We've been in ths house for 30 years. Whe we first came it was very open and exposed, most of the trees and shrubs were fairly young and there was no shelter from the wind. So I planted stuff and it grew and made a lovely garden. But things kept on growing until it began to lose its charm.
Over the last two years my daughter and I have had a major makeover. First target was a bank of shrubs at the back of the house that had never been pruned, so they were cut back to ground level. Then we did the bank at the front, which slopes down towards the house, with a dry stone wall at the bottom. There had been some very small cotoneasters and other shrubs there and initially I had added some rocks and rock garden plants, and some small conifers. But the shrubs and conifers had got much bigger and while they were popular with the birds, for much of the year they were fairly dull. So we cut them down and I dug out all the roots. The rocks were still there, so I did a little re-arranging and added a stepping stone path and steps up the bank. We gravelled the flat bed on top of the wall and then planted it all up: rockery plants on the bank, sunloving herbs and grasses with intermixed perennials for colour in the gravel bed. It has been a real success, and is so much more interesting to look at than the old shrub bank. It is so much fun to walk along and spot new buds or bulbs emerging and have colour and movement. And even the birds seem to quite like it. The shrubs on the bank at the back had started to regrow so I went in to tidy up - and found that they were riddled with honey fungus! So the whole lot, shrubs, a damson and a lilac tree had to come out, a lot of digging! When the space was clear I terraced the bank with a dry stone wall (there was allready one at the bottom) and had two terraces to plant with a mix of perennials and annuals. That too has been a success, but the makeover is ongoing as there are other things we want to do to make it even better - gardens are never finished!
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We've been in ths house for 30 years. Whe we first came it was very open and exposed, most of the trees and shrubs were fairly young and there was no shelter from the wind. So I planted stuff and it grew and made a lovely garden. But things kept on growing until it began to lose its charm.
Over the last two years my daughter and I have had a major makeover. First target was a bank of shrubs at the back of the house that had never been pruned, so they were cut back to ground level. Then we did the bank at the front, which slopes down towards the house, with a dry stone wall at the bottom. There had been some very small cotoneasters and other shrubs there and initially I had added some rocks and rock garden plants, and some small conifers. But the shrubs and conifers had got much bigger and while they were popular with the birds, for much of the year they were fairly dull. So we cut them down and I dug out all the roots. The rocks were still there, so I did a little re-arranging and added a stepping stone path and steps up the bank. We gravelled the flat bed on top of the wall and then planted it all up: rockery plants on the bank, sunloving herbs and grasses with intermixed perennials for colour in the gravel bed. It has been a real success, and is so much more interesting to look at than the old shrub bank. It is so much fun to walk along and spot new buds or bulbs emerging and have colour and movement. And even the birds seem to quite like it. The shrubs on the bank at the back had started to regrow so I went in to tidy up - and found that they were riddled with honey fungus! So the whole lot, shrubs, a damson and a lilac tree had to come out, a lot of digging! When the space was clear I terraced the bank with a dry stone wall (there was allready one at the bottom) and had two terraces to plant with a mix of perennials and annuals. That too has been a success, but the makeover is ongoing as there are other things we want to do to make it even better - gardens are never finished!