Garden update (in pictures)

We don't have much of a garden yet - it's all work in progress. We have only been in this house for two months, and most of our efforts have been focused on the house itself. Painting, furnishing etc. But we have managed to do a few things in the garden too. 

We moved in quite late in the season, so rather than running around like a headless chicken trying to force things to grow right away, I decided to take it easy and get the garden properly ready for next year. I discovered that I have heavy clay soil here, so solutions had to be found.

As far as gardening goes, I have much more enthusiasm than knowledge or experience, and I learn as I go - no doubt mistakes will be made but it's all part of the fun. 

I don't really have any ''before'' pictures, but here's the current state of affairs.

Curious Banjo exploring the garden for the first time.

Harvest of potatoes planted by the previous owners.

My herb ''garden'' - I couldn't wait, I had to plant something!

I have sage, rosemary, marjoram, oregano and a bay tree.

I also have a lavender plant - but no flowers this year.

I found these little things growing in the monoblock cracks. I transplanted them into a pot - I think they're blackberries but we shall see!

We had to plant this apple tree on a mound rather than in a hole due to the clay soil.

Boxes for raised beds my S built for me. They still need to be dug into the ground and filled in - we want to do this soon so the soil can rest over the winter. I have 3 large beds, two narrow ones along the fence (for climbers) and a small square one for strawberries.

Three large beds, 2.2m x 1.1m each.

Front of the house. We removed all the turf and replaced it with bark. The tiny lonely plant there is a Japanese quince. I will eventually add more shrubs to keep it company.

A pile of turf we removed - this will go on the bottom of the raised beds.

Front of the house - a small rock garden that we've tidied up a bit.

We have a small pond in the garden but it will have to go; we've decided it's not safe with a 4-year-old running around.