So if you’ve been following along here on Swoon Worthy since last summer, you may recall that I tried out a product called Garden on a Roll from Homebase. The premise is they provide you with the plants required to make a rather lovely side border and you don’t have to do any thinking beyond deciding how sunny your little patch of land is and what style you’d like. They provide the plants and a biodegradable template, you dig holes, stick the coordinating plants into the coordinating holes and Bob’s yer uncle. Instant side border.
Well, I thought I’d share how that side border has got on since that fateful back-breaking 3 day weekend in August of last year where we basically gave the entire thing a massive spruce up with planting and a new fence.
Here’s a reminder of what we started with (yes, it was pretty bad, just really ridiculously overgrown and the fence was fallling to bits having so much ivy growing through it!)
And here’s what it looked like once we’d finished the work thanks to Homebase and a lot of blood, sweat and tears!
So where are we now? Well, I have to say, I’m pretty impressed. Even though it was all planted towards the end of the summer, I admit, I had my reservations that these little plants were going to live through the rather cold and wet winters we get here in Manchester and whether they really would increase in size to the degree they showed in the information video.
But as you can see from this next picture, the garden has really filled out so much in less than a year.
Out of 23 plants that were provided with the kit, we only lost 2 of them (ie., they haven’t grown back and there’s no sign of them at all just yet). I don’t actually think that’s bad going considering we are certainly not ‘gardeners’ and the garden was pretty much neglected all winter.
Here’s the other side when we’d finished our initial planting…
And here’s what it looks like now…
One of the things you may have noticed is how much better that little path looks now. Well, after bemoaning (repeatedly) how ugly it was, we started picking at it because we could see the concrete path was just falling to bits and we wanted to see what was underneath it. Well, it turns out the tarmac was just overlaid on top of original paving stones – WHATTHEWHAT.
And the paving stones actually had a very cool Art Deco pattern in them.
So it was a really cool discovery, frantically pulling off all the old tarmac to reveal groovy tiles in perfect condition – and because the tarmac was in such poor condition, it was done in record time.
You’ll notice that we still have a bit of clean up to do on it which will require a bit of elbow grease so it’s certainly not perfect but check out the pattern on the tiles! Why would anyone want to cover over that with plain old poured ROAD SURFACE is beyond me.
Oh and my peonies (which were part of the original side border) are finally blooming as well (yay!!) and it looks like it’s going to be a rather good crop this year!!
Getting back to the border, I am really looking forward to seeing how it grows as time goes by. It’s easily more than doubled in size since we did the initial planting less than a year ago. The variety of colours and flowers as well as evergreens in the pack was perfect and I know we wouldn’t have been able to get close to having such a lovely variety if we’d done it ourselves. As such, I really do have to recommend the product, it’s amazingly easy to use and really gives fantastic results. We couldn’t be happier with it.
Later this week, I’ll share some more garden goodness and the plans we have for the outside for this year! Stay tuned…
Does this sound like a product you would try or are you rather a dab hand at gardening? Do tell…
This post is in association with Homebase and while I was provided the Garden on a Roll product and fencing, all images and opinions are very much my own – I genuinely think it’s a great product!
Woahh!! This sounds like my kind of gardening!! Oh, and so glad you rescued that beautiful paving xx All looking gorgeous hun
It's pretty much 'Gardening for Dummies' (and I consider myself a Gardening Dummy) ;) xxx
The first day I moved into my house, I pulled up the giant puddle of tarmac someone had dumped in the middle of the path with nothing but a rusty trowel and a sweeping brush. Most satisfying thing ever.<br /><br />One thing I've found though, and keep an eye out for this, is the area that was under tarmac gets really green and gross when it rains, it's probably nothing a good pressure
I will have to keep an eye out and see if we have lots gross mossiness on the path as time goes by! It was pulled up a few weeks ago and so far it's been fine. No idea why anyone would do that either but YES so satisfying!! xxx
that's really impressive! loving the peonies… my favourite gardening product from home (back when i had a lovely garden) was seasol which is a liquid seaweed… spray it's lovely fishiness on your garden each time you water and your garden will double again in no time! you're going to have a fab summer back there enjoying the fruits of your labour!
Wonder if I sprayed a fishy smell all over the plants, would the cats then EAT the plants? lol Hmm… it sounds like a really interesting product though!! xxx
I am so buying one of these. They are such a good idea! Perfect for me who has no idea what to plant. Thanks for sharing this xx
It was perfect for us too! I'm fine when it comes to interior decisions but CLUELESS when it comes to gardening :) You'll have to let me know if you decide to try it! xxx
Wow, what a difference and it seems like it is pretty easy to keep up with! I hope they have this product in America bc I would sooooooo buy it!
The peonies look stunning and that path is gorgeous- why oh why would someone hide that?! People are weird… xxx
Indeed they are!! We'd assumed there would be damage somewhere but no, it was all in great condition! The mind boggles… xxx
I want your garden. Until then, I will just look at the pretty pictures…and happy cats. :)
this is looking so amazing! my garden is finally looking pretty decent this year and it makes me so happy.
Those peonies! That Art Deco concrete path! And love seeing the kitties out sunning. Mine would love to get outside for an explore, but the ticks are really bad this year, so we've just been opening the windows when we can, for them to get some fresh air.
I know, they clearly did not care I was taking the pictures – they were laying on that path ALL DAY. Oh, it must be nice to be a kitty. xxx
Looks fantastic!!! Love how many peonies you have and the cats on the walkway are (of course) my favorite.
It looks beautiful, the cats look like they are loving the garden too. This summer will be our second summer in our new house and our garden is starting to look good to, which amazes me as I haven't a clue what I am doing!
AH MAY ZING! I have peonies which have been planted for years that don't look as good as yours. Your garden is drool worthy!<br />Denise<br />Ps would Homebase be Home Depot here in the States?
So lovely! What a difference some perrenials make. I have red peonies here in Seattle, but now that I've seen your pink ones I need to go looking for some.