Well, here is something I don’t do every day, week or even year. If you’re reading this on my usual website you may have noticed more than just a few changes, they’re more than skin deep as well.
While it’s been somewhat wet and cold in the garden over the last several weeks, the paperwork from the National Garden Scheme (NGS) recently came through and I took the opportunity to fill it out. Garden descriptions, opening dates, hours, ticket types, garden pictures, garden facilities and points of interest, a Risk Assessment were all part of the registration process for preparing to open in 2023.
Currently I’m working with my local NGS County Organiser to fine-tune the garden description sections so that they fit comfortably in the venerable “Yellow Book” without it turning into the “Yellow Pages” (an old, British telephone directory, commonly used as a step stool).
As desperate as I am to give you a sneak preview of the text for this garden that will be appearing in the NGS literature along side others, I’ll hold off until it is all reviewed, made official and made live. The moment it goes up on the NGS web site as a bookable, visitable garden, you’ll be the first to know.
Along side this rather momentous accomplishment, I took the opportunity to overhaul my website with a brand new template, layout, theme, style and structure. Essentially I blew everything of the old site away, apart from the writing and images.
This is the new look after the dust settled.
While I actually did like the previous site, it always felt a little old fashioned and dated and I thought the garden deserved better online representation, something more fitting with its status. People are going to be seeing the garden through pictures and blog posts first before coming in person so the saying, “first impressions count” was really taken to heart here.
The overhaul isn’t finished yet, there is still quite a bit of work to do but the main pages and sections of the website are back online and should be working normally (famous last words). I’ll be doing multiple passes over the design and content in the coming weeks.
I’ve had this blog site for over a decade and before I was garden blogging it was a personal website that I used as an online CV. I remember doing multiple redesigns of that too, way back when. With rose-tinted glasses I can say it felt much less complex back then. This current redesign is stretching the limits of my ability – much like the garden really.
In both the garden and the website I hope you agree that one reflects the other and with no small amount of effort and swearing, both look spectacular.
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