The garden, as it looks today, has been achieved through the last seven years. We have lived in our house for 20 years but at first there were house renovations & life with small children that had took our time and commitment, the garden had to wait. I think I have always been drawn towards flowers and gardens but I believe it was the seedlings which were threatening to take over all window ledges of the house, that got the interest properly started. Eventually I got a greenhouse and my desire got space to expand, the season could be prolonged and suddenly there was an ocean of possibilities. At first I was more than content with sowing summer flowers, growing cucumbers and basil in the greenhouse, constructing a single flower bed and letting the children have their box planters with carrots and pumpkins. It was not until I had more breathing space in my life and I realised that I really wanted to spend time with working in the garden that things started to happen.There has never been a primary detailed plan, instead the garden has grown with my desire as the engine and an internal compass as the map. And that is how it has continued to grow, although I did pretty quickly draw up a rough plan for the garden as a whole. For me, the garden is not a rational story that is finalized as an attachment to life. There is nothing wrong with that but the gardening life with all that it involves is just as important as the finished paradise. I do look forward to ‘finishing’ the garden, no doubt about that. To be honest, I long for it. No matter how wonderful it is to work in the garden it is the finishing touches, the polishing and the enjoyable easy tasks that are more fun than the workforce that is necessary for new constructions. I look forward to having properly established landscape in place of one which is mostly newly created.
The garden consists of big sweeping beds with primarily perennials and bushes as a foundation. During the spring an abundance of bulbs are in bloom and the autumn ends with late flowering plants that can hold on till the frost takes them. The beds are disparate but with a cohesive colour theme. Here and there green globes of yew, holly, privet and spirea tie it all together.
All the flower beds are edged with tin to define them against the gravel or lawn. There are almost no straight lines in my garden, instead the shapes are flowing. The goal has been to create a soft flow. An important part of the gardens foundation is a pair of old apple trees, about ten really big old lilacs, an oak tree and a number of bird-cherry trees, rowans and birches that are standing at the edge of the property. The trees give a sense of space which is at its best in the summer. This is invaluable since we live near a big road.
