Egypt4u

Grandad, your description of how your garden evolved sounds like my own story. We only have a large(ish) patio type area after extending the house and building a workshop. Looking at your photo, yours is much prettier and greener than mine though.

It is quite sparse really Kiya and RS but that is because our little patio is not very big so we can't clutter it too much and take up useful space. We regard it very much as additional outside rooms when the weather permits.
Might as well show you the other half pano and you will appreciate how small it is. But that is the thing with town houses, you get all the benefits of schools, shops and nearby rail and motorway but lose out on space. Can't have it both ways I suppose (unless you have a fortune ).

Its a nice space for sitting in & soaking up the sun with a cool gin & tonic couldn't help noticing your nice coloured brick of your house.............one thing I hate to see is that dreaded red bricks ( cheap & nasty in my eyes )

It still looks better than mine, Grandad!

Kiya wrote:Its a nice space for sitting in & soaking up the sun with a cool gin & tonic

You are getting to know me too well Kiya, but yes, if it is nice and sunny around 5pm it's 'tiffin time'

The bricks are LBC Dapple Light Kiya and fortunately they are a standard colour so I was able to get the exact match when I extended the ground floor.

Great photos of your yard/patio area Grandad. I'm totally 100% in agreement with container gardening. You can change colours, change groupings - gives you lots of variety, you don't really have to weed and you can plant a wide variety of different type plants.

Grandad in your first photo - on the right hand side and to the right of the clay pot - there is a roundish something......looks like a green/blue enormous tomato........what is it?

I like the ground cover you have in your patio too. Stones or pavers with gravel in between also makes for very easy walking and almost no maintenance. Great idea for the ground.

Its a giant water melon - - I really hope none of you ever visit me after seeing how tidy you all are - - my outside is herbs with wire netting because of the hens(handy to pop out the door+grab something)and some sort of tall weed (so the farmer says) that scents the whole house evenings this time of year. Oh and odd pots and vases from bootsales filled with plastic flowers under my windows, no way I waste water on real flowers. Anyway the farmers goddam goats would eat real flowers -

Deer are becoming my nemesis. They're cute to look at but soooooo destructive to the landscape.

I think this is very OTT but have to agree it looks rather splendid
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... bloom.html

Not sure that you can open this LLL or Jay....

Mmmmm! Not sure about that one, Grandad! A bit like over-egging the pudding maybe?

OMG!! that is over doing a bit especially in front of windows but a lovely splash of colour

Got the article open no problem but Ohhhhhh wowwwwww - talk about a splash of colour........YIKES!

I like hanging baskets particularly the huge full ones where the plants are in full colour and blooming big but this is a bit 'over the top' and the work to keep all these baskets going ......oh my aching back

Got the article open no problem but Ohhhhhh wowwwwww - talk about a splash of colour........YIKES!

I like hanging baskets particularly the huge full ones where the plants are in full colour and blooming big but this is a bit 'over the top' and the work to keep all these baskets going ......oh my aching back

LovelyLadyLux wrote: Grandad in your first photo - on the right hand side and to the right of the clay pot - there is a roundish something......looks like a green/blue enormous tomato........what is it?

I like the ground cover you have in your patio too. Stones or pavers with gravel in between also makes for very easy walking and almost no maintenance. Great idea for the ground.

I think it is more pumpkin than water melon but whatever! It is just one of a number of ornaments around my yard. In the centre of that picture there is an antique water pump (from France). To amuse the kids I have arranged it so that, with a bucket of water beneath the spout, it actually works Just to the right of that there is a well aged Buddha and on the opposite side near the fence (not visible) there is a very large blue glazed ball and also a terra cotta Easter Island head. I just like a few things of interest in with the pots.

Regarding the slabs, my yard is completely enclosed so I had to make sure that I had drainage hence I laid them on a thick sharp sand bed with the wide gaps for drainage. Mrs G hates the stone chips but they do the job

Thankyou, opened ok - - tooooo many flowers for me- - and not a tomato plant in sight - The other afternoon I pulled and dug 182 first crop onions out to dry, I have 2 blisters due to the sweat running down to my hands. Yesterday I picked 2 trays of tomato, the little ones will be pureed today when I get off this computer-