My Garden is a Mess

I have really neglected my garden this year. I have not mown the lawn for 5 or 6 weeks and have not done any weeding. Plants are overgrown and bursting out of their pots because they are root bound.

I bought some bedding plants two weeks ago at the Cheshire carboot sale for £1 a pack of 6. They are violas and are lovely blues, white, yellow and mauve. They have been in the kitchen for the last two weeks getting in the way. In the meantime the raised beds in the rear garden are looking tatty as the bedding plants I bought for over winter are a leggy and overblown. The front garden is even worse and it was time to make a start on getting things spick and span.

I started with the four pots at the back of the garden and replanted them with the violas. Even though it looks like there are loads of plants in their packs and that there will be some left over, I know from past experience that the three smaller pots take one pack of bedding plants each and the larger pot needs two packs.

I planted up the pots on Friday evening even though I was shattered from a long day at work. I forced myself to do it but was soon uplifted when I looked at the little smiling faces of the violas.

On Saturday morning I took David into work for 9am and as soon as I got back I mowed the back lawn and the front lawn. It took some effort to mow the back lawn in particular because the grass was so long. I edged it and pulled up some weeds.

I bought 3 packs of 10 petunia bedding plants at the Cheshire carboot sale yesterday and although I know the colours of one pack because it was in flower I will be taking pot luck with the other packs. The label just said mixed so it will be a suprise when they start to flower. I like that...

I planted them up in the afternoon in the blazing heat of the day. It was roasting hot yesterday which is lovely but hot to work in. I started off working in a t shirt and jogging pants and had to change the pants to shorts after a while. Even PG who loves the heat was seeking shelter under one of the hedges to cool down. She is just such a contented cat for a feral stray who chose us as her people (slaves, servants)

By early evening the back garden was looking better but I know I am going to have to adopt my dad's rule of "little and often" in the garden to get it to start looking more like it's usual self.

I've not shown any photos of the front garden as it is still messy despite the lawn having been mowed. I need to prune, weed and generally titivate it before I show any photos. Best left for another blog.

This blog is my daily "blog every day in May" challenge. You can see all the bloggers participating in this on Twitter #BEDM.