17th April 2010
Went to B & Q with r Julie to buy some plants for the close gardening project. I also have some that are growing in the flat from bulbs.
I think it's a good start although one of the white and yellow ones I actually promised Julie (sorry Mrs, you can watch it grow out the back at the Bridge).
The door to the back space is just up a couple of stairs from my door.During Easter bank holiday weekend I gave it a clear up and threw out a lot of dead plants and rubbish and am ready to put my plants out.
I like the space oot the back but I don't really know why! We have an old bank downstairs which is now a casino. There is a lovely domed window in the building but of course, domes need to go somewhere and it mostly goes out the back of our flats.
The man who used to own the flat opposite me concreted over the ground and it's surrounded by misshapen and multi textured buildings. For some reason, I like that too.
Because of the dome, there are almost three spaces for me to work with.
Below is a small space next to my neighbour's window. Bottom right is the space outside my smaller bedroom window (very badly installed window Mr Singh!).
There is a bigger space behind the dome where you could put a couple of tables out (looks smaller here than it is). To the right is a small hut. I hoped I could knock it down but it's cemented in (next time I am at B and Q, I am buying a VERY BIG hammer). There's a shed behind that with various cast offs in it, including a boat for some reason.
I know how bad it looks at the moment but I genuinely believe it could be really nice. I am hopeful of a small oasis in the heart of the city centre and dream of bird tables (though read recently that unhygienic bird tables are killing out the local avian populace), a water feature, creeping vines and ivy, home composting, a herb garden and vegetable self sufficiency. I would additionally like chickens and a cow but we shall see.
25th April 2010
OTBGP now stands for "oot the back garden project". It's quicker than typing it all out again.
I posted my plans to develop an oasis of tranquility in the back court of my Glasgow tenement.
Like most things, I want it finished yesterday but neglect it after the first flushes of obsession have died down. However, I am determined to plough on with this and just a few hours work a week should reap longer term results.
Progress so far -
I potted the plants I bought into bigger pots and put them out the back. They really all now need to go into planters but they are surviving at the momentI've bought 10 sacks of compost and two planters from Glasgow Wood Recycling. The half barrel planters (right) look particularly good value and look like they will be a good start. I may paint these. Not having a car is definitely a disadvantage for a large project so I am relying on home delivery or r Julie. I also got a big green plastic planter from Argos which was too cheap not to buy.
I've bought a pressure washer to clean the slates on the back court walls. They look black at the moment but I started brushing the ones to the left a little bit and they are bright white underneath (I live in one of the most polluted streets in Glasgow). It's my birthday on Wednesday and the pressure washer is due here on Tuesday so that's what I will be doing on my birthday and I have to say ... I can't wait! I'm thinking of stained wood trellises drilled to the walls with creeping vines and ivy.
A subsidised composter from Scottish Waste Aware and a water butt from Argos is my nod to sustainability. It also means I should have a good enough supply of compost and fresh rain water literally on tap for watering.
I've also been doing a lot of research, looking up other similar projects and trying to find out what the best plants, shrubs and tress would be for out the back. Once I get my feet, I'll start thinking about vegetables, herbs and fruit trees.
I've started thinking about some ornamental art and have an itching to do something with the stack of used wine and sherry bottles that I have. I'm not sure yet exactly what to do with them but I am now looking out for a glass cutter and some glass paints. I thought it would be nice to cement them into a path but cement seems awfully permanent if I make a mess of it.
There are three huge Sky dishes hooked up to our high wall, from the local bookies and the building downstairs which was temporarily a Somalian day centre and is now a hairdressers. The cables span the back of the court and are low, meaning that even the smallest visitor risks being strangled at worst or inconvenienced at best by them. I am not sure what to do with them.
I've cleared the drains of mud and rotting leaves as drainage is an issue and will be blasting them with the pressure washer too.
The surface of the back court is currently cement and decking would be a problem I think because of the strange shape. I am toying with bark or pebbles with paths (which the wine bottles could provide). I'm not sure at all though about the surface and may just grow loads of floor covering shrubs.
I understand now how long term a project this is but it has already served somewhat of a purpose, affording me fresh air and a distraction from thinking about work etc. I am already loving it!
24th May 2010
Goodness me it's hot! Finally I can celebrate the warm weather alongside everyone else as my OTBGP begins to recover from my recent period on crutches.
The project started a month or so ago with the purchase of some plants. I also bought a pressure washer. I had lots of hope of home composting, beautiful plants, parties and sustainable vegetable and fruit supplies. Since I've been on crutches I've had to reign in my expectations.
The pressure washer proved to be a hassle which I may try again once I'm more mobile. With no outside tap, I had to run a hose from the kitchen sink (after buying an adaptor from eBay), through the bathroom and out the back. Water pressure was low though and I gave up. The walls are still dirty tiles, waiting to be cleaned but that can wait.
To the successes ..
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| Water Butt |
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| Compost Bin |
I've started home composting. I took arrival of a huge compost bin a few weeks ago and have now started to fill it with vegetable peelings, coffee grinds and ripped up toilet rolls. Tomorrow I will take possession of two Bokashi recycling bins. For anyone not familiar with Bokashi, it allows you to recycle meat, fish, dairy products and basically most food waste. You add it to the bin, pour Bokashi bran over it and allow it to ferment for two weeks. The resulting sludge is then added to your compost bin and a liquid rich in nutrients for plant feed (1 part to 100 parts water) is produced.
My plants are starting to sprout. They pretty much all now need to be re potted into something bigger but my compost from the Glasgow Wood Recycling Project hasn't arrived yet as they are moving. I have spent hours googling other places to get compost delivered in Glasgow. Gap in the market for any entrepreneurs! I bought three reconditioned whisky barrels from Carrick Cooperage for £45 (£10 delivery) - fabulous bargain and they are HUGE (the picture on the right does them no justice at all size wise) and heavy. 
My favourite new development though is this new table and chairs which arrived today. It cost around £180 from Argo. It sounds expensive but to be honest, it was about what people on eBay where asking, if a little cheaper. Thanks to the Argos delivery man who (a little huffily) took them up the stairs for me. Really easy to assemble and very sturdy indeed. I have spent a very pleasant hour or so sitting out, reading, listening to the trains and helicopters go by and passing a few words with my neighbours (who are delighted with the latest developments).
This little space is only about a quarter of the space I have available to work in so there is still lots of potential.
By the next time I blog about the OTBGP I hope to be able to report that the walls are white again, the plants have a new and roomier home and that the sweet smell of Lavender and compost is regaling my senses to complement my evening glass of wine .. outside. Life is sweet.
18th July 2010
18th July 2010
I haven't ever really had a garden apart from as a child and that was just a place to play football. I did live on an organic farm for a year though and I absolutely loved that. I think that's where my interest in growing things was first unleashed.
I live in the centre of Glasgow, the real capital of Scotland and second best city in the world only to New York, New York. I live in a flat in a tenement. I am one floor up and we have an 'out the back' which is a large concreted over space with a great big dome in the middle of it. It's a shared area which I have now commandeered. Context, history and progress all appears in earlier blogs.
To recap though, I have a water butt, a compost bin, two Bokashi composting bins, tonnes of troughs, planters and pots outside with things growing in them and a propagator and pots inside with seeds in my fridge.
There's no plan to my garden really. Because the space is all concrete floor with white, grey and black walls I wanted plenty of shrubs and climbers to cover the space. They needed to be hardy to accommodate Scotland's weather, my anticipated loss of interest after a while, the dome which creates a lot of shade and the height of the space which exacerbates wind. They need ideally to be perennials so I didn't need to go out and buy more stuff and they needed to be reasonably quick growing so I didn't get disheartened too quickly.
The water butt was originally about collecting rain water but I became nervous about drilling into a shared rain pipe so now it's purpose is to save me walking up and down stairs with water as we don't have an outside tap. The compost bin was about reducing landfill but also about saving me having to walk down stairs with lots of rubbish.
The space in total was about improving my lifestyle, giving me access to fresh air, a tan and allowing me to reciprocate the unerring hospitality of garden owning friends who have fed and watered me outside over the years. Check, all achieved so far (although a party is still required).
Unexpected benefits have been numerous. For an initial outlay (it has been quite expensive due to the allure of eBay) ultimately gardening will improve the value longer term of the properties in the 'close'. Glasgow is great for parks but outside space in the city centre is quite unusual. It may pay for itself as I start to branch off into cuttings and growing my own now that the space has been made fit - the seeds in my fridge are for fruit trees so that by the time I retire, I can live off fruit and rum. Aside from walking up and down the stairs gardening keeps you quite fit - I hadn't expected that. I hadn't planned for a herb garden but I do have one now and it's great being able to pop out and cut some fresh herbs. This also encourages me to cook fresh food which is also healthier. My maternal instincts have been stirred, which I hadn't expected. I feel very maternal towards my plants. I worry about them when it rains and is windy and I talk to them about my day, offer encouragement on growth and sympathise if they look ill or have been eaten. I'm sure they feel nothing for me but I like that I have something to look after and get home to. I am learning about chemistry. My compost bin is currently doing very interesting things with fluffy white mould appearing on the top. I read up on this and apparently it's a sign of decomposition and is quite normal but I may have to add more air. Chemistry made more practical.
I am astonished by the beauty of nature. My neighbours have started to get interested and this is nice. We've always talked about doing something 'out the back' but never got round to it. It's genuinely nice though to find plants outside your door when you come home from work. A gift from somebody who appreciates your efforts - it's not something that always happens in life I find.
I've heard of things I had never heard of before - Sphagnum Moss, Perlite, Vermiculite, bark chips, scarification, stratification, dormancy, mulch and germination. I've learnt that you should plan ahead and not just jump in. I've learnt that things sometimes grow and sometimes don't and sometimes there's no logic to it. I have learnt not to tip my Bokashi bin into the compost bin or the liquid fill tray will fall in and that Bokashi juice really, really smells. I've learnt that compost needs to be turned to work and I now have an aerator and that compost can be developed on a concrete surface which I didn't know. I've discovered a use for used wine bottles as impromptu bird baths (more a bird sink to be honest but I live in hope). I've found out that bees and butterflies live in the centre of Glasgow - none of which I knew. I've found out that not everything I touch will wilt and that I can grow things. I've learned to have patience and not move plants too often as they don't like it, not to put them in pots that are too big for them and not to water them when it is very sunny as they burn. I've learnt that sometimes plants try to attack each other but that they are quite sociable creatures really. I've disproved the theory that plant pots should have stones or old bits of pots in the bottom for drainage but have learnt that holes are essential. I have learnt that if you don't put labels somewhere on plants you totally forget what they are and therefore, what they need. I've learnt how to use a drill and now even have a drill. I've learnt how pressure washers work and now have a pressure washer (dish washers are next and then I am sorted - apart from bluetooth. What is bluetooth?).
All in all, I have to say, I am loving my first year of being a gardener. The plusses are numerous and expense is the only minus I can think of. It's disappointing when things die and I feel guilty for letting it happen but in the plant world, dead things bring new life through composting and I like the cyclical nature of that - death and decay brings life which brings death and decay which brings life etc. I now have both a new hobby and a new philosophy to life and for that, I thank my plants and all the gardeners both great and not so great whose knowledge I have borrowed. This time next year I hope to be able to pass on some of my own.
