Shady Spots and London Cards

My husband and I finally tackled one of the worst parts of the garden today. It's a piece of lawn which is sheltered by the house and the garage and gets no light at all, and has now developed mossy patches where the drainage is so poor on the clay soil. 

We wanted to incorporate a path, as the boys cut the corner on the way to the trampoline, and a bed for shady plants. It was hard work, bless my husband, taking the turves up and we spent a long time forking over and incorporating grit and compost into the bed. We then had to mark the path and tread it flat, edge it and then we filled it with purple grey slate pieces. I haven't got around to planting yet, as I only have three suitable plants. I also need to decide whether to have some sort of obelisk or some large stones in the bed to add a bit of interest.

Once the remaining grass grows up and the bed is filled, the edges won't be so obvious.

I have some beautiful clematis growing in another part of the garden:

We were only able to acheive all this because Fred, the most attention seeking, was out at a friends for the day! He went over to celebrate his friend's birthday, and I made this card for him out of the scraps of material from Fred's cushion.

It really doesn't look at all straight - oh well, that homemade charm!!

Love Mrs Jones x