Creating an Orkney garden

Creating an Orkney garden Former B&B We closed Straigona B&B at the end of 2024, on to our next project - a large garden (around 1 acre + 2 acre field) in Rendall, Orkney.

This page will now document our progress....

31/05/2026

An hours gardening after a day at work. So relaxing! Due to the afternoons rain it was ideal conditions to sow some Flax and Cornflower seeds directly into the rockery and plant some more seedlings. Unfortunately it takes twice as long as sun / rain has also encouraged w**ds! I have quite a lot to clear again now. Hopefully, once I have everything planted, there won't be much room for w**ds 😁 **ding

Pond progress plus a walk round the front garden to admire the latest flowers.
30/05/2026

Pond progress plus a walk round the front garden to admire the latest flowers.

Full days work! First dropping a platform into the dug out area for the first staging to sit on, then planting a lot of ...
30/05/2026

Full days work! First dropping a platform into the dug out area for the first staging to sit on, then planting a lot of trees, not too many left to go but, as you will see the w**ds in that are will take time to remove. In between made a batch of Billionaires.

Go away for a few days and everything seems to have doubled in size - unfortunately that includes the w**ds! I now have ...
28/05/2026

Go away for a few days and everything seems to have doubled in size - unfortunately that includes the w**ds! I now have pods on the first lot of peas, the marrow plants are huge, the are mini cucumbers starting to appear and lots of flowers on the tomatoes. The companion plants - nasturtium and tagetes - appear to be doing a good job of keeping the pests away. Planting out slowly but having to w**d as I go... **ds 🌱

Things are growing well in the raised bed in the polycrub. So far there are peas, carrots, courgettes, pakchoi, lettuce,...
17/05/2026

Things are growing well in the raised bed in the polycrub. So far there are peas, carrots, courgettes, pakchoi, lettuce, marrow, cucumbers and 3 different types of tomato. To be added peppers and aubergines. Some will be hardened off and moved to the outside veg beds. The companion plants seem to be doing a good job at keeping pests away 🤞🤞 🌱

Through a rainy window... Mike has been working hard on the lawn, removing many w**ds - hence it looks like we've had an...
10/05/2026

Through a rainy window... Mike has been working hard on the lawn, removing many w**ds - hence it looks like we've had an invasion of weird moles! - and scarifying. Next step is aerating, another round of scarifying and then applying a special seed mix from Shearers **ds

First a different view of the fruitcage. Brilliant for hardening off plants (on the shelving) before planting them out. ...
09/05/2026

First a different view of the fruitcage. Brilliant for hardening off plants (on the shelving) before planting them out. More leaves on the fruit trees. Then clearing the first lot of staging in the polycrub and digging out a 6ft x 2ft x 7" hole ready to put a piece of flooring in for the staging to sit on. Lastly, after compost and cardboard, using the dug out soil from the polycrub in the raised vegetable bed...

Before (June 2025) and after (May 2026). A lot of time and effort has gone into, and is still going into, the garden pro...
06/05/2026

Before (June 2025) and after (May 2026). A lot of time and effort has gone into, and is still going into, the garden project!

First 4 trees and a fast growing fuschia planted. Only another 20+ to go 🙄😬 My intention is to lay card board round them...
03/05/2026

First 4 trees and a fast growing fuschia planted. Only another 20+ to go 🙄😬 My intention is to lay card board round them, add a layer of topsoil and scatter with wildflower seeds, time will tell if it works!

The pond area is starting to fill out. There are hundreds of tadpoles swimming about!
03/05/2026

The pond area is starting to fill out. There are hundreds of tadpoles swimming about!

Address

Rendall
Kirkwall
KW172HB

Telephone

+447762098005

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