Transformation

Our new mini-garden, ta-daa! Once the site of an ancient compost bin, all it took was some intensive labour, lots of repurposed materials, a trip to the garden centre and a coronavirus pandemic to be transformed into a whole new thing. Photo by John Denniston.

This was what this area looked like before John began dismantling, digging and cutting back the laurel hedge. On the plus side, building a garden on the site of a compost heap has to have some advantages.

In process: The old compost bin, which was built in the mid-1970s, is gone, and John has sifted the soil and removed a pile of rocks. Still to come are a new fence made out of an old piece of lattice, a major trimming of the hedge, and the construction of a wire-mesh structure for plants to climb up.

With seeds in short supply -- you can order them but they may or may not arrive in time for this year's planting season -- I turned to Southlands nursery to get the garden started with seedlings. Note my charming pandemic mask. Photo by John Denniston.

Loading up the back of the car with my purchases. John stayed out of the garden centre to avoid other customers, and touched nothing while he waited for me. These are the kind of precautions we take these days; I just washed my hands for a long time when I got home. Photo by John Denniston.

Notice my fine, expensive, big tomato plants. They were still in the greenhouse at the garden centre, and I took the hint. They will stay inside until I know it's warm enough to risk them outdoors. Photo by John Denniston.

My new plants sitting on the green grass of home, awaiting placement.

A garden requires lots of watering, so John put his plumbing skills -- and some old taps -- to work and came up with this arrangement under the back porch. One outlet will be for a long-distance hose to the back garden; another will be for watering closer in.

How to make the best use of what is really a pretty tiny space? We decided on a narrow board down the middle for a pathway -- unlike stones, it's easily changed if it doesn't work. Besides, we had just such a board on hand. The wire construction is for climbing plants like beans and tomatoes, which are still to come -- hence the unplanted area. Photo by John Denniston.

These little green things are kale, bok choy, lots of lettuce, onions and Swiss chard. Some critters have decided bok choy and certain lettuces are tasty. Four have been chewed down to the roots already. This garden may be a work in progress all summer. Photo by John Denniston.

This is me realizing that I bought way too many plants. I forgot that most of  the containers I chose included multiple seedlings that had to be split up and planted separately. The bed I had just denuded of Solomon's seal became my fallback. Suddenly, it's a veggie garden. Photo by John Denniston. 

A closer look at the accidental veggie garden. Now the newly planted lavender shares space with rocket, kale, parsley, oregano and even a couple of strawberry plants. It will be interesting to see how they all get along.