My garden

14 February 2014 by Monica Björk
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On the wall at the entrance, I have two rows of stacked pots. It is a big pot at the top and at the bottom, in between six small pots. The plants are growing nicely together like a mat on the wall.

2
Here we go clockwise around the house. We have just passed the garage door and rounded the corner and come to the flower bed nearby the street. Here, we have made a new edge around the flower beds with concrete blocks. The grass between the flower bed by the wall and out on the lawn ends with some stepping stones where the flower beds meet.
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The blocks are the type you just stack on each other without fixing them with mortar. An extra layer at the rear edge of the flower bed gives extra height. The small concrete blocks on the outside of the wall is to make the mowing more easy.
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Now we move along the trench edge. Here are two young hedges. A low curved hedge of pink flowering Birch-leaved Spirea is visible behind the Saskatoon berry hedge which also bends in the same direction. Closest to us is a young ornamental apple tree which we planted as a friend to the old apple tree (which is not on this picture).
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Here you can see the low hedge from the other side and the old ornamental apple tree behind.
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The old ornamental apple tree is in full bloom. The branches is all white of flowers.
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From the small sour apples I cook the most delicious apple-sauce I have ever tasted.
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If you go inside the two hedges you come to the little garden pond located in front of the long flower bed in the slope from the house. Above grows a hedge with Grefsheim spirea.
Hmm. this is an old picture, I have to update with a newer one.
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Here we can see how the greenhouse is squeezed in between the wooden wall and the border of our lot.
This is also an old picture.
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I plant flowers in a bunch of hanging baskets in the spring. Some of them I give to my friends and many of them I use myself. I always have too many of them so I just hang them in the trees.
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I dont work all the time in my garden. I have to rest too.
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Now we have moved closer to the greenhouse and are looking back in the direction we came from. To the left we see the hopeless overcrowded flower bed that needs a big face-lift. The soil needs to be improved and I want to change the edge in the front and make it higher so the flower bed don’t lean so much.
Also an old picture, I will update this soon.
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In the middle there is a slate stone staircase. Between the steps there grows Creeping Thyme and Maiden Pink.
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On the trellis I always hang too many hanging baskets, but where else should I hang them? The trees are already full of them.
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Here is my husband, reading in the corner.
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A few years ago I made ten squared flower boxes. The problem was just to find somewhere to place them, henceforth, I will not have as many wooden boxes on the terrace. Three of them have now moved home to my mother.
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Here is me measuring up the wood that will be the handles on the flower boxes.
Fortunately I have always liked wood work. If I would buy the boxes, they would have cost a small fortune. I get the wood for free from my dear father. He owns a small household sawmill.
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Furthest out on the terrace is a hole in the brick wall. Here I usually grow trailing flowers. The only problem is that the wind blows a little too much here.
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Now we have passed the corner and is on the back side of the house.
Here you can see all of my composts and a small toolshed.
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If you stand with your back against the brick wall you can see down to the municipality meadow where we have put our barbecue place up. We mow a large part of the meadow, and may use it as we wish as long as we don’t put up any building on it. A barbecue is not a building!
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Now we are on the north side of our house. Here I have planted a short hedge of cherry bushes. We will see if there are any berries to pick in a few years.
Behind the hedge grows a gooseberry bush.
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On the north I also have built a flower bed. We have used the same type of concrete blocks around the edge as the flower bed on the road side.
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Here I have placed a bird bath that I casted in concrete. Lots of small birds enjoy taking a bath now and then. One time I could count to over twenty greenfinches that wanted to take a bath at the same time.
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Now we are back at the entrance. Here is our bicycle parking place when it was newly built. Now the bushes have grown quite a lot and are much bigger. I have to take a new photo and update this too, I think!

 

7 responses to “My garden”

  1. Monica, I have a great love for Sweden and have special Swedish friend. Yvonne Groning, she is an author and her daughter lived in Lulea some time ago. I have never been that far North in Sweden. Your work, creating beautiful designs and your gardening is such an inspiration. Thank you so much for sharing. Warmly, Emily

    Reply

  2. Heaven on Earth! To be so talented and be able to appreciate it all…doesn’t get any better! It’s all beautiful. And I am SO jealous!

    Reply

  3. WoW! What a beautiful garden! My friend just told me about your site in connection with crafting, but imagine how thrilled i was to find a crafter who loves gardening as much as me. We have been renovating an old overgrown garden for the past 2 years. If you pm me on FB i would love to share pics and garden notes with you. Crafty hugs, Beba

    Reply

  4. Monica, you have done such a nice job with your landscaping!! I am about to landscape my yard and am looking through various sites for ideas. I’m so glad I chanced upon your site as you have provided several really great ones. Thanks, and I’ll be checking back now and then to see some of your new ideas. I also want to check out some of your other pages. Great Site!!

    Reply

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