What better way to test the new blog than by introducing our little garden?
We live in a small village in Yorkshire, surrounded by the rolling wolds.When we bought our house four years ago, there was no garden of which to speak, just part of a small chalky paddock that had been used for grazing horses. We set about the slightly back-breaking task of digging up nettles, dock, bindweed and creeping buttercup and created defined garden areas – thus far we have a flower garden with pond and lawn, a tiny meadow area, a pergola covered dining space, and a kitchen garden with a greenhouse and cold frames. Later this year we plan to create another small garden room next to the house, which will be easily viewed from the kitchen and sitting room, and provide year round interest.
From this description, it might sound that the garden is on the large side; it is not. We have done our best to maximise the space that we have, and not-so-secretly long for real acreage! We cross our fingers that a small house with an enormous garden is part of our future, and in the meantime test our skills on (and enjoy) our little plot.
The last four years have not been without drama or failure. Having spent time after university travelling and working overseas, neither my husband nor I had ever really tended a garden for an extended period of time. I had visited plenty in the UK and around the world, and was always enamoured with flowers, but the act of putting in a seed and watching it grow was known to me only through layers of memory. Even now I can see my younger self in a primary school classroom, intrigued to the point of astonishment by the steady unfurling of a bean growing in a tissue-filled jam jar, and remember the sense of satisfaction of firming Busy Lizzies and Sweet Williams into the rough patch of soil by the back door of my childhood home that was mine to tend.
These remembrances may have laid the groundwork for my joy of the garden, but they did little to provide me with the practical skills to make manifest my vision for our unkempt scrap of land. We were almost completely ‘green’, and even Monty’s weekly ‘Gardener’s World’ advice, and the host of books that steadily turned the sitting room into a horticultural library, couldn’t prevent all disasters. We lost carrots to root fly, tender herbs to the cold, and a lovely collection of alpines to too much rain. We chose rampant plants that quickly suffocated their neighbours, tried to grow blueberries in our chalky ground, and accidentally planted Jerusalem Artichokes in one of the flower beds (three summers on and we’re still digging up tubers). And yet, in spite of all this, our love affair with the garden has continued to grow. Every mistake is a lesson learned, and every spell of unexpected weather, an opportunity to change our thinking about what the garden is, can be, and needs. In my mind, there’s no better way to acquire this knowledge than with my hands in the soil, and by watching the daily unfolding of the garden throughout the year.
I hope you enjoy joining us as we share our experiences, and whole-heartedly welcome any advice you may have.
In the meantime, here are a few of our favourite images from the garden in 2014.
