This was the kind of weekend I had been waiting for; dry, sunny and, dare I say it, quite warm. Well warm for February anyway. I was on a mission to make a dent in my ‘to do’ list, and I’m sure I wasn’t alone in wanting to make the most of the good weather. Gardens and allotments across the country must have been hives of activity.
It wasn’t a promising start as we tried to find somewhere that sold the paint we needed. I did have that sinking feeling it was going to be one of those frustratingly unproductive days. I need not have worried as my aching muscles now testify.
First on the list was replacing the woven hazel panel that had been a victim of the winter storms. We put the panel in about 4 years ago to screen off an area that is used for storing wood and composting from the rest of the garden. It had started to fall to pieces and time was of the essence as I have a spring-flowering clematis growing up it. With buds starting to appear I didn’t want to have to move the stems once any significant growth had started. A new panel had been delivered during the week, so I set about delicately removing what was left of the hazel stems of the old fence, trying not to damage the clematis. We manoeuvred the new panel into place and then tied in the clematis. Quite a few of the hazel stems were still in good condition so I’ve gathered them up and I’ll use them on the plot for plant supports.
Then we started on the painting. The garden is surrounded by fairly typical wooden fencing. They were plain and untreated when we first moved in. I didn’t particularly want to paint them as it’s one of those jobs that once you’ve started it, it needs to be maintained but the wood needed some protection. Colour doesn’t often feature as a backdrop in British gardens and when it does it often doesn’t work. I’m thinking fence panels which look like they have been spray-tanned. In other parts of the world, such as the Mediterranean and Mexico, colour is used with much more confidence providing a striking contrast to the plants being grown. An azure blue door with red pelargoniums is such a quintessential scene from parts of Greece and southern Italy. It probably has something to do with the light. Bright, vibrant colours work well when the sun shines for the majority of the year and the light is a warm light but the further north you go the light becomes cooler and strong colours have a tendency to look dull. With a propensity for grey, overcast days, even in summer, bold colours don’t really work in British gardens. There is also the danger your garden can end up looking like a children’s playground. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t use colour it just means we have to pick the right tones to work with our light levels.
We first painted the fences several years ago and it was a harder decision choosing the colour than any of the interior decoration choices we had to make. I thought I had settled on one but after painting a panel I got cold feet. It was such a strong block of colour and I was painting in late winter when there was so little in the garden to soften the look. Several tester pots later and an adjoining panel which now looked like a multi-coloured chess board, we decided to sleep on the decision. All that I really needed was time for my eyes and brain to adjust to the change. When we’ve become accustomed to something looking or being a particular way it can take a while to accept the ‘new look’. The next day we went with, as is so often the case, the first choice, ‘Wild Thyme’ from the Cuprinol Garden Shades range. It doesn’t bare any resemblance to any wild thyme I’ve ever seen but the blue-green is a lovely foil for the plants in the garden. Rather than the dull, weathered wood which didn’t do anything for the plants growing in front of fences, this colour makes the plants stand out. It’s a fresh colour which works so well in spring and I particularly love the crab apple blossom, white tulips and forget-me-nots combo against the blue-green background.
Fence painting is an awkward job though. There tends to be a short window of opportunity in which you can get the job done. Before December and there is still too much foliage around; December and January are generally too cold and too wet. February is the perfect month. Delicate new buds which can be so easily knocked and damaged have yet to open and hopefully there will be a dry spell. There is a certain amount of contortionism required to get in behind trees and bushes and, inevitably, some plants will end up sporting some interesting variegation to their leaves as a result of paint splashes. It was worth it though, and it has made the garden look all spruced up.
The shed didn’t escape our attention either. Everything was emptied on to the path, pots, trays and planters were washed and neatly stacked, plant labels and cane-toppers gathered from their various resting places and spiders were shepherded off into the garden. This is normally the point where some piece of gardening kit that went missing last year is now rediscovered. This time it was all of Wellyman’s Phillips screwdrivers which I had hoarded in the shed for some reason which eludes me now. I even found 3 jiffy pellets, which is puzzling as I’ve never used or bought any before.
So a big dent was made in my long list of jobs to do but there’s the allotment to tackle next so some more weekends like the last one would be nice. I’d love to hear how you made the most of the glorious weather.
There’s nothing like the sun on one’s back to inspire a session in the garden. I too took full advantage and planted my Guinee rose to climb through the lilac tree. I also dotted about ten small Lunaria (honesty) plants along the shady border to mingle with some hellebores.Today I may tackle a wall of rampant honeysuckle in order to plant the thorn-less blackberries.
Sounds like a good colour choice for the woodwork.
I’m loving reading everyone’s comments about what they got up to at the weekend. It’s good to hear about the flurry of activity. I’m considering a lilac myself but don’t have a lot of space so I’m trying to find a smaller variety. I love honesty and really should have some of it in the garden. A note to self to sow some this summer. Hope you won the honeysuckle battle. 😉
It sounds like a well spent weekend. I’m afraid the sunshine was wasted on me this weekend as I had other jobs to do and errands to run, but at least it made a change from dodging the rain.
That’s a pity. I always get frustrated when good weather coincides with other plans. I spend most of the time just thinking about the jobs I should be doing 😉 Hopefully we’ll get some more dry weather so you can get a chance to garden soon. At least it’s giving the ground a chance to dry out and it does lift the spirits to see the sun.
Glad you had some good gardening weather. Here the weather was sunny but I’ve been a bit unwell so couldn’t take advantage of the sunshine. Christina
Sorry to hear you aren’t feeling well. It’s so frustrating to be sick and see the sun, knowing there are so many jobs to do. There is a virus going around over here and I noticed quite a few people on twitter saying they were on the sofa when they wanted to be in the garden. Hope you feel better soon. Best wishes, WW.
Thank you, I’m feeling a bit better today, but weak. Doing a little bit of sorting out of germinated seeds, the tomatoes need for light! Christina
That garden ‘to do’ list starts to really yell at you at this time of year doesn’t it? mine is getting longer and longer! It’s a real blessing to get such a sunny weekend, I’ve had a good tidy up and feeling much happier with the garden as a result. Lets hope we get more like it! I really like the Wild Thyme colour, I’ve used it on my sheds here and I think you are right, it is a good backdrop to foliage.
Alex
I know, just as I’m crossing off jobs more are being added to the list. Good to hear you managed to get out into the sun and make a start.
It was lovely to see the sun wasn’t it, and get outside without needing to wear so many layers!
Lovely fence colour, I’m not brave enough to try that here, but we do need to treat our fences. When looking for colours, there seemed to be little choice of anything natural-looking or subtle, to blend into our landscape as well as our silvered untreated oak does. Hmm.
Try The Green Shop. They are online and based in Gloucestershire. It’s been a while since we have used them but the normally have a great selection of wood stains and treatments which are also eco-friendly. There might be something that is more natural and will blend in more with your garden. If our garden was more rural I would probably want a more natural look too but we’re surrounded by other houses so it’s a bit easier to get away with some colour.
Thanks, I’ll investigate them! I do love painted woodwork, but it would sit rather oddly in our countryside. Yours makes a lovely background for your plants.
Wild Thyme – whoo hoo! I’ve used gallons of it – like you it took me ages to decide on a colour and I ended up with all sorts of coloured bits of timber in my efforts to find the right shade, but I knew instantly that this was right. It’s so inobtrusive, and being water-based the Garden Shades range is so much pleasanter to apply, although fence painting is still a time-consuming job. have you ever tried spraying (I haven’t)? Well done for your shed clearing too – and your lucky finds!!
Hi Cathy, No I haven’t tried spraying. I’ve heard to horror stories of people not realising they had sprayed their neighbours car or that the spray had made it through the gaps in the fence and had covered the neighbour’s plants. Think I’ll stick to a paint brush. 😉
Had a good giggle at that 😉 and although I’ve not heard horror stories myself I haven’t sprayed either, for a similar reason. We have green spotty plants too, round the wood that’s been painted
Sounds as if you had a very satisfying day. I like the sound and look of the colour. Always love that azure blue in mediterranean countries too and remember fabulous gardens in Morocco with dramatic planting looking stunning against bright blue – but you’re right, the sun definitely helps.
Hi Andrea, It’s definitely a colour I would recommend but the garden shades range has quite a lot of choice. I’m not sure about the pinks though. 😉
At last, we made a start on the vegetable beds, they were in a dreadful state, weeds etc. even last years bean poles still in place! A lot of work later, everywhere is now almost ready for planting. We had the chimney swept a couple of weeks ago and the sweep always gives me plenty of soot to dig in. This really does make a difference to our heavy clay and stops the particles sticking back together again. Hopefully we will get the soot dug in tomorrow.
Really like the colour of your paint for the fence, it shows the shrubs off beautifully.
Good to hear you were able to make the most of the good weather. What a great idea to use the soot. I’ve got a bucket full of wood ash in the shed which I scatter on the compost heap but I’ll probably take some up to the allotment at some point. Thanks, it really is a lovely colour.
I had a good weekend of spring cleaning in my garden. I too am hoping for more sun next weekend to crack on at my allotment. So much to do to try and get things a bit more organised before spring. I am determined to (at least try and) stay on top of it all this year. My progress will be very much dependent on the weather and the availability of willing babysitters though. And the two very rarely seem to coincide!
Hi Glenda, I need to turn my attention to the allotment next so some more weather like this over the next couple of weeks would be nice. It would be nice to get to April and fell on top of things. 🙂
I like the wild thyme a lot. I’m afraid I have a spray-tan fence – it resulted from mixing different Cuprinol shades, none of which seemed remotely natural. I love the colours of Morocco and dream of making the garden blue like Majorelle but like you say, the colours look hopeless here – and then everything goes green in the winter anyway.
My fence panels had started to look like a Japanese moss garden so were in need of a paint. I think we all go on holiday and see places and want to replicate them when we return so it brings back memories of the holiday but it is so surprising how the difference in light affects colour. I love pastel colours though so I guess I’m suited to the northern light. 🙂
I do like a nice sunny day in the garden 🙂
So tricky, choosing a fence colour – yours sounds rather lovely. I was painting fence too, and erecting it, and moving plants, and agonising over plant placement. But the sun was warm and lovely, even if it was still bitingly cold in the shade. I started trying to organise my “to do” list today and got distracted by plant placement again, so it is still not prioritised! Am so glad I am based at home as I can sneak out for the odd hour in the garden during the day and tackle work and chores in the evening. Very lucky.
I work from home too and I agree it’s good to be able to pop out and squeeze in a bit of seed sowing for a few hours and then go back to do some work. It must be so frustrating having to rely on weekends being dry. It’s lovely in the sunshine, although we’re getting some hard frosts at the moment. Still it’s giving the ground a chance to dry out which is what we all need.
My, you *have* been busy — certainly have earned those sore muscles. That ‘Wild Thyme’ color looks quite nice.
Thanks Nikki, The muscle aches have eased now fortunately. It’s good to get so much done though.
You must be well pleased doing the work you did at this time of year before plants grow and we get busy gardening again.
I had to smile about the paint colours as all the sheds on the allotments are brown or green except this one which is no longer used –
http://flighty.wordpress.com/2012/06/19/abandoned-shed/abandoned-shed/
I’ve spent several mornings plotting but really need to ground to dry out! xx
I LOVE that shed, Flighty. t really brings a smile to my face and if we were allowed sheds at the allotments mine would look like that. What a shame it’s abandoned. Hopefully every dry day is helping the soil dry out. We’ve had some very hard frosts the last couple of nights but it doesn’t linger for long. There’s quite a bit of warmth in that sun. WW x
Great isn’t it WW when the weather obliges 🙂 I went to the allotment on Saturday afternoon where there were a good few folk and then enjoyed a potter in my garden on Sunday afternoon. Felt all the better for time spent outside. I like the new fence colour. Hope that those muscles have recovered.
Hi Anna, The muscles feel much better thanks. 😉 It takes a while to get used to some physical exertion after a winter indoors. Hoping this dry weather will continue as I need to turn my attentions to the plot next.
You had a very useful weekend. It was glorious weather even if it was a bit cold. Unfortunately I couldn’t make use of the weather in the garden or at the allotment, which was a bit frustrating though I was doing other nice things instead. Sunday especially was a good day I visited Hodsock Priory near Worksop, which is famous for its snowdrops (I’ll write a post about it when I get chance). A lovely winter garden.
I love the woven hazel panel! I felt a bit achey too after the weekend, it was crammed in with nieces birthday, visit to my parents plot, trip to Malham and finishing off at the Harrogate Spa! So not much in the way of gardening for me. That’s for this weekend 🙂
I’ve managed a couple of gardening days recently and it’s felt really, really good to be outside at length, getting jobs done. Veg patch is starting to look tidy again, slowly topping up the raised beds and, thrillingly, seeing little signs of life in all the plants. Best of all though is the slowly lengthening evenings – dusk was 5.40 pm on Sunday here and I took that as my cue to start gathering my things and tidying up, home by 6 pm – with very numb-through-cold toes! Yesterday was even better as I didn’t have to wear a coat while gardening … !