Add colour to my Garden – After Transformation

I’m taking part in the Garden Goals challenge with Homebase and Mumsnet. This is my second post for the ‘add colour to my garden’ project. Today, I would like to show you what I have done for the three different tasks that we had set out.

As I had mentioned on my first post, I’ve not been happy with my garden since all my lavender plants in my back garden died two years ago. I wanted to create a new border and inject some colour into my garden with plants and shrubs.

Homebase have created Garden Goals instructions for adding colour to your garden where they share their gardening tips, videos and shopping lists including what you will need to buy for each task you wish to undertake. I like the ideas of using their shopping lists to remind you what else you might need to buy like compost and gloves! They also have a list of tasks for one hour, half a day and one day, depending on how much time you have to spend in the garden.

So for my one hour task, I laid bulbs onto the border. I have bought a few packets of mixed bulbs and laid them along with the rest of the shrubs and plants. Fingers crossed, I hope they grow! It said to plant it from February to April and water it daily for the roots to grow.

My second task which takes half a day was to plan a border for colour which I had done earlier in my first post. Before I planted the shrubs and plants, I spent two hours clearing the area and replaced the top layer of soil with compost. I have managed to use three packets of 50 litre bags. Then I carefully laid the plants in pots on the grass and moved them around until I was satisfied with the arrangement.

Next I dug and planted the plants, which took me over three hours to plant the whole row of border. It did take more time than I had anticipated but I am delighted with the outcome! They might look quite small and bare but hopefully in no time, they will be blooming with colours!

In this Homebase video, they show you how to plan the border and I am pleased to have watched it. Beforehand, I didn’t know that you would need to tease out the roots before planting the plants for the roots to grow more easily. I always worry that I will break the roots. It is always good to pick up tips from the expert.

For my last task of the day, I picked the task to create an outdoor wall art or mural. I didn’t pick up any garden ornaments from Homebase as I was thinking of getting my children to paint bird feeders and make sun catchers for the garden. These are what they have made!

I really enjoyed using Homebase’s ‘how to guides’ for tips to achieve my Garden Goal and I hope they will make more content to help amateur gardeners. The website explains it well and I am confident to take up more new challenges throughout my garden!

Disclosure: I am a member of the Mumsnet Bloggers Panel, a group of parent bloggers who have volunteered to review products, services, events and brands for Mumsnet. I have received a voucher to buy the gardening tools to write this post. I have editorial control and retain full editorial integrity.