See which types of crime are most common where you live

These are all the crimes Thames Valley Police recorded in Reading, Wokingham, Bracknell and West Berkshire in April 2017

from getreading - Local News http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/local-news/see-types-crime-most-common-13259682

Henley Regatta through the years

We've scoured our archives for some great pictures of the event through the ages

from getreading - Berkshire History http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/berkshire-history/pick-past-henley-regetta-through-11550443

Fewer fire safety inspections to be made at businesses in Berkshire

Group Manager makes case for "fewer, more focused visits"

from getreading - Reading & Berkshire News http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/reading-berkshire-news/fewer-fire-safety-inspections-made-13073618

Heavy rain and thunderstorm weather warning issued for Berkshire

The Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning for rain

from getreading - Reading & Berkshire News http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/reading-berkshire-news/heavy-rain-thunderstorm-weather-warning-13244746

Three bus lane cameras fine Reading drivers £60,000 in six months

The cameras in Vastern Road have caught over 2,500 drivers so far in 2017

from getreading - Reading & Berkshire News http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/reading-berkshire-news/three-reading-bus-lane-cameras-13232656

South Reading sees huge surge in patient numbers putting GPs under strain

The South Reading CCG has seen a rapid increase in the number of patients registered at GP surgeries

from getreading - Reading & Berkshire News http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/local-news/south-reading-sees-huge-surge-13231661

Huge water park opens in Reading and the other big stories from the last week

In the news this week, a Whitley takeaway had to close after a fire and the topless brawler at Royal Ascot

from getreading - Reading & Berkshire News http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/reading-berkshire-news/m3-closures-biggest-water-park-13235719

Reading has one of the highest rates of homelessness in the country

The number of homeless families in Reading was twice as high as the national average

from getreading - Reading & Berkshire News http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/reading-berkshire-news/reading-one-highest-rates-homelessness-13228313

Man cut free from car crash in Winkfield

Crews from Ascot and Bracknell were called to the two car collision

from getreading - Reading & Berkshire News http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/reading-berkshire-news/man-cut-free-car-crash-13227695

Royal Ascot odds, tips and going for Ladies Day 2017

See which runners the racing experts are backing on the third day of this world-famous fixture

from getreading - Horse Racing http://www.getreading.co.uk/sport/other-sport/horse-racing/odd-tips-ladies-day-ascot-13222390

Thunderstorms on the way, fire in Whitley and former councillor jailed: Wednesday's top stories

What you have been reading on Tuesday, June 21

from getreading - Reading & Berkshire News http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/reading-berkshire-news/thunderstorms-way-fire-whitley-former-13220815

Bracknell charity boss made OBE for dedication to helping others

Katharine Horler, chief executive of Adviza, has been recognised for her outstanding commitment to improving the lives of others.

from getreading - Reading & Berkshire News http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/reading-berkshire-news/bracknell-charity-boss-made-obe-13218898

Can you fry an egg on a car bonnet in Reading?

We tested the age-old legend that cars get so hot you can cook on them

from getreading - Reading & Berkshire News http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/reading-berkshire-news/can-you-fry-egg-car-13219364

Berkshire traffic: Heat leads to train problems and busy around Royal Ascot

High track temperatures are causing delays between Reading and Newbury

from getreading - Reading & Berkshire News http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/reading-berkshire-news/berkshire-traffic-heat-leads-train-13219839

Pride of Reading: Software engineer gave up career to volunteer in the community

Peter Chan has been nominated as Volunteer of the Year in the Pride of Reading Awards

from getreading - Reading & Berkshire News http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/reading-berkshire-news/pride-reading-software-engineer-gave-13215846

Yellow thunderstorm weather warning issued for Berkshire

People may have to add a mac and a brolly to their shorts and T-shirt

from getreading - Reading & Berkshire News http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/reading-berkshire-news/yellow-thunderstorm-weather-warning-issued-13217171

Berkshire traffic: Royal Ascot racegoers cause jams and lane closed on M4

There are no incidents affecting travel around Berkshire

from getreading - Reading & Berkshire News http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/reading-berkshire-news/berkshire-traffic-royal-ascot-racegoers-13213480

East Reading Festival to bring community together this weekend

Thousands of visitors are expected in Palmer Park for a day of family fun.

from getreading - Family & Kids http://www.getreading.co.uk/whats-on/family-kids-news/east-reading-festival-bring-community-13209564

Berkshire heatwave to continue but thunderstorms could be coming

Take a look at the forecast for Reading and Berkshire this week

from getreading - Reading & Berkshire News http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/reading-berkshire-news/berkshire-heatwave-continue-thunderstorms-could-13208462

Reading Traffic: Roads getting slow on scorcher on an evening

Reading Traffic: Roads getting slow on scorcher on an evening

from getreading - Reading & Berkshire News http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/reading-berkshire-news/reading-traffic-roads-getting-slow-13207749

You could get a day off work if you moan to your boss about the heat

As temperatures top 30 degrees Celsius we take a look at if it's ever too hot to work

from getreading - Business http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/business/when-too-hot-work-heatwave-13205634

Deer rescued from pool by fire crews after taking a dip to cool off during Sunday heatwave

Firefighters from Caversham Road station were called to the incident

from getreading - Reading & Berkshire News http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/reading-berkshire-news/deer-rescued-pool-fire-crews-13205931

Cool off at these Berkshire paddling pools and splash pads

It's time to whip on the sun cream and break out the swim wear and get splashing

from getreading - Family & Kids http://www.getreading.co.uk/whats-on/family-kids-news/berkshire-paddling-pools-open-summer-11390361

M4 works could affect holidaymakers coming back from Heathrow Airport

The work moves further down the carriageway to junction 4 at Heathrow Airport/Uxbridge

from getreading - Reading & Berkshire News http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/reading-berkshire-news/m4-works-could-affect-holidaymakers-13201121

What colour should I paint my shed?

I have been debating the crucial issue of what colour to paint my shed.

Painting your shed transforms your garden. And if I paint my shed, it’ll also last longer. The wood is protected by the paint or stain.

I love Wenche Immink’s pale shed – she used just one coat of a pebble grey exterior paint. Wenche’s garden is open for Faversham Open Gardens & Garden Market Day, June 25th. It’s Garden 13.

Of course I also dream about a more dramatic transformation. I pored over the results of  the first ever Grand Shed Project at this year’s Grand Designs Live, which was sponsored by AXA Insurance.

This featured five inspirations for transforming garden sheds, including a Reading Snug, Sewing Shack, Miami South Beach Bar, Boutique Bedroom and an Outdoor Room. You can see them here, and AXA Insurance are also sponsoring this post.

I would adore a Reading Snug, but, for the time being, I am just going to paint my shed.

But what colour to choose?

Vintage-style blues, greys and greens must be the most loved shed colours at the moment. Who can resist a duck-egg blue shed with eaves and a window?

Lindsay’s shed is such a pretty blue and goes well with her planting.

Location, location, location…

The first thing to consider is where is your shed, and what is it for? Our new shed has been designed to merge with the fence. We want it to minimise its impact, not make it a focal point.

Greens and blues are wonderful garden colours, and blend into the landscape.

Green – especially dark green – helps a shed blend into its surroundings and is also attractive in its own right. This shed is seen on the Stonebridge Pond Allotments in Faversham (open for Faversham Open Gardens & Garden Market Day).

But if your shed is a focal point for the garden, the colour decision will be different.

Choose a pale romantic shade for your shed…

If you’re thinking of a pale colour, then test it carefully to see how it behaves out of doors. If you’re using a specialist outdoor paint such as Ronseal or Cuprinol, the colours seem to come out fairly close to what you might expect.

Wenche’s shed is ‘romantic’, with its white rose climbers.

However if you use exterior or interior versions of paint ranges designed mainly for indoors, I have discovered that the shades look much paler outside under the sky.

For example, we previously painted our back gate in Farrow & Ball Hardwick White. This appears to be a mid grey inside but properly white outside.

This colour – Hardwick White – appears mid grey inside (in our house anyway). So maybe go a shade or two darker to get the effect you want.

When trying out pale paint shades for your shed, you may need to go two or three shades darker to get the effect you want.

Be bold and paint your shed a bright colour

I love Angie’s lime-painted shed with its contrasting purple bird feeder.

There are some more brightly-coloured sheds in Revamp your shed – a short and easy guide here.

A white shed?

White sheds can be stunning. You might worry about white getting dirty. However, we had the back door (above the photo of the lime green shed) painted in Hardwick White for about seven years without repainting it. It does look a little grubby in the photo, but nothing that the odd wash wouldn’t have remedied.

White sheds can be romantic, seaside or modernist.

This shed in a seaside-themed garden in Whitstable is painted white, as is the fence around it. It’s in Clare Road, Whitstable, and is the view from a room available through Airbnb.

Tie in your shed colour with your border scheme.

Rosie Turner’s bright pink shed has featured on this blog before, and it’s always very popular.

Rosie Turner’s pink shed is a backdrop for her ‘pink garden.’

She chose this shade (  from Cuprinol) because she has a long thin town garden, with everything on view from the house. The theme of the garden is pink. She has crab apples, pink clematis, pink hebes, pink peonies and more.

Rosie Turner’s shed echoes her planting.

If you’re wondering whether you need to re-paint bright colours on sheds more often than darker colours, Rosie’s shed first appeared in 8 really simple, cheap ways of transforming your shed in 2014. The photographs above were taken three years later. She hasn’t re-painted in that time.

Go over to the dark side…

Award-winning garden designer Charlotte Rowe once told me that dark colours make a boundary recede. In 12 Creative Tips For an Urban Garden, she explained that she often uses dark shades for fencing.

I also think there’s a big move towards using chunks of dark in kitchens. (Put ‘contemporary kitchens’ or ‘kitchen decor’ into Pinterest if you don’t believe me.) We’re about to re-vamp the kitchen and I’d like to echo the paint shade both inside and outside the kitchen window.

And when I wrote about the renovation of architect Tom Croft’s garden, I was really struck by how wonderful dark green doors looked.

This barn door is painted in Amsterdam Green (Sanderson paints). I love it, and strongly considered it for my shed.

So I decided to paint my shed dark. That’s partly because the shed in question is practical. It’s not one of those sheds that serves as a pretty focal point. It has been designed to blend into the fencing line.

Farrow & Ball Black Blue on the new shed.

But the final choice is Farrow & Ball’s Exterior paint in Black Blue. The shed has ‘disappeared’, and people don’t seem to notice it all.

‘We’ve painted the shed since you were last here,’ I say, encouragingly, when people come round. They look somewhat bemused and seem unable to spot a shed at all.

The shed before painting. Don’t tell me you preferred it like this!

And the side view…

This was the previous shed in this position – sorry about the poor quality of the pic, but you get the idea.

Paint the shed door in a contrasting colour

Painting your shed door in a contrasting colour – or just painting the door and leaving the rest of the shed as plain wood or brick – can be remarkably effective.

This is a very attractive shed in Anna Turner’s garden in Deal.

A Plankbridge ‘shepherd’s hut’ with a contrasting door. Once again, the dark blue makes the hut almost fade into the background.

Jacqui and Richard Drew’s shed with a contrasting door. They are Garden 31 in Faversham Open Gardens on June 25th. Photo by Richard Drew.

And I didn’t just paint my shed…

We now have so many different elements on our terrace. There’s the shed, plus a bin store, log store, brown back door, white side gate and green water butt.

We decided that it would be calmer to paint everything the same colour.

The back gate, the bin store and the log store are all painted in Farrow & Ball Black Blue.

What the bin store and log store looked like before they were painted. The back gate was white, and our back door was brown. We bought the bin and log store from Wayfair.

We even had the water butt painted. It was an old green plastic water butt. I researched online to find an attractive alternative.

We painted the water butt to match the shed. It was green before.

The nice water butts were quite expensive, though. It was much cheaper simply to use the same paint we used for the shed. It may not last long – although it’s been four months now with no sign of it wearing off, in spite of some hard rains.

Wenche’s pale grey-white shed is a background for climbing roses. She’s painted the back gate the same colour. The bench and table in front of the shed are also painted in a harmonious wash.

Or do something dramatic…

I recently wrote about Jack and Carolyn Wahlberg’s charming small garden (Garden 36 in Faversham Open Gardens & Garden Market Day on June 25th). Jack has painted his shed and has also used CDs, which reflect in the sun.

Jack and Carolyn’s shed with its unusual treatment of CDs.

A shed at Sussex Prairie Gardens, covered in magazine covers. Possibly not the most long-lasting of treatments…but it’s fun.

The practicalities of painting your shed

When I decided to paint my shed, it was like doing a rain dance. The minute I bought the paint, the heavens opened.

We had booked a painter to paint my shed, and he had to cancel several times. You shouldn’t paint a wet shed. Or even a slightly damp shed. It must be properly dry, which means no rain for at least 48 hours.

If there’s any roughness, blistered paint or fungus, that needs treating first.

And there are counsels of perfection. Sand down the wood so that it is smoother. Use an undercoat. Use a spray paint for easier application (if you do, make sure the paint is suitable for use with a sprayer).

The log and bin store getting their primer (undercoat). They were both new so needed relatively little preparation.

You’ll need two coats, and it makes sense if one of those is a primer. But painting outside is much more forgiving than painting inside a house. It won’t matter so much if it isn’t quite perfect.

Wenche used just one coat of paint to get a washed or weathered effect.

We simply used some leftover Farrow & Ball interior emulsion paint on one of our sheds about 10 years ago and it’s lasted pretty well. It’s faded, but the effect is still much nicer than its original orangey-brown wood.

You can just see a standard brown wood shed at the end of this path.

The same shed, painted with a wash of leftover paint. Even in winter, I like it better. We did this seven years ago, so it’s worn well but the faded look is part of it.

For those of you planning to buy a new shed, there’s more advice on how to avoid buying the wrong garden shed here.

If you’d like to go further than just painting your shed, read about the Grand Design shed project sponsored by AXA here.

And let me know what colour you’ve painted your shed and how you chose it.

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The post What colour should I paint my shed? appeared first on The Middle-Sized Garden.

from The Middle-Sized Garden http://www.themiddlesizedgarden.co.uk/what-colour-should-i-paint-my-shed/

Reading West MP Alok Sharma promoted after winning seat back

Mr Sharma is now Minister of State for Housing and Planning at the Department of Communities and Local Government.

from getreading - Reading & Berkshire News http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/reading-berkshire-news/reading-west-mp-alok-sharma-13189047

Caversham pub commemorated for inspiring John Lennon and Paul McCartney

The Fox and Hounds has been presented with a blue plaque

from getreading - Music & Nightlife http://www.getreading.co.uk/whats-on/music-nightlife-news/caversham-pub-inspired-lennon-mccartney-13180234

The General Election and Reading drug raids - recap the week's headlines

Take a look at the most read stories on the getreading website over the last seven days

from getreading - Reading & Berkshire News http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/reading-berkshire-news/general-election-reading-drug-raids-13169255

Are we seeing a new direction in weeds?

Is it my imagination or are we seeing more ‘weeds’ in gardens now?

I don’t mean gardens that look unkempt. Some of the prettiest gardens now unashamedly seem to have weeds sprouting alongside the bedding.

I used to work on glossy magazines. If we encountered something new or unexpected twice in a few days, we always called it a ‘new trend.’

Mary and John Cousins’ is Garden 8 in the Faversham Open Gardens & Garden Market Day on June 25th. You can see the wild salsify front centre and on the right of the photo in clumps in the vegetable patch.

I’ve been photographing gardens to publicise Faversham Open Gardens & Garden Market Day on 25th June. I found weeds were welcome in several gardens, even by quite serious and knowledgeable gardeners.

Weeds in borders

So are we seeing a trend towards weeds in borders? Feel free to tell me that all the best gardeners have always left their favourite weeds in situ.

Tragopogon porrifolius or wild salsify grows on the marshes near Faversham. Kind birds drop the seeds in our gardens – seen above in elegant clumps in Mary and John Cousins’ garden. It’s too beautiful to wrench out.

Oare Marshes. In late May there are banks of pink salsify turning their heads to the morning sun.

Purple loosestrife

It always gave me a pang to pull out the tall purple spires of loosestrife scattered through my garden.

But when I visited Jack and Carolyn Wahlberg’s garden (Garden 36 in Faversham Open Gardens & Garden Market Day), I was impressed that Carolyn just lets the purple loosestrife roam around the garden.

Purple loosestrife in Jack and Carolyn Wahlberg’s garden.

I went home and photographed mine. It can stay for a little longer, although googling it for this post has yielded the word ‘invasive’ a bit too often.

Several Governments around the world are waging war on purple loosestrife. It can choke marshlands and drive out native species.

It grows under a tree in heavy shade in my garden – and I do think it is rather beautiful. The Canadian and Australian Governments describe it as ‘very invasive.’

Centranthus ruber or red valerian

I wasn’t sure if the clump of valerian that sprouted beside my dahlias was a weed or not.

Very pretty, but over a number of years, the garden was neglected. The valerian took root in the brickwork and the bricks are all now being replaced.

It’s listed as a ‘bee-friendly’ plant by the RHS, but gardening friends tell me it is also a weed. It grows out of walls, and in coastal sites, so it’s extremely useful. I first fell in love with it when writing a post about Tom Croft’s garden. However, it has eaten into the brickwork…

Perhaps it’s a good idea to be very firm with weed-flowers in your beds.

Wild mallow or malva neglecta

This has a strong architectural shape and sweet little pink flowers. It’s trying to elbow an echinops out of my border. But I think it’s pretty, so I’ll see who wins.

Malva neglecta or wild mallow

And close-up.

Borage

Is borage a weed? I definitely didn’t plant it. It’s being quite thuggish, so it will have to go.

Borage. Supplied by a kind bird. But I think it’s a weed.

Oddly enough, another thing these ‘weeds’ have in common is that they are edible (not loosestrife).

You can forage for wild salsify, eat borage flowers in Pimms and valerian is used to help anxiety and sleeplessness. All parts of wild mallow are edible and it is considered a ‘superfood’ nutritionally (although apparently it has a boring taste.)

I’m a nervous forager. I would only want to you try eating weeds if you had checked with at least three other independent sources that they were safe. Because there are always side effects to worry about!

They say that a weed is only a flower out of place. In some parts of Australia, agapanthus is classified as an invasive weed.

Agapanthus is considered an invasive weed in some parts of Australia.

So what weeds have you got growing in your garden? Do you think we are getting more relaxed about weeds – and is that a good thing?

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The post Are we seeing a new direction in weeds? appeared first on The Middle-Sized Garden.

from The Middle-Sized Garden http://www.themiddlesizedgarden.co.uk/are-we-seeing-a-new-direction-in-weeds/

Finalists revealed for Reading Cultural Awards

The winners will be announced on June 29

from getreading - Arts & Culture http://www.getreading.co.uk/whats-on/arts-culture-news/finalists-revealed-reading-cultural-awards-13158565

Pride of Reading: Meet the mum who makes food parcels for Reading's homeless

Doris Allimadi was so saddened by the number of homeless people she decided to help out

from getreading - Reading & Berkshire News http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/reading-berkshire-news/pride-reading-meet-mum-who-13150195

Artists open their doors this weekend for the Whiteknights Studio Trail

Reading artists open their studio doors to visitors and customers

from getreading - Arts & Culture http://www.getreading.co.uk/whats-on/arts-culture-news/artists-open-doors-weekend-whiteknights-13158506

Full General Election results for Berkshire

Labour win one seat in the area, Conservatives retain firm majorities

from getreading - Reading & Berkshire News http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/reading-berkshire-news/full-general-election-results-berkshire-13162422

Missing Reading teenagers found safe

Laiton Kennedy and Michael Cross had been missing since Monday

from getreading - Local News http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/local-news/missing-reading-teenagers-found-safe-13162261

Labour's Reading East gain only change in Berkshire in General Election 2017

The Tories still have a very strong presence across the county

from getreading - Reading & Berkshire News http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/reading-berkshire-news/labours-reading-east-gain-only-13160882

John Redwood holds on to Wokingham seat as general election results come in

Mr Redwood won his eighth consecutive general election in Wokingham

from getreading - UK & World News http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/reading-berkshire-news/wokingham-general-election-results-redwood-13159500

John Redwood holds on to Wokingham seat as general election results come in

Mr Redwood won his eighth consecutive general election in Wokingham

from getreading - Reading & Berkshire News http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/reading-berkshire-news/john-redwood-holds-wokingham-seat-13159500

Watch as general election results come in across the UK

Our map and totaliser will show each individual result come in throughout the night

from getreading - Reading & Berkshire News http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/watch-general-election-results-come-13158932

What time will we know the general election results?

Here's what time to set your alarm for if you want to find out when Reading East, Reading West, Bracknell and Wokingham constituencies declare

from getreading - Reading & Berkshire News http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/reading-berkshire-news/election-2015-results-what-time-9204870

Find out why the general election vote is always held on a Thursday

When it comes to elections and going to the polls what is it about Thursdays?          

from getreading - Reading & Berkshire News http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/reading-berkshire-news/find-out-general-election-vote-13154886

11 charming small garden ideas on a budget

If asked for ‘small garden ideas’, I wouldn’t normally start with advising you to plant a large cypress tree right in the middle of your  courtyard garden.

But one of the great pleasures of helping to organise the Faversham Open Gardens & Garden Market Day (held on Sunday 25th June) is discovering all the amazingly different ways people garden.

Mark and Carolyn’s charming small garden is open for Faversham Open Gardens and Garden Market Day on June 25th. Many things have been collected from charity shops.

Make the best of what you’ve got

Mark and Carolyn’s garden is just 12 square metres. They’re opening it for Faversham Open Gardens for the first time this year. It is brimming with delightful, low-budget small garden ideas.

When they moved into their 1980s house four years ago, there was a large cypress right in the middle of the garden. And there was nothing else.

With remarkable restraint, they didn’t cut it down. ‘Although Mark’s always threatening to,’ says Carolyn.

The cypress tree in the middle of the garden creates a secluded seating area, and divides the garden up.

The effect is fascinating, because the tree prevents you from seeing the whole garden at once. Going round Mark and Carolyn’s garden is an adventure of discovery, and the tree is part of it.

Don’t let size curb your ambitions

A central bed of wildflowers, self-seeders and other plants flourishes – although the bed is shared with the cypress tree.

There is everything the gardener could want in this small space. It includes two mini-wildlife ponds,  self-seeders, wild flowers, containers of all kinds, sculpture, ‘garden paintings’, bird feeders, places to sit and abundant, gloriously healthy plants and flowers.

Don’t have a lawn in a small garden

There is a wide path around a large central bed, plus wide beds around the edges of the garden. There are two places to sit, but no lawn. That greatly increases the space to grow flowers.

There’s a central bed with a wide path around it, then deep beds around the edges. This gives the garden an abundant feel.

Paving and paths are initially probably more expensive than a lawn – but you won’t need a lawn-mower!

And a lawn is hard to maintain in a small space – it quickly gets bald.

Use the walls – it doubles the growing space

The fences have ivy, clematis and other climbers, but they also host works of art. Mark calls them his ‘garden paintings.’ He hangs picture frames on the fence, and uses them to frame  hanging pots.

‘Garden paintings’ – a picture frame hung on a fence to frame a garden pot.

Raid the charity shops for small garden ideas…

The picture frames and many of the other quirky touches in this charming garden come from charity shops. Faversham is a great place for charity shops, vintage markets and other second-hand shops. And Mark volunteers at the Cancer Research Charity Shop in West St.

There’s a mix of pots, picture frames, troughs, vintage gardenalia and lots more in Mark and Carolyn’s garden. Much of it comes from charity shops.

Mix second-hand chairs with garden furniture

If you buy chairs and tables from junk or charity shops, you’ll probably be less worried about whether they’ll rot. Paint your metal garden furniture with a good all-weather paint to help stop it rusting.

A mix of garden furniture in a corner of Mark and Carolyn’s garden. Collect it over the years, and paint it.

Painting garden furniture generally helps it withstand the elements.

Cut the plant bill by letting weeds and plants self-sow

If Carolyn likes a flower, she lets it set seed. So the garden is marvellously colourful and relaxed. Purple loosestrife is considered a weed in many gardens. But here it is part of the colour scheme. It probably counts as one of the cheapest small garden ideas you’ll find.

Purple loosestrife mingling with other garden plants, filling the garden for free.

Upcycle your shed

Mark and Carolyn’s shed is an installation in itself. It’s painted, covered in old CDs and has window boxes and signs. In the sunshine, the CDs glitter.

Read this for more fun easy ideas for transforming your shed.

The shed has been painted, covered in CDs and hung with blue window boxes where Mark and Carolyn grow lettuce. Could CDs be good anti-snail deterrent, perhaps?

You can be wildlife friendly in a small garden

Bird feeders and bird boxes are mixed with the ‘garden paintings’

Think about how your garden can offer food, water, shelter and access. Bird and bat boxes, bug hotels, feeders, mini-ponds all fit into the smallest of gardens. And don’t forget that fences and hedges need to have some gaps to allow small mammals and amphibians to access several gardens at once.

Find out how to create a good wildlife garden here, even in a small space.

Pots, pots, pots…

There is a wonderfully eclectic collection of pots and upcycled containers in Mark and Caroline’s garden. Wooden boxes, old teapots, and more.

Pots work well in small gardens because they give you lots of flexibility. You can replace plants when they’re ‘over’ and change arrangements around.

A mix of pots, troughs and upcycled planters in Mark and Carolyn’s garden.

An old teapot full of succulents looks charming on the table.

See here for recommendations on the best plants for low maintenance pots.

Recycle a container to make a small pond (or two)…

Even the smallest garden can have a pond or two. You can make a pond out of anything waterproof, from a bucket or barrel to big plastic tray.

Below is a container pond, with bog plants in it. It’s important to make sure that creatures can get in and out of container ponds, so have different levels of planting and also vegetation.

Also make sure that babies and toddlers are protected. A very young child can drown in a few inches of water.

See here for how to make a mini wildlife pond.

Don’t forget to have one or two mini-ponds – wildlife need water. There are two mini-ponds in this small garden. One is the square central planter in this photograph.

One of the ponds is the top of a recycling bin. Remember when we all had to put the bottles in a large tray at the top of the bin, then the newspapers went underneath?

Now recycling technology has advanced and we can throw all the different recycling elements in together. The black tray at the top has become redundant. Mark and Carolyn have used it to make a mini-pond.

Faversham Open Gardens & Garden Market Day

Join us on Sunday June 25th (10am-5pm) in Faversham, Kent for the largest one-day open garden event in the South East.

Mark and Carolyn’s garden is no 36 in the guide book. You can also see a wide range of other gardens including walled gardens, long thin town gardens, tiny gardens, wildlife gardens, a town ‘meadow garden’ and more.

A rose on the old wall at Ravenscourt, another new garden for Faversham Open Gardens & Garden Market Day. Ravenscourt is garden 34 in the guide book and is just a few minutes drive from Garden 36.

And there are 33 stalls selling plants, vintage garden equipment, pots, local food and craft and more. Plus we have a children’s competition called Hunt the Golden Pebble to keep children happy.

Buy your tickets (£6/£10 for 2) from the Faversham Society, 10-11 Preston St, Faversham, Kent ME13 8NS. You’ll also be able to buy tickets in The Market Place on the 25th June.

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