Mini Garden Makeover “Awesome” Lift for Dianne

When we arrived at Dianne’s place Marie & I jumped out with big trays of mauve, purple and white primula that looked fantastic. We walked into the garden and Dianne who was at the gate burst into tears. She told us she’d had a terrible year, she had lost her husband a year ago and 4 months later had moved into a small unit and she was missing her old home. She hadn’t been well and hadn’t been able to make the garden in the unit nice, so this was a big thing for her.

We went to work and mixed in plenty of peaty planting mix, as parts of the bed were dry powdery sand. This will break it up and allow better moisture penetration and holding. I then planted a large 4ft tall Standard Lilly Pilly at either end of the bed, then a border of Japanese Spindle bush around the bed and the white lavender and purple primula in the middle of the garden. This garden is small and easy to dig and we thought that the best way to have colour in a bed like that all year round is by planting annuals twice a year. I expect the Primula will finish by late September and we told Dianne to plant some Petunias, as these will flourish until the next Primula or Viola season.

Dianne is a feisty lady and she hopped in and helped us do the garden. She put on a lovely afternoon tea, which was great as we had skipped lunch to get all the things together for the garden, and sent us each away with a big hug a kiss. Just as we left, Dianne’s daughter, son-in-law and 10-year-old grand daughters arrived. We asked the grand daughters what they thought of the garden and they said “Awesome”.