rebuilding the garden

So back in September last year we started renovating our house, adding a room and deck on the back and enlarging our kitchen and dining rooms. We are still finishing the downstairs room but the bigger kitchen, the lovely open deck among the trees and the longer dining area have all been fantastic changes to our little house.

The one casualty as predicted from all this change was our garden. The extensions began with a great big hole in the ground made by a big yellow excavator which then trampled that clay soil up and down the side, over the top of my pretty little side garden.

We managed to protect all our trees, and we saved some plants by digging them up and putting them in pots. But everything else suffered through the digging and building, had piles of sand and gravel and clay plonked on top of them, bricks and lime and cement mixers emptied on to them and were compacted by machinery and a portaloo.

The garden was a battleground by the end of our renovation.

But then we had a landscaper friend come in earlier this year and restore order and install our new layout. Crushed granite steps, pavers and garden beds were put in and last of all turf was laid. This was most exciting as we'd been away and returned to instant lawn!

Here are the bones of our new garden. So neat! I can't wait to mess it up a bit!

A few weeks ago I went online and ordered some perennial plants mail order. They arrived last week and all have been tucked into the garden beds. They came bare root, which means they were winter dormant, but little shoots are coming up every day.

I've designated the side garden as the vegie patch and I have little seedlings growing in makeshift beds and pots. Its such a relief to have plants already in as spring arrives.

I'm going to write another post about the planting but wanted to share the landscaping with you and the dramatic before and after pics first.