If you asked what our garden was like a year ago, I’d have a big smile on my face. It was home to the most incredible willow tree – the focal point of the garden. It’s cascading branches were a real wow factor and it was a huge selling point when we bought our house.
When this superb tree had to be cut down last year, the garden dynamic changed completely. Not only that, the local shops and our doctors surgery became visible as did the overgrown mess at the end of the garden.
It’s taken time to get used to the garden without the willow but gradually we’ve fallen back in love with it again. It’s an amazing space to be in when it’s sunny and we will make it beautiful again. POD absolutely loves the 
garden, she’d stay out there every day given half the chance.
Although the beds have been full of dandelion clocks and buttercups, we have some absolute gems in the garden too. Bushes include a twisted Hazel, a Laurel and a Rhododendron as well as a number of unnamed bushes with and without flowers.
The most unusual shrub is a yellow Sophora – it’s very pretty at this time of year. As is the blue Santa Barbara. There are also gooseberry and apple trees plus a small spread of rhubarb.
Around our main patio area we have a lovely herb garden which houses a bay tree, lavender, mint and rosemary. Next to that is a magnolia, black tulips and, when they come up, some red hot pokers. Our red Acer has also made an appearance.
We’ve recently created some pot plants which have brought an array of colour to our patio. My personal favourite is a Fushia – otherwise known as Mrs Popple. POD has taken this literally by trying to pop all the heads before they’ve opened. She also pulled a fuzzy purple head off a Venezuela plant. We’re teaching her the difference between weeds, plants and flowers. She’s probably really confused, we’ve been pulling dandelion clocks up for weeks!
It’s an exciting time, the POD Father put some new fencing up at the weekend and a bed became visible again from a sea of weeds. It’s time to plan our new garden now. Before that, we’ll be taking delivery of a climbing frame set for POD which will at least block our view of Boots. She’s going to be the happiest toddler in the World, a small consolation for having a Christmas Day birthday.
We’re linking this post up with How does your garden grow? over at Mammasaurus Blog. If you’d like to join in, click on the badge below.
Beautiful pictures! I love fuchsias – my daughter and I agree that they look like fairy’s dresses hanging out to dry! So sad you lost your willow! We are just about to buy a weeping willow for our garden.
Rhododendrons are so vibrant and give such a wonderful splash of colour this time of year.
So glad you are in this linky too as I love your photos generally. xx
I love the idea of fushias looking like fairy dresses – I’m sure POD would love that! Our willow was huge and beautiful but it was damaging our house. I miss it! Thank you about the photos – I’m taking even more than ever now 🙂
WOW!!! look at you! sad to hear the willow had to go but look at all that has replaced it! so many beautiful flowers and so many names i had never even heard of. i’m so bad at flower names… beautiful pictures too.
Thanks Claudia – the willow had to go unfortunately. I do have photos of it thankfully! I’m not very good with flower names either, I’ll try and make a conscious effort in the future 🙂
Absolutely beautiful pictures, I do love the garden. I just need some sun to get ours in bloom properly, although my Magnolia is just opening and the horrible strong winds are back, so it will probably get battered before it blooms :/
Aww thanks Nichola, we have a lot to do but we’ve made a good start. We need a Magnolia, hopefully yours will fight back those winds 🙂
Great pictures Charley and if you think you have dandelions you should see ours on the allotment right now. : )
Thank you very much. They’re amazing close-up aren’t they. I bet yours are amazing 🙂
Oh my word! Awesome, awesome photos! Love the shot of the logs especially. So lovely when children enjoy the garden – I have similar issues with Ozzy and flower heads!
My second oldest son has a birthday the day after Boxing Day – you really do feel a slight need to pull out all the stops to compensate don’t you?
Lovely garden missus and thank you for linking up x
Thank you lovely – I’m a big fan of the logs too! They’re ancient. We’re trying to save some of the Fushia POD pulled out of the pot, other plants weren’t quite so lucky!
We definitely feel the need to compensate for POD’s birthday. I guess when she’s at school we’ll organise a summer shindig for her 🙂
What a beautiful blog and wow – your garden photos……. I can’t wait for a time when our garden contains more than grass, dirt, hedge, a path and the world’s shabbiest looking trampoline and net! Sad to hear about the demise of your willow but, as you say, new opportunities will arise. We cut the hedge rather brutally recently, our first year of being responsible for it and it was daunting. We’ve definitely lost a bit of privacy thanks to the new reduced height but it has also had the effect of letting me see more clearly what else is possible and previously overshadowed. Looking forward to seeing your next load of pics – love this linky! x
Thank you so much Heather, very kind of you to say so. We still have a lot of work to do on our garden, it’s looking much better though which is something! I’m sure your hedge will grow back soon enough – we have one at the front that grows super fast 🙂
Loving your pictures they are stunning, willows are such a focal point for a garden, how sad to have lost it but how fabulous at what you have done since it has gone. i am jealous that your Delilahs are out already mine haven’t even popped their heads up from the sleepy soil. Just simply gorgeous.
Thanks Helen, really kind of you. I miss the willow, it was about 40 foot tall so a huge tree to lose. I’m convinced we’ll make the garden look pretty again though. Thank you for heading over 🙂
Oh that’s such a shame your willow had to be cut down. Why was that? Beautiful photos as ever…. very impressed with your plant knowledge, that’s not one of my strengths at all! X.
My plant knowledge is quite rubbish really but thank you! Willow trees are beautiful but need a lot of water, ours was causing damage to our house so it had to go *sniff sniff*
I’m adding Fushia to my list of plants to buy, they’re so pretty 🙂
They’re lovely aren’t they, really pretty. I like the idea that they are fairies dresses hanging out to dry 🙂