This blog is a diary of my working life as a gardener, and how my garden is taking shape. If any section leaves you with a gardening query, please visit my contact page, and I will try to answer it.
July, and the garden is growing away really quite well. The garden comes in at around 150 metres square. Planting takes up the majority of the available space, with a couple of small seating areas set among the borders and containers.
SEED SOWING
It is the perfect time of year to sow biennial seeds, and I do have some on order. Their arrival is imminent, and I will share my choice and how to sow them, in my next blog.
A biennial is a plant that completes its entire life cycle in two years. From seed germination to growth and flowering and finally seed setting. Foxgloves are a good example.
ORNAMENTAL GARDEN
I am really happy with how the garden looks this year..
I need to make a note to myself to remember to thin out some perennials next year though, as several are growing too well. If I don’t , the borders will end up being full of the same plant, rather than a combination of my favourite plants.
In previous years Persicaria grew in small containers – which restricted its growth. By planting out into the open ground they really are swamping out less robust plants in the borders. Next year , I will either make smaller sections, or I could place them next to a plant with a similar thuggish root system, so each would act as a barrier, to prevent it taking over a border.
Even though this border is relatively short in length ( about six metres) there is so much to see. I can and do often spend an age just checking all the plants out.
My favourite plant (so far ) this year is the biennial Weld, which self seeded itself between the brick pavers. It is multi stemmed with spires of tiny yellow flowers.
Sadly, a really strong gust of wind blew one right over ( I only had two to start off with )
When it self-seeds , I will definitely prick a few out from between the bricks, and grow them on, and re-plant them into the open ground. That way they will have greater anchorage, and hopefully a longer shelf life.
Now only one remains. 
VEGETABLE GARDEN
The veg growing area may be small in size, however it is cropping well.
Salad continues to be sown on a regular fortnightly basis. We have not needed to buy any for over two months. It would be great if we could be self sufficient in salad for the entire summer.
French beans, climbing courgettes and sweetcorn have somehow ended up in my cut flower bed.
Brocolli and Brussel sprouts have been recently netted to avoid a cabbage white butterfly invasion.
The http://www.thompson-morgan.com mangetout Shiraz peas are delicious.
A few weeks ago a rather unusual leaf germinated – must be part of the salad mix ( I thought) however on tasting, it was a little insipid , but I left it to its own devices. It proceeded to self seed right through the salad bed
I know realize this insipd leaf is Persicaria orientalis – a tall hardy annual flower. They have now been removed, and are growing away quite happily at the back of the cut flower border. They will hopefully be flowering ( and appearing on the blog ) in the next month or so.
Persicaria taking over the salad bed 
Thinned out
GREENHOUSE WORK
Work in the greenhouse has slowed down. Hundreds of seedlings have been replaced with various tomatoes, cucumbers, sweet and chilli peppers. They are fed weekly with my nettle tea, I have high hopes for a good crop.
May 2020 
May 2020 
May 2020 
May 2020 
June 2020 
JOBS FOR THE MONTH OF JULY
The well rotted mix of manure and grass clipping compost, which was used to fill the raised beds has produced a fine crop of Fat hen ( an annual weed) I mistook the young seedling leaves as poppy seeds, so dismissed it.
I will mainly be removing Fat hen from the borders in July.
On a plus point, I now know that Fat hen foliage is edible. But what’s not such a bonus is that a single plant can produce upto 20,000 seeds. I better not let it self seed then.
With regard to this, it is really important never to eat anything from your garden, unless you are 100% sure of its identity.
COMPOSTING AND FERTILIZING
The nettle tea is well and truly made, after six weeks of decomposing in a tub of water. It is now applied on a weekly basis to the tomatoes, peppers and courgettes with a diluted solution of 1 :10.
The brandling worms have stopped trying to escape from the wormery . Basically this was all my fault. I had included too many veg peelings, and not enough shredded cardboard, and it was too wet. Thankfully the vegetable and fruit kitchen waste and cardboard balance has been restored, and the worms are staying put.
ANY OTHER JOBS/ANYTHING ELSE/WEBSITES OF NOTE
I received great news last week. For the last three years I have been a Probationary member of the Garden Media Guild, and my application to become a full member has been approved. If you are interested in finding out about the invaluable work the Garden Media Guild undertakes to promote horticulture within the media, why not visit the website on http://www.gardenmediaguild.co.uk You never know you might end up as a full member.
MY WORKING LIFE
Life as a self employed gardener is good. Here are some borders I thoroughly enjoy working in.
I very much hope your garden is starting to look just how you envisaged.
Sally Wicks 