Special Announcement & Balcony Garden January Update
Balcony Garden Update..
Winter is still with us and I must admit the Cloud Garden is a messy brown sludgy mess. Old me, would be feeling overwhelmed at all of the tasks yet to be completed, the never ending list of seeds to start and the pressure to create an amazing space. The reality is.. It’s still January. There’s plenty of time. We could be under a blanket of snow up until April. Despite what social media may show us, there is no rush to be out there right now. So if you are feeling overwhelmed, know that you aren’t alone but also that you have plenty of time.
You can watch the update here or continue reading:
Cloud Garden Update..
The Cloud Garden is mostly brown at the moment. However, there are still some glimmers of hope. My brassicas are still going strong. I am still able to harvest my dinosaur kale, volunteer lettuce and mustard leaves. In my last video, I tidied up my strawberries and planted up the runners. Thankfully, they have rooted and I’m confident that this Summer, I’m going to get an amazing harvest. This weekend, I am starting some alpine strawberry seeds that I be dotting around the garden.
One of my favourite activities, is taking a morning garden walk and finding new growth. Lately, I’ve been surprised by the volunteer Spring bulbs that have broken the surface. I’m not actually the biggest Spring bulb fan but I must say I do have a little soft spot for daffodils and snakehead fritillaries.
At Chelsea, I had two 2.5m roses along the arches. They were Hiawatha and Chevy Chase roses from Peter Beale’s Roses. Both are stunning in their own right. However, by the time they arrived onto the Cloud Garden in June last year, they had stopped flowering and died back dramatically due to my own negligence, the wind and Winter. As the stems browned, I began to worry that I had lost them. Yet, here we are, Spring 2023 and both are ferociously producing new growth and I’m confident that I am going to get a beautiful display.
Compost On A Balcony?
I make my own compost on the Cloud Garden by revitalising my old compost and infusing it with leaf litter and kitchen waste. Below is a video showing how I refresh my old compost but in the Cloud Workshop (See below) I’ll explain how to make our container garden compost in a little more detail.
After a recent trip to the store Wilko’s I found myself with an abundance of brand new bare root plants to pot up. They of course accidentally fell into my basket.. I have a pack of mixed coloured lupins and a set of purple. The purple ones were subjected to a slight bit of rotting. Ever the optimist, I ploughed on and potted them up.
Hopefully, I will begin to see fresh signs of new growth within the next few weeks. I also, accidentally… ordered some Black Magic Colocasia’s. They are one of my favourite plants. I decided to grow them on for use on some projects later on this year.
Below is a care guide to these plants and here’s a link in case you want to order one for yourself:
Colocasia Black Magic: https://amzn.to/3ksFqLD
How is your garden getting on? Are you suffering with snow and frost?
Special Announcement
I have two special announcements to make..
Cloud Workshop:
From the 3rd of February, each week I’ll be using The Soapbox Newsletter to deliver my small space garden workshop. Those of you who choose to upgrade your newsletter membership will have full access to the course. The course will be a mixture between written content and visual aids exclusive to members here on The Soapbox. (You can opt out at any time!) We will tackle, how to start your small space container gardens, plants, pests, sunny/shady/windy gardens, pollinators and much much more. We’ll have regular Q&A sessions as well as having some guest speakers join to help us understand how better to use our spaces. We can have members only chat in the workshop posts with the aim to collectively as a group work together to create our dream spaces.
If there is anything you would love for me to include in the course, please let me know in the comments below and I’ll be sure to include it.
Cloud Consultancy:
I’ll be offering a small space container garden consultancy to help you create your own magical spaces. You can choose either a 30min or 1 hour zoom call with me on a 1 on 1 basis. We will talk through your space, your wants and desires and I’ll provide you with some recommendations on how to best utilize your space.
There will also be options for bespoke packages, so for example should you wish for me to design the space or even fully install the gardens, I can do so for you.
For more click here:
https://cloudgardeneruk.co.uk/small-garden-consultancy
