The First Day Of Spring

Happy first day of Spring......From now on days are slightly longer, the nights a little shorter and hopefully the weather will be a bit warmer! 

The Year of the Garden

It was inevitable that this year would be the year of the garden here at Homes & Dreams. When we bought our house 7 years ago the 1/2 acre plot that it stood in had been neglected for many, many years.

As the house was completed  at the end of last Summer our attention is now occupied by the garden. Over the past few years we have managed to eradicate most the of the brambles that had taken possession over the majority of the garden but other than keeping it relatively tidy the garden has not yet been utilised.

So this week has seen the start of our plans. 50 metres of mixed native hedgerow has been planted which will form the boundary between our new orchard (in which we are planning to grow a selection of Yorkshire heritage varieties) and the adjacent fields.

Sophie Conran Garden Trowel £14.95

So it follows that we would expand our gardening range over on the Homes & Dreams website. I'm really thrilled with our new line of gardening hand tools which are designed by Sophie Conran. The tools which include trowels, forks, dibbers and weeders are a joy to use - not only are they stylish but they are also manufactured by the UK's longest standing garden tool manufacturer and if that isn't enough they are beautifully presented in their own presentation box making them a perfect gardening gift!

Signs of Spring



Image via Pinterest

The arrival of March is always welcome here, as for me March heralds the start of things to come and the first signs of Spring make their appearance. Already the snowdrops and crocuses have begun to flower and it won't belong before they are closely followed by other signs of life in the garden.

If you have a garden that attracts birds then you may find that as this month's lighter mornings creep in you may have a tuneful start to the day with the dawn chorus.

The earliest to start the melody are the song thrushes, blackbirds and robins, these sing out to attract a mate and warn off other males. They are soon followed by the wrens, chaffinches and tits and after two or three hours when the sun is fully risen the birds get down to the business of feeding. 



Bird & Insect boxes from £14.95

  With this in mind we have just introduced a beautiful range of bird boxes and feeders. Designed by Sophie Conran they not only look good in the garden but are practical too with removable nest boxes and trays to make them easy to clean.

So if like me you love to awake to the sound of the dawn chorus then why not encourage a larger choir into your garden this Spring.