Friday, March 02, 2007

thoughts on maturing gardens

I often enviously watch garden makeover programmes on television, inspired by their ideas I might try a gew things but am generally deterred by their sheer expenditure. an instant garden? the cost of a designer and about £3000 worth of plants?

not in my or many gardens I know!!


these two photographs show gardens planted by my friend May, the first is just 10 years old the lower one over 35 years. she is obvioulsy an informed and inspired plantswoman, many of the plants in my garden have been gifts from her, cuttings and offshoots from her beautiful and varied plants. occasionally I do some weeding or planting for her and come away with priceless knowledge and armfulls of stuff to plant. and she insists I am doing her a favour?
unfortuately this old garden is gone now, a few of these beautiful mature plants have made their way into my and other lucky peoples gardens.


and if you are looking at a large space for 'conversion' into a fabulous space, remember one plant will grow, and fill a larger area than you imagined! its worth waiting for!!

9 comments:

peppylady (Dora) said...

I love those home and garden show and I've seen one area and they charge an arm and leg.
I could do my entire place on what they do one little area...sheese

Alice (in BC Canada) said...

Absolutely gorgeous!! I wish I had your friend's skills in the garden.

clairesgarden said...

Peppylady, I love to watch the shows but could never afford to 'have ' my garden done, I am content to wait for things to grow.
Alice, Mays gardens are exceptional, but what is nice is that she shares so much too.

Anonymous said...

Claire, where has this old garden gone?

Kerri said...

Lovely to have friends who share cuttings and plants.
This is a wonderful garden. I'm also curious about the fate of the old garden.

clairesgarden said...

Kerri and Pam, the 'old' garden, is the garden at May's holiday caravan. last year the forestry comission told her to 'move on', nice way to treat an 84 year old lady, and if she had been younger she says she would have fought them. her own garden at home as you can see is full so any movable plants were found new homes. the backbone is still there though, waiting to be built on. shame.

grannyfiddler said...

the gardens of the generous never die. they live new lives in new locations. it's criminal that an elderly woman should be forced from something so irreplaceable and beautiful, and the work of her own hands, though.

we're still buried under 5 or more feet of snow here... the ice queen continues to reign with a heavy hand. not so much as a warming patch of ground. sigh

clairesgarden said...

Grannyfiddler, the forestry commision comes out with a red face on that one, no excuses!
I dont envy your snow!!

Bob said...

Hi Claire, I know what you mean about the garden make-overs, they do look nice but what I often wonder is what do they look like after a few years of wear and weather. Also I wonder about the quality of work and I think it's a sin to barrow away skips full of soil the way they often do. From what bit I've seen of your garden it looks okay without paying a designer.