Diary of a suburban edible garden, September 2017.

This month, most of my gardening time has been taken up with de-lawing.  I no longer have a (weedy, patchy, lumpy, bumpy, weirdly small) lawn!

We sheet mulched it, which involved digging the edges of the lawn up, laying card and newspaper over the lawn, then topping with a thick layer of bark chippings.  Bonus feature - the garden currently smells like a pine forest!

We also removed the stones that edged the narrow border between the lawn and the fence, which is why there's a pile of stones in the middle of the path now!

Here's what it looked like before.

I'm much happier now.  And once we've got the hard landscaping sorted (path, patio, shed + stompy builders stomping all over the garden) I'll plant up the ex-lawn and have lots more lovely plants and trees.

You can see I also bark-chipped over the ex-weedy patch at the bottom of the garden, as I'm probably not going to get round to planting it all this year, and the chips will prevent weeds and soil erosion, and rot down into the soil and make it nice. 

The bin's there because it's waiting to be planted up with a thornless blackberry plant I was given for my birthday.  I figured it was the biggest, cheapest plastic free option for a large pot, that would also stop the roots escaping and spreading through the garden.  It also matches my steel raised beds. 

This is my plant waiting area.  Every time I go out to garden it rains on me!  Waiting to be planted are a blackcurrant bush and the thornless blackberry - excellent birthday gifts from my father in law and his partner, it's not very often someone buys you exactly the things you were planning to buy yourself, with no prompting or clues, but this was one of those times.  There's also two hazel nut trees, an almond tree and a discovery apple tree that I bought with some birthday money I was given.  

This is my other plant waiting area.  There are lots of herbs waiting to be planted, including a curry plant that smells amazing and Siberian perennial onions.  I have a tray of herbs I bought from Homebase in the sale for £2 to plant too.  The herbs and trees are from Victoriana Nursery, it's hard to buy plants without a car, but I think this is a good online option, they seem pretty eco-friendly and the plants are healthy barring the odd insect hitch-hiker.  

I bought these perennial cut and come again cauliflower from Victoriana Nursery too, which I'm pretty darn excited to plant! 

My back garden raised beds are doing good.  I was worried I wasn't going to get any beans from my lazy housewife beans, but they're coming along now.  I had two cabbages that suffered from being eaten by cabbage white caterpillars.  I've tried to live peaceably with my caterpillar chums, because butterflies are struggling so much, so I just left them to much away happily.  I like the thought that the caterpillars have eaten their fill, and now one of the cabbages is making a comeback, so I'll get to eat my fill too.

There's lots of yummy salad growing too, and some beans and sweetcorn that I'm doubtful will make beans and sweetcorn before we have frosts - but you never know! 

This bit of the garden is really pretty right now, all the flowers seem to be putting on a final flourish before winter.  I'm planning on planting my new almond tree at the back of this patch by the fence, and I have a smoke bush on order I want to plant along here too.  There are lots of plants to move if the weather is Ever un-rainy.

This cute little calendula has been my favourite flower this year.  It's smaller and yellower than all the others and has flowered all summer long, I'll be saving seed from it.

I shall leave you with this beetle friend.  Isn't he cute!  I'm so pleased there are beetles in the garden - they eat slugs don't you know! 

 How's your garden this month? 

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