Allotment gardening seemed to go out of fashion but is certainly back in favour. But first not so much a new flower border as a revamped garden border.

Saturday was dry but a strong cold wind did not encourage gardening. Sunday was altogether different and I got so much done as my body is telling me today!

I have been waiting for better weather to start the alterations to a border I created a few years ago that had started to look a bit tired. A large shrub had also died so this project had become a bit of a priority.

With a couple of weeks of dry weather it was the ideal time to cut back the lawn to not only enlarge the border but to create a more pleasing shape. Some of the turves came in very handy to repair another area where a small tree in the lawn had been removed. Reuse and recycle where possible has been my policy for a number of years as will become evident as you read on.

Once the turf had been lifted and the earth beneath dug over it was time to loosen up the soil in the rest of the patch and relocate some of the perennial plants in the border. Plant that had been at the front of the border of course now needed bring forward to the new flower border edge.

The next job was to transplant specimens from other parts of the garden earmarked as surplus to requirements in their current location. This included a Choisya Ternata Sundance that had very kindly layered itself. This is the very same Choisya that I had to prune hard back this time last year as it had more than outgrown it allotted space. The offspring looks a bit sparse at the moment but I suspect that by this time next year it will be a great feature in its new home.

Other transplants include a large fern that had started to compete with an equally large Hosta. They will both look so much better this season given the room they require. Aquilegias (Columbines) seed themselves regularly around the garden and so it was not too difficult to find plants to import and my stock of Delphiniums has also increased and will look good in this border. My borders would not be my borders without Bowles Golden Grass lighting its companions. It seeds itself around without becoming a nuisance and gets transplanted to more needy places; this grass has to be one of my favourite spring and early summer plants.

Needless to say I had company whilst working, the blackbirds as soon as I vacated the plot for a couple of minutes and the robins regardless of whether I was present or not.

The Crab Apples are in full flower now and looking magnificent. The trouble is today (Monday) there is a gale blowing and I can see not only petals dropping but complete clusters.

The first petals have appeared on a wallflower so it should not be long now before we are enjoying the beautiful perfume.

Several articles appeared in the press last week about the demand for garden allotments. It is not surprising when modern houses are being produced with tiny gardens and people are trying to save money in these trying times by growing their own vegetables. Even though my garden does not lend itself to vegetable growing, there not being a suitable aspect, I am at least able to grow many of the salad crops we like in pots and boxes and this year I am hoping to experiment with a container vegetable garden. I do count myself as fortunate to have a large enough garden to grow small trees, large shrubs and a selection of plants, even though I have to cater for shady situations.

• Your Allotment in Life | Return To The ‘Good Life’ | Homestyle Gossip - The only real legacy from that fateful day in 1984 is the fact my own personal love affair with allotment gardening began with my father’s dream. It grew, if you will. For those that need a little background on this particular ...
• My Garden is My Space
• Garden Diary