Green fingers and muddy boots

The raised flower beds surrounding our house had been sadly neglected for many years

Building rubble, odds and ends, everything except flora and fauna in fact, had been dumped unceremoniously into each one, stifling any growth other than the weedy variety

We had a local landscaper and general odd job man come by to renew some fencing, add trellis around the back and also replace all the rubble and rubbish with some brand new weed-free fertile topsoil

Neil and I, with the help of the kids, all home for the summer, then set to, with paint brushes, to transform the fencing from dull brown to coastal blue and all the masonry to pure brilliant white from the grim institutional grey that it had been previously

And then the fun began, several trips to local garden centres later we had some lush foliage and pretty petals to brighten up our beds

This one runs along the boundary to the side of the conservatory

The larger corner bed at the front of the house. My lovely boss from the hospice shop where I worked in Cleethorpes wanted to treat me to something for my new home and I have three hardy perrenials in this section from her, so thankyou Wendy xxx

This long this bed runs between the two front corner beds and as the stone is original, unrendered and traditional stone walling we have left it in it's natural state, it would have been sacrilege to paint this

Also in the larger bed is a stunning rose, sent to me by my wonderful and very thoughtful friends Anne and David. It has bloomed all summer and all my neighbours have commented on how beautiful it is, every time I leave the house or look out of my front windows it reminds me how very special Anne and David are, thankyou so much xxx

Leaving the front garden and moving around the side of the house I have another raised bed which is not far from the kitchen door, so I wanted to create a herb garden here, and thanks to the wonderful Cornish weather my herbs have run riot and been abundant all summer

The chilli pepper plant you can see in the bottom left of the photo was a gift from Amy and Ben, they bought it back from the Eden project for me and it has been resplendent this month with pops of bright red 

Most of our planters didn't survive the storage, so we have replaced the contents of those too ( and yes you can spot a gnome, I only have the one - and it needs to stay that way but for some strange reason I love the little fellow)

We have one smaller bed in the front garden that houses my cornish palm, this was here when we moved in and it will be staying as we love it. The soil beneath drains well and can get quite arid, so I have planted up with alpines which thrive in drier conditions. I had some local purple slate left over from a previous project and tipped it around these plants, I love the contrast between the various shades of green and the purple of the slate

And finally the majestic palm reaching toward Cornish cobalt skies

Love and life's little blessings

Tracey 

xxx