We caught up with one of our ambassadors, Michaela from @our.yorkshire.home, to find out what got her into gardening, how she transformed a muddy yard and her plans for her new garden!

My real love for gardening started when I moved into my first home. This was a little back to back terrace with a tiny garden. There wasn’t much room to plant but I loved the small amount of flowers I had and would spend as much free time as I had pottering around the garden.

I then met my husband and we moved to a new build. I couldn’t wait for a bigger garden, not just for myself but for our dogs too. I don’t think I quite realised at the time that I would soon be presented with a very muddy patch outside my back door and not a piece of grass in sight.

We had a garden company in to do the grass, decking area and patio (it would have taken me 6 months to do myself!) I then had the best task of painting the fence and filling the garden with plants. At this point I was just picking what looked pretty and not really considering the different needs of a plant but I was so pleased with the finished result.

Fast forward to March 2020 and Covid is here. I think it’s the case for most people that we were all staying at home and wanting to spend as much time in the garden as we could. This is when I really started to appreciate gardening, as it was a chance to get outside and a chance to see nature.

I bought a little greenhouse and started to grow fruit and veg from seed. I never really thought much would take, with it being my first try but I was really surprised when I started to see some little shoots popping up. You would find me out there 6 times a day checking on my seedlings to see if there was any further growth. My husband thought I was mad but I was completely in my element. We then decided to build a planter for when the seedlings were big enough to be planted out. This is the first time I realised how much pride I had in growing my own food and how much better home grown tastes (maybe that’s just in my head!)

Those of you who follow me will know we have said goodbye to our garden and moved to a new house last week. This was mainly for the bigger garden! The last week had been spent trying to get back on top of the garden, as it hadn’t been maintained for the last 8 months and was slightly out of control!

We have been sent some Hozelock products to try and they have come at the perfect time. As you can see the grass is now in need of some TLC and the Auto Reel, Multi Spray Ultramax and sprinkler are going to be invaluable. I can’t wait to show you the (hopefully) lush green grass in a few weeks time!

I started my Instagram page @our.yorkshire.home to document the build of our home almost 4 years ago. My followers will tell you that our two dogs are the star of our Instagram account. I am also an avid DIY’er who loves to add storage solutions wherever I can, because who doesn’t need more storage!

I have loved gardening from a young age and I remember gardening with my parents and grandparents as a child. My first home was a small back to back terrace with a tiny garden, I couldn’t wait to move to somewhere with a bigger garden so I could attempt to make it look as beautiful as my parents. Having 2 dogs who love being in the garden means I spend most of my summer outside – plant watering time is our boxers favourite time of day! Over the last few years, I have learnt so much about gardening and have bought a little greenhouse where I have been growing flowers, fruit and veg from seed. I can’t even tell you how proud I am when I see a little shoot coming through!

We always said we wouldn’t move from our home but we’ve recently had an offer accepted on a house (with a bigger garden and a big greenhouse!) and we will hopefully soon be moving. Our summer plans will be to have a big tidy up in the garden and to bring some life back to the boarders. It has clearly been a well-loved garden but as the house has been empty for quite a while, it has become a little neglected. I absolutely can’t wait to get started on it and to share the progress on Instagram!