As ever I have massively underestimated the time it takes to do things when you have a tiny garden and no room to swing the proverbial cat.  I’ve spent most of the last few days shuffling pots, garden furniture and wood around like a giant game of jenga so  I can get things done!

The fence has been (mostly) painted, the majority of the pots top-dressed and the fox damage to the fences fixed.

Views as of around 5pm tonight:

A fresh coat of paint has brightened the fence up. The deck looks a lot cleaner now 12 months of algae have been scrubbed away.  If it’s fine next weekend it will have another scrub and the a good treatment of deck oil.

Close up of the deck and pots.  To the right is a lovely little bay tree which seems happy on the shady side of the garden – it may need potting on next year.  The big pot next to it contains Agapanthus  and the pots either side of that have lillies. On the left hand side in the big blue pot is a Victoria plum  which has been blossoming like mad.  In front of it is another pot of Agapanthus and behind it yet more lillies!

The two small square beds to the far left are where I tend to plant flowers or perennials. The small stump in the back corner is the remains of an Acer griseum which was happy for about 15 years and then died. But it seems to be sprouting from the very base of the stump again. There’s also Ajuga repetans and Alchemilla mollis in there but they seem to have taken a battering over winter.  The second square bed is home to the winter and summer jasmines and here are a couple of tiny clumps of self-seeded  Forget-me-nots. There were other perennials in there but since the foxes had a field day digging it up over winter not sure any of them will come back. Also the boards around the bed have had a fresh coat of paint too!

The two beds in the left hand picture are on the shadier side of the garden.  The bed furthest away and closer to the deck still has some chard (sacrificial plants for the local snail population!) and red-veined sorrel. The nearer bed has perennials and needs top-dressing and weeding – and for me to see if I can identify the perennials from the weeds! Depending on the weather during the evenings this week I may tackle that and also try to get a coat of paint on the boards.

The beds in the right hand picture are where the veg will be – once I’ve sorted out the last few pots (which need to be left where they are until I’ve throughly scrubbed the path and painted the boards)! The pots contain a couple of Buddleia (one grown from a self seeded plant and which will probably end up on the communal allotment plot and the other is a dwarf Buzz). There’s also a blackcurrant sage and two strawberry planters plus – just out of shot – a giant pot full of daffodils and 3 type of mint.

And here’s a final shot looking back to the fire-escape.  The three pots on the left hand side of the pic contain yet more lillies. There’s a whole load of pots at the base of the fire-esacpe and piled under the Pyracantha that need to be sorted, cleaned and stored or taken down to the allotment for sharing. Under the Pyracantha is a dry bed which needs a good top-dressing and planting up (after I’ve seen whether the Dicentra and Crocosmia have survived). And the fence at the back and under the fire-escape needs painting, plus my tool store (just about visible as the brown back up against the far fence) needs sorting too.

Now I’ve thinned out the Pyracantha I’m hoping to have pots all the way up the stairs again. The last few years I’ve had a couple of the bottom and the rest from the top to about half way down. Currently there’s a little Myrtle bush (just below the bright green pot and watering can) and just above that a giant Oseteosperumum which overwintered.

Alas I’m back at work tomorrow so doubt if I’ll get a huge amount done during the week and it will be a busy weekend but with a bit of luck I’ll get most of the post-winter clearup done and then can think about planting!