We’ve lived here for almost exactly 17 years and on the anniversary of our moving in, I delved into the bookshelves to find the scrap book that I’d made of our house move and the first year or so of living here. Yes, a scrap book, really! Remember the days of print photographs?! Whilst the house has changed a great deal, the difference in the garden is just fascinating.
To begin with, what struck me was what was missing – no pond, no veg bed, no greenhouse, no lighting. On the other hand, there was a long list of things that had been removed – brick barbecue, strange box like structure in the border and many, many weeds!
Having just replaced the pergola, these early photos go to show how new the original one must have been when we moved here. And what a shame that the willow tree succumbed to drought very early on.
The old pergola, Summer 2000
On reflection, having a willow tree shedding its leaves into the pond every autumn would have been a nuisance. Now we have the benefit of sitting by the pond, enjoying
Clematis Alpina
the early spring sunshine and watching the tadpoles and newts floating around. And the tiny Clematis Alpina attached to that stick at the front is now a thing of beauty despite many squirrel attempts to defeat it.
New pergola at dusk, Spring 2017
The other major area of transformation has been what we generally refer to as ‘down the far end’ or, on a more aspirational day, the ‘woodland garden’! It is not inaccurate to describe it as a woodland garden. It is, after all, an area of planting underneath some very large trees, only one of which is actually rooted in our garden. When we originally viewed the house in early February, the area looked very innocent; just a large slightly weedy, muddy patch. However, by the time we moved in at the end of April, it had become a complete jungle of weeds that took the best part of a year to clear!
The ‘woodland garden’! Summer 2000
As we worked our way through the bramble and greenery, our weed identification skills improved somewhat! Meanwhile, the mound we created of rubbish would grow and grow. We’d then leave it for a week or so to rot down and then start adding again the following weekend. Eventually we revealed what might have been an attempt to create a herb garden at some time in the past. We also uncovered a range of intriguing objects, not least of all the original grate from the house fireplace that appeared to have been buried here!
Realising that this was never, ever going to be suitable for a herb garden (too shady for one thing), we went about adding to the woodland feel by planting two Camelias – one deep rosy pink and the other pure white. Here you can just about see them against the fence.
New planting in the ‘woodland garden’, Spring 2001?
My how they have grown! Sixteen years down the line and they are at least six feet tall and both have been pruned on several occasions! They have even reached sideways to join up with each other!
Camelias, Spring 2017
If there is a lesson to be learned from these photos, then it must be ‘read the plant label carefully’! Don’t be fooled by the innocent little stick of a plant, you may well be given home to a giant!
Outside the Backdoor 