This was the plot that wasn’t going to have any raised beds. Beds defined by woodchip paths was the way to go and the front half of the plot is true to the plan. It seems a good way to retain moisture during dry spells. When the beds are topped up with compost and the woodchip is fresh, it instantly makes the plot look very tidy.

The raised beds have started to appear on the back half of the plot. This had been used as a dump site for several years, so I don’t want to grow edibles there. The original plan was for it to be my flower field, but growing conditions weren’t great with a combination of poor soil and dense shade from the trees. The trees have been pruned and the soil is being combined with compost in the raised beds. Fingers crossed for a better outcome this year, flower beds rather than a field.

I decided to start constructing the new beds when the ground was frosty. After an hour or so of joining the frame and lining with rubble sacks, I retreated to a warm house.

The following weekend was dry and a very pleasant 8 degrees. I levelled the bed, filled with soil and transplanted the delphiniums and lillium bulbs. The surrounding area had sprouted ammi and poppy seedlings from the compost; they looked very healthy for plants that failed to germinate in the plush surroundings of the greenhouse last Spring.

You may have spotted in the picture above the skeleton of a new compost bay. It seems I’m not fully settled on an allotment site until I’ve relocated the compost area at least once!

Work continued on the new bays last weekend, with one a quarter full with garden prunings. The ammi and poppy seedlings are somewhat ragged; it’s either pigeons or parakeets! Note they have completely ignored the antirrhinum, which has survived the frost. I have the components for another bed alongside this one and have started to level the ground – maybe a job for next weekend.

I weeded the peony bed today, I spied red shoots.

The site receives plentiful loads of woodchip but often they are mulched shrubs, full of leaves. I was super excited to see a huge pile of chippings with no leaves, it motivated me to mulch the side path.

There’s about half the path still to be mulched, but I’ve a dodgy knee to add to the dodgy shoulders. Easy does it.

Did the sun tempt you out to the plot or garden today? What did you get done?