Portfolio

Every garden is a puzzle, with many possible solutions…

Improving a North-facing wall

This area within a gated courtyard is used mainly as a car park. The turf was scuffed by reversing vans, someone had tipped engine oil onto a patch of grass and killed it, and the Virginia Creeper was creeping everywhere, providing no winter cover on an ugly north facing wall.

  • 2018 – a problem area of scuffed turf with a north facing breezeblock wall
  • The turf was peeled back and the soil improved before planting a selection of shrubs and perennials designed to create year-round interest..
  • 2022 – Even in October, there is plenty of colour and interest, with minimal maintenance needed.

Replacing a sick hedge

This hedge was loved by birds, but with its mixture of heights, was never going to look good. The fuchsia had a disease which was affecting the flowering buds. We considered many options, and in the end, removed everything and started again.

  • 2019 – a messy mixture of evergreen hedging, a low growing hebe, hypericum and a fuschia affected by a virus.
  • Planting plan
  • After some heavy work, only the Hebe and the Hypericum are spared…
  • 2021 – a year later, this is the result.

Renovating a neglected cemetery

When the council became unable to maintain this cemetery, it was closed to the public, and perennial weeds took over. As part of a voluntary project, I started to propagate flowers and shrubs and plant up beds to bring more colour and benefit wildlife. There is no source of water, so everything has to survive as best it can.

  • 2019 – Many of the graves were overgrown, the path edges collapsing and the grass unmown.
  • New flower beds bring colour for passers-by and food for wildlife.
  • Flowers grown from seed poke out of the railings.
  • 2022 A wildlife pond has fostered frogs near to a newly seeded wildflower meadow

Planting to improve a boggy corner

New neighbouring farm buildings have affected the drainage and the view from this garden. We needed to dry out a corner that floods during wet weather, reduce the dominance of some massive evergreen trees along one fenceline, and create a green screen along the other fenceline, which is also boggy.

  • Pooling water at the bottom of this garden caused a favourite old apple tree to collapse.
  • Planting an area of fast-growing willow from 15cm whips and a line of alder is helping to dry it out.
  • A hornbeam hedge on the dryer side will eventually replace the overly-tall row of evergreens. Nibbling voles and deer can be a problem.