It doesn't seem possible that it was only the end of May when we installed sleepers to tidy up one section of the rear or our garden. And a lot's changed in the flower beds in that time. I planted some petunias, a French lavender, an ice grey succulent and many more around the small Christmas tree and plants I'd been accumulating.

As you can see the petunias have gone slightly wild.

This photo was taken towards the start of the month, and you'll see the changes continue with the photos throughout this post. All of a sudden we were surrounded by petunias, obviously not a bad problem to have, but at some point I will need to reclaim the sleepers for my own use!

You'll remember I wrote that this was a favourite spot of mine for a cuppa, well it still is, as long as I don't mind sharing it with the petunias!

The row of self-seeded aquilegias continue to grow, but I suspect they'll be gone before they get to flower. I'm enjoying seeing the burst of green between the paving slabs though.

self-seeded aquilegias looking very comfortable

The yellow flowering bush from dad - some kind of wort I think - has done flowering and taken an autumnal turn. And the strawberry plant has thrown out lots of suckers and new baby plants, so it seems it's very happy growing between paving slabs. The small plants keep getting in the way, and I keep thinking I'm going to tread on them, but I will be aiming to capture these and take them over to the plot for my new strawberry border along the path.

This plant looks almost autumnal already

the rogue strawberry plant has also bushed out and send out plenty of suckers

The small Christmas tree, which had been suffering with the heat (or I least I think it was the heat, rather than the company) is improving with the cooler temperatures and the rain, and that's good to see. There's lighter green tufts too now, which indicates new growth so I'm hopeful that it will suruve.

The Christmas tree is recovering - it wasn't a fan of the heat

At the other end of the sleeper bed, next to the compost bin, the begonias have filled out almost as much as the petunias. While I'm a fan of dense planting, I must remember to space my bedding more next year.

On Sunday the shears and secateurs came out as the whole bed was looking a little overgrown. The photo below is the after shot - quite a difference from the almost bare bed a few months ago. Before the shears came out the jasmine was at least two foot above the trellis and had merged with the orange-berried pyracantha. A vine had popped over from next door and was heading for the jasmine and the pyracantha, so that was chopped too.

Stepping back and looking how at how it's developed in just a few months

There's still a bit more to do, as to the right of this photo, what you can't see is the overgrown dogwood area where the vine from next door has made it to the cherry tree. It's a tight space to get into and it's the sort of space that you need to cut your way into - or at least it is right now. And so I started with the shears tackling yet more jasmine, around the back of the trellis. There were a few bitey mosquito-like things around and I was swotting those away, then suddenly something else stung my right forearm.

Ouch.

I'm not sure what exactly it was, but it looked more hornet-like than mosquito., Needless to say I dropped the shears and made a hasty retreat after first wiping it off my arm. After my biter earlier in the year I'm much more wary. And this one hurt. Straight away. Off I went for an ice pack and some vinegar, to stop the swelling and calm the sting respectively, while MOH was despatched to retrieve the shears. He did, but not without coming out swatting a few bitey-things from his legs. It seems we're both wimps this year with the insects in our garden.

The bite stopped play for me on Sunday. And thankfully although it's a little swollen I think it'll be ok, let's hope so.

Last week I shared details of my garden's two "problem areas" and the advice I received from ITV's Katie Rushworth on how to transform them. I was keen to get started and the sleepers for problem area #1 arrived on schedule, so over the weekend and with help from my SIL and her husband, we were able to crack on.

The results are amazing. But let's start at the beginning.

We opted for brown softwood sleepers, ordering pre-cut lengths following my sleeper masterplan. We ordered them online Sunday evening, confirmed everything first thing Monday morning and could have had them delivered Tuesday morning, although we delayed delivery until the Thursday.

A pile of sleepers waiting to transform my problem area #1

We used londonsleepers.com, a company MOH found on the Internet and were seriously impressed with them. They were helpful, had personality, confirmed the delivery by phone the day before, arrived when they said they would and the driver helped MOH carry the larger lengths through the house without being asked. Ths isn't a sponsored post, but they were so good that they deserve the credit and this recommendation if you're thinking of buying some sleepers. Seriously.

With the cut ends treated and the dramas of Saturday out of the way (more on those tomorrow), Sunday was sleeper installation day, and thankfully it was sunny. The first job saw my BIL disappear up the lilac tree and lassoe the stray branches that I couldn't reach last summer. They were pruned, brought down safely and chopped and into our green bins in double quick time, and there was an immediate 'thank you' called out over the fence from our neighbour.

The tree is a much better shape now and should be more manageable, and I think we've also bought ourselves more sun onto the stone circle. I can't say for sure though as it's currently still the temporary store for our bricks and 'spare soil' but soon hopefully they'll be replaced with the sun loungers and I'll be relaxing, cocktail in hand...

The out of reach lilac branches were also trimmed

But first sleepers. Our garden was a hive of activity, and both MOH and I really appreciated the extra help throughout the day. The inner edges of the sleepers were wrapped in a damp-proof membrane to help protect them from moisture, and then they were laid.

it's a transformation in progress - and thankfully in the sun!

We quickly discovered that my problem solving skills are way better than my maths skills, and that 1.3 and 1.7 equals 3 and not 2 as per my plan. That meant we were two metres of sleepers short. Whoops!

With the help of some 'spare' wood, some quick thinking and some jiggery-pokery we were able to rearrange the sleepers to meet my approval and follow the outline of my plan. For a time it was like a giant-sized game of Jenga and a jigsaw puzzle combined, and the outcome works just as well.

And with all that brain power used up, there was only one thing for it.

Shortly after the tea rain stopped play, but that was no bad thing as it'd been pretty full on all day working on both the sleepers and the gabion baskets (that update will follow soon), but once the rain had stopped I popped out to get some pictures.

And it wasn't long before they were all in

Don't they look great?

I'm especially pleased at how they corner my plants which I'd planted there tentatively in the hope they wouldn't be in the way, and how they hug the step in the path without needing to be cut further. Part of the maths might have let me down, but the measurements and overall concept - or design - was sound.

On Monday MOH and I were back out there laying membrane and using up the last of our slate mountain, and I think it makes all the difference. We still need to get more slate, but that's for another time, this weekend just gone it was good to celebrate emptying a tonne bag and reclaiming part of our stone circle (those cocktails just got a bit closer!)

There was also time to empty the greenhouse of some of the bedding plants I've been raising since miniature plug plant size, and as the petunias were starting to flower they were the first choice. And the ice plant succulent which has got a little top heavy (and already had babies) also has a new home.

Time for an arty shot of my favourite spot for a cuppa, the sleepers, slate and some new planting

Since this photo I've also added some begonias, sunflowers, angel wings, aquilegias (or columbines) and some herbs. I've also realised that this corner is likely to feature plenty more times here on the blog in suitably arty shots - you have been warned - because this is my new favourite place to have a cuppa.

Transformed in a day!

Looking back over the years and the times we've tried to make this part of our garden work, neither of us can quite believe how quickly this transformation happened, and how effective it is.

The before photo, really was as bad as it looks; pots were congregating there, the beds had no edging so the soil was all over the path, and the plants looked lost.

In the after photo, taken Sunday evening, the transformation is already apparent. Even without the slate to the right of this photo, and the 'spare' soil added to the bed to raise the planting level, and the additional planting it's easy to see how the angular lines improve the space isn't it?

Phew, I think we've cracked it and removed this problem area from our garden for good. I think it's only going to get better as it matures, and the sleepers were so easy to lay (even with my maths mishap) that I'm wondering why we've not done it before!