Gilda's Garden

Gilda is a friend of mine who volunteered to act as a guinea pig when she heard that I was studying for a garden design course. She has lots of ideas herself and is a hard worker so it's not a bad job for me!! I'll put up some pictures on this page to show you how we are getting on.

If you're a regular visitor and would like to skip straight to either 2004's news, 2005's news, 2007/08 or 2013 news, please click on the relevant year. To see the latest photos, please click here

I've also split out the flower pictures into a gallery of their own. To go to that section, please click here.

Before my first visit to Gilda's, she had measured her garden and sent me a plan of the layout so I could come up with some ideas. Straight lines are definitely "out" so plenty of curves are required. Gilda would also like a seating area about half way down, somewhere for the children to play and a white bed. So ... off to work.

We did our measuring (11 May 2003 - a very wet day) and marked out a rough plan with 6 inch nails and string then I brought it home to put onto graph paper, knowing full well that the design would be a movable feast.

Gilda had already done a whole load of work, creating the beds on either side of the path but the path is to go (too straight!) and we decided we would widen and curve the beds to take away the narrow feeling in the garden.

The garden is about 17.5 ft wide and 120 ft long so plenty of space to play with. It's a lovely sunny garden with very stony soil so plenty of "organic matter" required.

On my next visit (26 May 2003), Gilda had been busy with the strimmer and cut back all the long grass although she's still undecided whether she wants grass or something that's more easy to maintain at the garage end of the garden (to be the play area).

Gilda had also started digging out the old grass on the left hand side of the garden (hard work as very old soil and full of roots) but it had to go.

To give ourselves some encouragement (and as a break from digging out the grass), we marked out the first of the new beds (right hand side) and set on with digging that instead. Gilda had removed the grass in front of this old bed ages ago and had covered it to suppress the weeds.

This had worked a treat and the soil, although stony, was not too bad to dig.

The mulch we used was composted stable manure which is a nice dark brown colour to contrast against the plants and also provides lots of nourishment for the soil.

Gilda had lots of lovely plants in her garden already that she'd bought or had given. Some were already in the bed but a bit squashed and some in pots so it was easy enough to fill the bed.

There are 2 silver birch trees in Gilda's garden. The one on the left is staying but being lopped and the one on the right going (leaning badly). Alan will sort them out and Gilda's next door neighbour (Carol) is arranging to have a new fence put along the left hand side of the garden.

The next bit to tackle (apart from the silver birch trees) is the old path. The top slabs are already out of the way and Bruce (next door right hand side) is going to help Gilda get the concrete base out.

We can then start thinking about the seating area (decking is favourite at the moment) and the other bed near the house. Once they're decided upon, the rest of the garden can be tackled.

It's now August 2003 and we are making good progress. Gilda's been extremely busy. The old path and most of the grass has been removed which makes the garden look much bigger. The path used to disect the garden but we can now start to picture the curved shapes that Gilda wants to create.

The first bed we planted up in May has settled in really well with the plants looking quite at home.

Today we fed and planted up the second bed (the pink bed) and straightened up the plantex to stop weeds coming up on the new path area. I then left Gilda digging muck into (and planting up) the third bed (right) while I went home to look after my own garden!

It's September already and Gilda continues in her digging - so far she'd found an old pond liner, a base of at least one greenhouse and an old fire place! It's hard work but she's making really good progress.

The plants are also making good progress and the first bed is really showing off at the moment.

One of the biggest successes of the season is the beautiful white cosmos flowers which have been wonderful. The "pink bed" will now probably become the white bed so we don't have to move them!

My next visit will be to do some serious thinking about paths, the seating area and the play area.

The end of September has arrived and the plans redrawn for the decking area (see right) and paths. Gilda has got most of the "rubbish" out of the garden - one more large piece of lintel and (no doubt) a load of pond liner and hardcore hiding underneath that but then she's there!

With rain in the air, we chickened out and didn't do much digging today but the light was OK for photos so I took the opportunity to wander round with my camera.

I've put most of the individual plant/flower pictures in a separate section at the bottom of the page. This way you can see the wide variety of plants that Gilda enjoys. Click here to go to that section. Gilda has loads of colour in her garden and, as many of the plants are perennials, they should grow for years to come.

Through Autumn/Winter Gilda is planning to mark out the final beds (as per our revised plan) and get some quotes for the decking, paths and water feature.

The man who is going to do the decking has been to measure up etc. and work is due end May. In the meantime, Gilda has got the rest of the mound removed so we can now see the shape it's going to be.

We've cut the cotinus back (January) so the first bed we created is looking a lot tidier. The second bed was looking a lot emptier as Gilda's dug out some of the old, tired shrubs ready for new plants to go in. This bed now benefits from next door's new fence and looks a lot smarter.

Grasses are one of Gilda's favourite sorts of plants so there'll be a lot of them in the garden by the time we have finished.

It's now April 2004 and progress continues to be made with Gilda digging for England and getting ready for the decking. In the meantime, there is plenty of colour for Gilda to enjoy (when she has the time!)

July 2004 - The decking's been installed and looks great. Gilda has loads of plants to put around it to soften the edges and the new furniture has arrived (it was pouring down so it's still inside as yet)

Not content with the decking in place, Gilda has now decided to dig up the patio (left) and is getting stone to match the new path (right)

So ... the first major task has been completed successfully and Gilda now has somewhere to sit, enjoy her garden and entertain her friends and family. Still loads of work to do but the garden is really starting to come together.

It's now August and the weather's improved (very hot and sunny for the last few days) so the furniture is out and being well used. The new path and patio are in place (see below right) and "all" that's left to do is the end near the garage (see left).

To end with (for now), here's a reminder of what we started with and where we were by the end of 2004.

Another year already and off I went to Gilda's to join up with Gilda and her trusty helper to plan this year's projects.

You can imagine my delight at seeing such a colourful welcome when I walked into the garden - the poppies in particular are wonderful (pictures added to the picture gallery).

This year's work will be concentrated on the far end of the garden - it currently looks like this but we've bashed some ideas around and Gilda is having a ponder on circles, curves and angles prior to my next visit!

It's now August 2005 and Gilda's identified the material she wants for the play area. It's made from old tyres and resin so is nice and bouncy. However, the supplier needs a flat surface, four inches lower than the end surface and covered in membrane so Gilda's been digging furiously to get it ready.

It's not all hard work though as the beds are now becoming quite established ...

... the path and decking have weathered in well and Gilda even has time (and space!) to entertain friends.

Moving swiftly on to 2007 and Gilda's garden is becoming more and more established. Not sure what happened to 2006 - perhaps we'll track down some photos in due course and add them to the page.

Gilda has loads of bulbs in here garden, providing a lot of colour in the Spring.

The tulips especially provide a whole range of colours - beautiful!

That's not to say there's no colour in the other seasons because there is!

Gilda's garden even looks pretty in the dark!

Now in the height of summer ... the cool colour of the stone paths highlight the bright colours of the planting.

Gilda's taken the stone paths and finished the end of the garden with a lovely stone circle to match with the curves.

The best use of a garden is fun and friendship and Gilda makes good use of the decking area with her lovely table and umbrella ....

... with big family parties!

We're now in to August 2007 and, as you can see, the plants seem very happy and well established.

Spring 2008 and there's even more bulbs than ever!

There's plenty of food for the birds too.

Taking photos from above gives a good overall impression!

Must be very early in the year as Gilda's got her table put to bed for Winter!

A bit later and the tulips are coming on nicely.

Must be later because the table cover's off and ready for action for the summer!

These 3 photos are from June 2008 following a long, hard-working day in the garden!

It's now October 2013 so quite a lot of time has passed and, as you'll see, the garden has matured quite a bit! Gilda had had some work done at the far end of the garden so the left hand side needed a bit of a reshuffle but the plants were waiting patiently.

As Gilda says, her new summer house / home office looks so much better than her old garage and shed. Just in case you need convincing, just compare the two photos on the right.

I hope to add more pictures later - Gilda's gone digital so hopefully she'll keep the photos coming!

I've added a few more pictures to the Flower Gallery and I'll update with progress again later.

The next few pictures are from May 2005.

The following photos are from August 2005.

.... and now some photos from 2007

... and now 2008 ...

We've now reached 2013 (October) and my photography / website skills have improved a bit so the photos are, hopefully, better.

Gilda's Garden
Gilda is a friend of mine who volunteered to act as a guinea pig when she heard that I was studying for a garden design course. She has lots of ideas herself and is a hard worker so it's not a bad job for me!! I'll put up some pictures on this page to show you how we are getting on. If you're a regular visitor and would like to skip straight to either 2004's news, 2005's news, 2007/08 or 2013 news, please click on the relevant year. To see the latest photos, please click here I've also split out the flower pictures into a gallery of their own. To go to that section, please click here. Before my first visit to Gilda's, she had measured her garden and sent me a plan of the layout so I could come up with some ideas. Straight lines are definitely "out" so plenty of curves are required. Gilda would also like a seating area about half way down, somewhere for the children to play and a white bed. So ... off to work.
	We did our measuring (11 May 2003 - a very wet day) and marked out a rough plan with 6 inch nails and string then I brought it home to put onto graph paper, knowing full well that the design would be a movable feast.
Gilda had already done a whole load of work, creating the beds on either side of the path but the path is to go (too straight!) and we decided we would widen and curve the beds to take away the narrow feeling in the garden.		The garden is about 17.5 ft wide and 120 ft long so plenty of space to play with. It's a lovely sunny garden with very stony soil so plenty of "organic matter" required.
	On my next visit (26 May 2003), Gilda had been busy with the strimmer and cut back all the long grass although she's still undecided whether she wants grass or something that's more easy to maintain at the garage end of the garden (to be the play area).	Gilda had also started digging out the old grass on the left hand side of the garden (hard work as very old soil and full of roots) but it had to go.
To give ourselves some encouragement (and as a break from digging out the grass), we marked out the first of the new beds (right hand side) and set on with digging that instead. Gilda had removed the grass in front of this old bed ages ago and had covered it to suppress the weeds.	This had worked a treat and the soil, although stony, was not too bad to dig.
The mulch we used was composted stable manure which is a nice dark brown colour to contrast against the plants and also provides lots of nourishment for the soil.		Gilda had lots of lovely plants in her garden already that she'd bought or had given. Some were already in the bed but a bit squashed and some in pots so it was easy enough to fill the bed.
	There are 2 silver birch trees in Gilda's garden. The one on the left is staying but being lopped and the one on the right going (leaning badly). Alan will sort them out and Gilda's next door neighbour (Carol) is arranging to have a new fence put along the left hand side of the garden.
The next bit to tackle (apart from the silver birch trees) is the old path. The top slabs are already out of the way and Bruce (next door right hand side) is going to help Gilda get the concrete base out.		We can then start thinking about the seating area (decking is favourite at the moment) and the other bed near the house. Once they're decided upon, the rest of the garden can be tackled.
It's now August 2003 and we are making good progress. Gilda's been extremely busy. The old path and most of the grass has been removed which makes the garden look much bigger. The path used to disect the garden but we can now start to picture the curved shapes that Gilda wants to create.
	The first bed we planted up in May has settled in really well with the plants looking quite at home.
	Today we fed and planted up the second bed (the pink bed) and straightened up the plantex to stop weeds coming up on the new path area. I then left Gilda digging muck into (and planting up) the third bed (right) while I went home to look after my own garden!
It's September already and Gilda continues in her digging - so far she'd found an old pond liner, a base of at least one greenhouse and an old fire place! It's hard work but she's making really good progress.		The plants are also making good progress and the first bed is really showing off at the moment.
	One of the biggest successes of the season is the beautiful white cosmos flowers which have been wonderful. The "pink bed" will now probably become the white bed so we don't have to move them! My next visit will be to do some serious thinking about paths, the seating area and the play area.
The end of September has arrived and the plans redrawn for the decking area (see right) and paths. Gilda has got most of the "rubbish" out of the garden - one more large piece of lintel and (no doubt) a load of pond liner and hardcore hiding underneath that but then she's there!		With rain in the air, we chickened out and didn't do much digging today but the light was OK for photos so I took the opportunity to wander round with my camera.

I've put most of the individual plant/flower pictures in a separate section at the bottom of the page. This way you can see the wide variety of plants that Gilda enjoys. Click here to go to that section. Gilda has loads of colour in her garden and, as many of the plants are perennials, they should grow for years to come. Through Autumn/Winter Gilda is planning to mark out the final beds (as per our revised plan) and get some quotes for the decking, paths and water feature.
2004
The man who is going to do the decking has been to measure up etc. and work is due end May. In the meantime, Gilda has got the rest of the mound removed so we can now see the shape it's going to be.		We've cut the cotinus back (January) so the first bed we created is looking a lot tidier. The second bed was looking a lot emptier as Gilda's dug out some of the old, tired shrubs ready for new plants to go in. This bed now benefits from next door's new fence and looks a lot smarter.
	Grasses are one of Gilda's favourite sorts of plants so there'll be a lot of them in the garden by the time we have finished.
It's now April 2004 and progress continues to be made with Gilda digging for England and getting ready for the decking. In the meantime, there is plenty of colour for Gilda to enjoy (when she has the time!)		July 2004 - The decking's been installed and looks great. Gilda has loads of plants to put around it to soften the edges and the new furniture has arrived (it was pouring down so it's still inside as yet)

	Not content with the decking in place, Gilda has now decided to dig up the patio (left) and is getting stone to match the new path (right)
So ... the first major task has been completed successfully and Gilda now has somewhere to sit, enjoy her garden and entertain her friends and family. Still loads of work to do but the garden is really starting to come together.
	It's now August and the weather's improved (very hot and sunny for the last few days) so the furniture is out and being well used. The new path and patio are in place (see below right) and "all" that's left to do is the end near the garage (see left).
	To end with (for now), here's a reminder of what we started with and where we were by the end of 2004. Back to top
2005
Another year already and off I went to Gilda's to join up with Gilda and her trusty helper to plan this year's projects.
	You can imagine my delight at seeing such a colourful welcome when I walked into the garden - the poppies in particular are wonderful (pictures added to the picture gallery).
This year's work will be concentrated on the far end of the garden - it currently looks like this but we've bashed some ideas around and Gilda is having a ponder on circles, curves and angles prior to my next visit!
	It's now August 2005 and Gilda's identified the material she wants for the play area. It's made from old tyres and resin so is nice and bouncy. However, the supplier needs a flat surface, four inches lower than the end surface and covered in membrane so Gilda's been digging furiously to get it ready.
It's not all hard work though as the beds are now becoming quite established ...
	... the path and decking have weathered in well and Gilda even has time (and space!) to entertain friends.
Moving swiftly on to 2007 and Gilda's garden is becoming more and more established. Not sure what happened to 2006 - perhaps we'll track down some photos in due course and add them to the page.		Gilda has loads of bulbs in here garden, providing a lot of colour in the Spring.

	The tulips especially provide a whole range of colours - beautiful!
		That's not to say there's no colour in the other seasons because there is!
	Gilda's garden even looks pretty in the dark!
Now in the height of summer ... the cool colour of the stone paths highlight the bright colours of the planting.
	Gilda's taken the stone paths and finished the end of the garden with a lovely stone circle to match with the curves.

	The best use of a garden is fun and friendship and Gilda makes good use of the decking area with her lovely table and umbrella ....

	... with big family parties!

We're now in to August 2007 and, as you can see, the plants seem very happy and well established.		Spring 2008 and there's even more bulbs than ever!

	There's plenty of food for the birds too.
		Taking photos from above gives a good overall impression!

Must be very early in the year as Gilda's got her table put to bed for Winter!
		A bit later and the tulips are coming on nicely.

		Must be later because the table cover's off and ready for action for the summer!

These 3 photos are from June 2008 following a long, hard-working day in the garden!

It's now October 2013 so quite a lot of time has passed and, as you'll see, the garden has matured quite a bit! Gilda had had some work done at the far end of the garden so the left hand side needed a bit of a reshuffle but the plants were waiting patiently.




As Gilda says, her new summer house / home office looks so much better than her old garage and shed. Just in case you need convincing, just compare the two photos on the right. I hope to add more pictures later - Gilda's gone digital so hopefully she'll keep the photos coming!
I've added a few more pictures to the Flower Gallery and I'll update with progress again later.
Flower Gallery












	The next few pictures are from May 2005.





The following photos are from August 2005.


	.... and now some photos from 2007

... and now 2008 ...


	We've now reached 2013 (October) and my photography / website skills have improved a bit so the photos are, hopefully, better.




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