Urban inspirations (episode 2)...

Day two of our travels saw BH and CityGirl disappear off to the GrandPrix, leaving me to my own devices. The children were away having far too much fun with grandparents, Arthur was staying in the doggy hotel and the chucks were being fed and watered - what was a freerangegirl to do?! I got to spend the day with my total garden inspiration bud, who started me gardening in the first place - Garden Girl!



GardenGirl is an amazing plantswoman and the array of specimens growing in her urban garden is stunning. This is my second visit this year and everything seemed to have changed again as her successional planting is coming into its own. Earlier this year the garden was alive with allium blooms and hues of purple and lime green,now the colour scheme has transcended into pinks and deep greens. I am, as you can probably tell, a bit in awe of Gardengirl and her borders, my only regret is not writing down the names of these lovely plants!



Whats extra amazing about this garden is that ive known Gardengirl for a long time, since her first garden in fact, where many of these larger trees and shrubs were first planted - when she moved the plants came too and are really established now - its like watching them grow up!!!



This seat came from the original garden - its where we used to have a good old gossip in our youths - boy, if timber could talk! I love the way GardenGirl fits plants everywhere without them ever looking too crowded - genius!



I had to put a picture of this Lavender in, I love GardenGirls attention to detail - I made a new gardening resolution to pay more attention to detail! (lets see how long that lasts!



But I've finally found what GardenGirls secret is for a fantastically well kept garden - Watering Pixies, or is it child labour, i'm not sure! GardenGirl has definitely trained GardenBoys very well!!!




We had such a great day, which left me brimming with ideas and inspiration for our Freerange Garden. Before I gathered up a weary BH to return to the Shires, GardenGirl dug me out some plants and loaded up me up with cuttings - now that's what I call friendship. I cant wait to get digging!

Urban inspirations (episode 1) ...

Wow we've had a busy weekend - our last weekend away before school breaks for the summer and i can get stuck into the garden and BH can start building things. Once we had watered everything and pegged down the netting we headed south to visit family and friends back in London. We stayed with my absolutely fabulous sister in law - the City Girl to my Freeranger! CityGirl has been up to her eyes in house restoration and gardening herself and we think shes done an amazing job!



CityGirls castle in the clouds is a restored chapel. The front is covered in this amazing Virginia Creeper which although it needs taming every couple of years is worth it for those too few weeks a year when it turns a rich beautiful red.

The country life has definitely made it to the City though as CityGirl wasted no time at all in getting raised beds built and getting her crops in! She had a few funny looks from her neighbours at the time, but now I think they're eyeing up her salad leaves - hands off!!!



I am amazed by the produce CityGirl gets from her front garden. We picked cucumbers this time, but shes also got peppers and lettuce bursting out all over the place...



But every CityGirl needs somewhere to sit back and enjoy the fruits of their labour...



Space is limited around the house, but a visit to the Chelsea Flower Show gave us some great ideas for small space gardening. You can't believe the revamp this area has had - its unrecognisable from the yardspace that it was and is an awesome retreat from the manic city life surrounding it.



Theres not much room for pots so CityGirl has installed living walls - Its almost impossible to walk past these without running your hands through them. This square is repeated across the wall like a patchwork, it is interspersed with black grasses - tres chic!