Whats going on in the garden?

After a week away in the sun I was a little bit apprehensive about what may have been going on in my garden.

We have invested in some new planting for this year moving the focus away from vegetables and moving towards a cottage garden style.  As we have already invested a lot of cash into the summer house I have been trying to pick up plants without paying too much for them.

I lost 4 Lupin plants to the slugs, I was in a dilemma as to weather of not I should buy some little blue pellets to kill the little blighters off but I know they are harmful to the eco system as they are taking food away from birds and hedgehogs so I decided to sacrifice the Lupins on this occasion but I will give it another go next year and I try to grow them in a pot and see if I get better results.

I have tried to select plants that will either come back again or will shed seeds.  There are some bedding plants that have added colour in the short term and they can be replenished next year or replaced with something different.

  I think that it will be at least 3 years before the garden will start to look something like my long term vision and as it is a garden it will continue to evolve.

I am a self confessed haphazard gardener and like Mother Nature to have a hand in my garden so I am looking forward to seeing what survives and what perishes along the way.

What have you been up to in your garden this Summer? and do you have any tips on dealing with the slugs?