[Lardman]

Oh Im grumpy today. I've been musing over what to do with this bit of space now for over a year.

My plan was to grass it and create some odd shaped beds with a few stepping stones and herbs, but I've successfully killed off all the herbs  so that's not happening this year.

Now I have the area in grey to deal with, it's 8x12', I need access to the chicken run at the moment.... but I don't intent to replace the chickens when theses die (12-18months I expect). Im not sure if I should do something now or wait until the rest of the ground becomes available.

It seems silly to leave it empty but the width isn't enough really to dived into beds and get a path to the chickens and the rhubarb.   I'm not happy with anything I've come up with, I don't want anything too hard and it will then look odd and leave me with another small area when the chickens go.

Thought Id kick it out to you lot.

[Goosegirl]

All I can think of at the moment is to get some basic flags off Freecycle or wherever and put a temporary path along the rhubarb area at the top and continue it down the side to your chicken pen. When the hens have gone, you can re-use them to further develop the pen area combined with the grey area. In the meantime, you need to decide whether to grass it all - if you do then when the hens have gone you will have to dig it up if you want to grow stuff. Personally, I would just leave it as one bed at the moment and plant it up with veg then envisage what the total area could be used for later on. Not a lot of help I'm afraid.

[Lardman]

That's basically what I have at the moment GG, I did leeks and a few very poor climbing french beans there last year whilst waiting for the herbs to grow, it ended up a lot of muddy wasted space  Doesn't help that it's not flat either.

[snowdrops]

You could sow some wildflower seeds for this year,then if any are perennial & they survive next year you could rehome them. Use your stepping stones to access the rhubarb & chickens as before

[Mum2mj]

Could you put the chickens in the grey bit & plant the area where the were? (I can't read what the purple bit is)

[Lardman]

Could you put the chickens in the grey bit & plant the area where the were? (I can't read what the purple bit is)

The chicken run has weldmesh buried 18" vertically down, moving it really isn't an option and the area is about the same as the grey bit, the purple is a lavender hedge I planted last year.

You could sow some wildflower seeds for this year,then if any are perennial & they survive next year you could rehome them. Use your stepping stones to access the rhubarb & chickens as before

Im not averse to flowery things especially as that will remove the need for me get access to harvest and weed.  Does anyone cottage garden at all ?

[snowdrops]

I have had a cottage style in the past but not particularly wild flowers, bulbs,perennials & a few shrubs would all fit in to give a cottage feel

[peapod]

Cant you retry the herbs? Buy a few plug plants and sow a few in trays. pot up some mint and plant it in pots. Scatter them between the wildflower seeds and hopefully you'll have a few that take again.

Maybe put a few in some large pots ready to be planted permanently next year if you so wish.

[Lardman]

I've resown the herbs Pea it will take a season for them to be ready though, by which time I expect to be able to use the yellow area too,  there will be enough space when the 2 sections are combined to do something practical or even return it to lawn.

As with the rhubarb it gets really expensive buying plugs when you kill them as often as I do.   

[peapod]

You really need to stop killing stuff 

[LotuSeed]

Could you put a pond in the grey area, with a little bridge over it and put a shed/patio/sitting area where there chickens are?

[3759allen]

i take it you want something that will only last a year (not permanent)?

salad and beans are probably the easiest thing i guess, maybe squashes or courgettes. you could fashion some sort of arch/ tunnel to get to the chickens and grow runner beans up and over. or for an easier project make some wigwams up and leave enough gap for the path.

[Lardman]

Well that makes things easier...

I've shortened the run door which has allowed me to raise the soil and level the entire grey area off. Before it was a sharp slope dropping to the path, about 8" drop from the other side of the run door about 5ft which was leaving me an odd "P" shape to deal with.

I think now I should be all right to have a path directly in front of the chickens, and then 2 stepping stone paths across towards the lavender, one directly in front of the rhubarb and one half way. Hopefully that will give me 2 easy access beds about 6'x4'.

You really need to stop killing stuff 

Tell me about it !   

[Goosegirl]

My garden is basically a cottage garden so if you want to go down that route, let me know. A wildflower area sounds lovely but they really need nutrient-deficient soil to thrive.

[jaydig]

Oh Im grumpy today. I've been musing over what to do with this bit of space now for over a year.

My plan was to grass it and create some odd shaped beds with a few stepping stones and herbs, but I've successfully killed off all the herbs  so that's not happening this year.

Now I have the area in grey to deal with, it's 8x12', I need access to the chicken run at the moment.... but I don't intent to replace the chickens when theses die (12-18months I expect). Im not sure if I should do something now or wait until the rest of the ground becomes available.

It seems silly to leave it empty but the width isn't enough really to dived into beds and get a path to the chickens and the rhubarb.   I'm not happy with anything I've come up with, I don't want anything too hard and it will then look odd and leave me with another small area when the chickens go.

Thought Id kick it out to you lot.



"Nothing fits, it's all the wrong size and in the wrong place"..................... and there was me sympathising because I thought you'd been clothes shopping! That's exactly how I feel when I've had to shop for something to wear, and that's why I don't bother very often - I always come home depressed.