all posh in a dress! Wowsers! I am still in jeggings /pyjamas every single day 🤣🤣🤣