The garden

Spring has arrived here in Holland.
And with the arrival of warm and sunny weather we are spending more time in our garden.
We have a very typical dutch suburban garden.
It's 5 meters wide and 10 meters deep.
When we bought the house it was overgrown with lots of huges shrubs and bushes. Also there wasn't really a fence; between our garden and the neighbors there was a line of thin prickley bushes. Not ideal when you have 2 dogs.. So it neede some work but it faces south-west so that is ideal.

Over the past 2 years we have made some improvements. We've added a wooden fence along both sides, cleared most of the big shrubs and planted bushes of our own. We also gave the huge Japanese Cherry tree in the back of the garden a good trim. The tree was one of the reasons we bought this house. I love the shade it provides in the heat of summer. And the blossom in spring is beautifull!

There are still some more improvements to be made. The plan is to put in a big terrace in the next few weeks and someday we will replace the blue fence along the end of the garden.
We are both outdoors kind of people and at the first sign of sunshine and warm weather we are in our garden. Tending to the plants, mowing the grass , sit in the sun with a drink or light up the bbq.
We try and light it up when ever we can..

This is my little herb corner. I bought most of them from a nearby gardencentre, except for the Mint. That is one of those sad supermarket herbs which I planted in good faith. it's really doing well. The Oregano is thriving so I repotted that last saturday. The Rosemary and Mint also needed new pots.

This is a insect hotel; it is supposed to be an ideal nesting place for ladybugs, butterflies and solitair bees. But so far it only houses spiders.. I love havind all sorts of insects in the garden. I've already stocked up on a special ladybug attracting flower mix. And have some left-over bee mix from last year. 

Right next to the door is the best spot to sit, especially early spring and late fall.
Most of the time it's wind-free and the sun makes it lovely and warm. In the front of the photo you can just see some of my Lavender; one of my favorite plants. The small fence is to keep Abby from the grass. The middle part is open in summer but we close it off in the fall to protect the grass. She runs around on it like a little mad-woman and she wrecks it. 

The view from the master bedroom. As you can se the small fence is still closed off; it is still a bit muddy. The stack of stones is our soon-to-be terrace. Across the picture is my washing-line. +This way the laundry hangs above everything and is never in the way. We brought the stepping-stones that are in the grass home with us from our last vacation in the Belgian Ardenns.
It is all still a bit bare since it is still early in the season. But the weather is supposed to be good all week so everything will start to grow soon.