Before and After, Another Garden Project

A garden is never finished, there is always something or other to do. I recently started working on my garden shed and turned it into a small garden cottage, or so I've been told by my fellow garden bloggers. That shed had been an eye sore for far too long and I'm glad that is looking so much better now. There was however one part of this problem area around my shed, that I haven't shown you before and with good reason, because it looked really and truly horrible. Every time I walked past my shed, I averted my eyes from this painful eye sore. Here, see for yourself.

The before picture is not a pretty sight, you'll agree.

And this is what it looks like now, much improved, don't you think? I like the after picture much, much better.

It took me most of last weekend to make this area of my garden look more presentable. First I cleared away all the rubbish, then the under-gardener was asked to put up a few planks to block the view from all the wood that's stored at the side for the wood burner.
The pear tree that is close to the shed is forming mini pears at the moment as you can see here, and in the background on the left the new planks that hide a myriad of sins. Then I whipped out my trusty paintbrush and painted the whole thing in white and yellow, after I had finished painting the other side of the garden cottage white.
It took 3 layers of white paint to hide that horrible brown. But all the hard work was worth it and I am very pleased with the end result. And there was more to paint, there's no rest for the wicked, is there? ;-)

From the previous owners we'd inherited this rather old and decrepit wheelbarrow. It's made of iron and therefore very heavy, even when it's completely empty. Not very handy, you'd agree. So I thought of something else to put this wheelbarrow to good use.

First I asked the under-gardener to drill a few holes in the bottom of the barrow.
Then I gave the wheelbarrow a good clean and painted it a dark blue.
It looks like medium blue in some of the pictures but in reality it's a dark blue. After I had finished painting the wheelbarrow and the paint was completely dry, I put a few crocks in the bottom.
Then I filled the wheelbarrow with a good quality potting compost. The crocks are there to ensure good drainage and to prevent the earth from blocking the drainage holes.


On Saturday I had gone out to buy some plants to put into the wheelbarrow once it was finished.

On Sunday the wheelbarrow was planted up, the plants got a good soak and then I wheeled it over to the garden cottage, where it's taking pride of place.

There, all better now.

To think of gardens as you think of decor is to miss much of the satisfaction that the subject offers. No matter what the media tells you, gardens can't be treated like outdoor rooms.
Stefan Buczacki, The Guardian, 19 February 2000