Having only moved into my house in October 2009, this made 2010 my first full season of having a garden.

Okay, so that garden was mainly concrete, with just a small 2.5ft wide border running along my neighbour’s house, predominantly in the shade, and a complete wind trap and open to a road, but this tiny patch of garden space was highly productive.

Here’s some of the successes from my first year.

Firstly, this Rose bush already lived at the house, and after a bit of pruning in late 2009, it came back with some lush growth and a long couple of seasons of these flowers. The aphids loved it though, but it enjoyed it’s colours.

These blue (and white – not shown) Campanula ‘Persicifolia’ flowers were really nice. They’d dance gently in the wind that sometimes battered the side garden, and bathe in the sunshine that fried it at times. These were also already in the garden.

I managed to grow a couple of Sunflowers despite the wind, and whilst they weren’t very tall, their existence was welcomed by the hoverflies.

I was able to squeeze a wigwam of French Bean ‘Blue Lake’ into the tiny border, and they kept me in fresh green beans for many months. When space is at a premium, definitely go upwards! In the base of the wigwam I managed to grow a Courgette ‘Black Beauty’ plant that also gave me some plump produce to cook.

Lurking over in the back, in the shade emerged a white Chrysanthemum. It was very pretty, and I had no idea that it was there.

With this first year of growing success in place, I look forward to what 2011 will bring.