Two Hour Gardening Project: Stage 6 – Starting the Patio and Creative Ideas

First permanent feature: the patio—great for sitting, eating, relaxing. Not hard if gentle. Bull-at-gate causes months of backache. Slow and easy. Extend time budget if needed. Bright ideas for excavated soil and other novelties.

Needs: broken brick/gravel/coarse sand; square wooden pegs; 1 ball string; 1 spirit level; 1 pkt nasturtium seed; 1 pkt Canary creeper seed. Time: 6 hours in 2 weeks.

Mid-June Weather/Soil

Longest day approaches, summer lags. Hot days coming in July/August. Northerly districts catch up. Not too late to resow failed seeds.

Flower of the Fortnight: Ornamental Hop

Humulus japonicus 'Variegatus'—high-speed annual for instant screening. Variegated (white/cream/green splashes)—beautiful! Twiner (needs support). Twines clockwise: pencil test—string ascends right to left. Botanists say left to right (view from inside pencil). South of Equator: anticlockwise (like bathwater). Planting per Stage 3.

Groundwork

1. Meet slugs/snails—creepy, slimy, destructive. Nothing sluggish about their eating. Night feeders, often underground damage. Day: hide in dark, cool, moist spots. Trap: tile/slat 3.5 cm above soaked earth, lettuce/orange half under, largely cover with earth. Two weeks: remove, scrape into incinerator.
2. Gladioli sword leaves up. Sow leftover annual seeds between. Reseed bare annual patches.
3. Lawn mower height: aim 2 cm. Keep seeds moist, semi-shade, labeled.

Project Work: Starting Patio; Original Ideas

British/American dilemma: garden for gardening or relaxing? French/Spanish/Italian: secluded relaxation. Taj Mahal to Moorish Spain: gardens for relaxation. Good garden combines both. Patio time. Use weeded stones from borders. Peg out patio with stakes/string. Ours 1.8 m x 1.2 m including path. Excavate 15 cm deep. Stockpile soil for rockery (borrow wheelbarrow if needed). Bottom 10 cm: large stones/hardcore. Then 2.5 cm smaller stones. Then 2.5 cm builder's sand.

Schedule work so path usable during construction. Level. Use excavated soil: make mound, plant potatoes (sprouting seed tubers, 10 cm deep). Sow climbing nasturtiums (Tropaeolum majus)—riot of colors. Mixed packet, sow like sunflowers (Stage 4) but press 2.5 cm deep. Sow Canary creeper for later tubs/containers. Blanch dandelion leaves: large flower pot over them. Any dandelion—culinary best. Never eat lawn dandelions—unknown weedkillers. Save toilet roll tubes: halve, fill with soilless mix, box in soil, sow annuals. Root restriction = small, colorful flowers.