
A deluded daffodil. The rest have not even broken ground yet.

I have about three acres of land here but I ‘garden’ about half. The initial division of the land into garden and field is interesting (and not of my making). The shape of the garden proper resembles a leg of mutton with the long slim leg forming the drive with Horsefly Heaven at the bottom and some ‘bulges’ on the way up the drive. When I arrived, the driveway was home to about forty Ash and six Scots Pine trees but otherwise was open to the elements. It provided the perfect tunnel for the southwest gales. As part of the drive is very steep, this could be helpful in propelling you to the top but it was always a windy journey. My first task was to plant a hedgerow to the south of the drive.

The hedgerow – planted thirteen years ago – has proved particularly popular with the blackbirds who only have to pop across the drive to the long bed of roses that I created in the middle section of the drive. This summer photograph shows it at its best, but It now needs a thorough clearing of the brambles and bracken that invade from the neighbouring property despite my best efforts to keep it clear.

One of the local residents on the driveway. Some of the blackbirds have taken to stalking me like the robins at feeding times making it even more pleasurable.

The drive contains about thirty Ash trees planted by the previous owners on rocky ground. In the past I left the sections where they are growing alone but the Ash dieback is forcing me to review the planting. Some trees have already been removed from the area on the left and I don’t see the rest lasting much longer. I have decided to try planting a wide variety of trees and shrubs so that there is less chance of one disease destroying them all but it will be years before the growth is sufficient to make an impression.

Not the most attractive site but this area of the driveway is waiting for the planting to be completed and then covered in cardboard and mulch.

Horsefly Heaven is a funny little triangular space. Each side is just thirty feet long. It is bounded on one side by an old stone wall and on all three sides by a barbed wire fence. All this apparently to fence in nine mature ash trees which are now dying from ash dieback. Some trees have already been removed and as the fence posts of about thirty years are now swinging in the wind it has been an incentive to take the area in hand. I have already some lovely shrubs growing there and have decided to make it a haven for the birds. The ash trees are gradually been replaced by some native trees and silver birch. The barbed wire boundaries will be replaced by the evergreen trees that the birds love. I suspect that this will not deter the horseflies in summer but at least some creatures can enjoy it even if I can’t.

The first steps (literally) now that the fence around Horsefly Heaven has been removed.

In other areas of the garden the eucalyptus trees are thriving. They are also fast growing and respond well to being turned into a shrub if necessary.

Another example of repurposing items. This old Christmas decoration is now the host to a variety of colourful fungi. I wonder what the next phase will bring.

This photograph of a single Pulmonaria Trevi Fountain was taken during a frosty spell. It dealt with the cold by covering itself with flowers.

You don’t usually see Pulmonaria flowering and surrounded by frost blackened leaves. No one has told this plant that spring is far away.

The first of the Hellebores hiding in the the shady spots in the garden. The fact that I found this one may mean that there are no rabbits this year. However These are probably ‘famous last words’.

This mushroom is one of the Blewit family although I am not sure which one. Blewits are one of my favourite mushrooms as I love the pale purple colour. Usually, I have two different varieties one that loves the semi sunny hillside behind the house and the other that favours a shady leafy spot. Overall, the mushrooms seem to have been a disappointment this year although it maybe that I was too busy staying out of the rain to notice.
2 responses to “Renewal and Renovations”
Thank you, Julie, I was dying to see more of the garden landscape. You really do have a wonderful natural paradise, a woman & nature collaboration, created after endless hours of labour…but with marvellous results. Well done.
Thank you, Julie, I was dying to see more of the garden landscape. You really do have a wonderful natural paradise, a woman & nature collaboration, created after endless hours of labour…but with marvellous results. Well done.