(The podcast episode for this post can be found here: https://www.podbean.com/ep/pb-jwrvf-14599ef)

We are constantly being encouraged to do more outside or spend more time in our gardens – but what do we do when we get there? How can we make our little patch of Heaven on Earth look more ‘Garden of Eden’ and less like the inspiration for ‘Stig of the Dump’?

Well, in an attempt to assist with this outdoor conundrum, I’ve put together a list of 5 ideas to help us all get a little more joy in our back garden (yard/space/whatever you have!)

1 – If you have a shed or out building of any sort, why not grow some raspberries along it?

Autumn fruiting are the easiest as you just need to cut all the canes down in winter and new ones will appear in spring ready to grow you a new harvest. It’s a real boost to morale to see their green shoots appear yar after year. As they grow, the flowers emerge, calling to the pollinators that the buffet is open. You can’t beat sitting i the sun, watching a furry bummed bee buzz his way from one flower to anotehr, grateful for the food and paying for his supper by ensuring fruits aplenty just for you. It sounds like one of life’s ‘little’ pleasures but its the soulful equvalent of plugging in your mobile to charge it.

2 – See everything as a potential plant pot!

From wellington boots for strawberries to plastic storage boxes for salad. If you can drill drainage holes in it you can probably grow in it! I’ve used old shoes, paint pots even a cardboard box (an experiment but seems to be working).

We all know about yoghurt pots and margarine tubs (which are a bugger to clean out!) but I would suggest that before you throw anything out: STOP and think: “Could I grow something in that?”

A chair with a plant pot in the seat, an old ladder with pots hanging from it while climbers…well..climb. The only limitation is your imagination.

A garden should be more than a place to dry your washing. It should be more than another ‘chore’; it should be relaxing, enjoyable, fun and yours.

3 – Mix veg and herbs in your flower patch.

Forget any rules you’ve been told – if if will grow in the space you have, let it. Think lettuce, spring onions, chives, french beans, parsley, courgettes or even cabbages – whatever you fancy!

Sometimes ‘hiding’ veg amongst other flowers can confuse pests to the point where your harvest doesn’t suffer from the usual attacks. Don’t forget the flowers some veg offer too. Peas and courgettes for example, have gorgeous flowers, fit for any ‘flower’ bed.

4 – Don’t forget your smaller garden friends.

Over the years, I’ve worked hard to train myself not to flinch the instant I see a bug of some sort (not a huge fan), but instead, to take a moment to observe and watch another world I don’t think about as often as I should.

The beetle who darts for cover when I’ve moved his chosen resort; the blackfly I’ve now learned to leave for the ladybirds to feast on; the spiders I make verbal agreements with: “you stay on your patch and I’ll stay on mine”. It’s a work in progress but that doesn’t mean I don’t value them.

So I put up feeders for the birds, let plants flower that I wouldn’t have a few years ago and leave bug ‘pests’ for their natural predators to deal with.

We’ve noticed our garden and allotment have a lot of bees, hoverflies, butterflies – distractions of all kinds. My main problem now is focussing on the gardening job instead of watching this other world and its inhabitants going about their day – unaware of their casual observer!

5 – Take time to look up

I love watching the variety of birds that visit our garden.

A few years ago, I was at the allotment, watching a couple of buzzards circling in the sky. I couldn’t believe it when one of them came low and flew over our plot – over my head. Now, when I say low, I mean low; I could hear the flapping of his wings and in that momnet, I couldn’t have been happier. I felt the plot was protected and my ‘guardian’ had flown by so close to let me know everything was as it should be.

It’s all too easy to keep our heads down when tending to our veggies, or at best, eye level when looking at our flower beds. I would like to encourage you (and myself), to look up more often.

Just as the microscopic world goes on in the soil, there is another above our heads. When you hear a bird sing, find it, watch it – sing back if you want and see what happens!

My point is, take time to enjoy the dramas and triumphs that happen every day, right above our heads.