If only you’d been there….

Categories Uncategorized31 Comments on If only you’d been there….

We had another two NGS open days this weekend just gone. Saturday was a dismal affair, it rained all day and only two people came. Sunday was very different, with a good turnout and fair weather. It hasn’t been an easy season to get a garden looking good; too dry in the lead up to our garden openings, now wet and dull enough that some things are not flowering as they should for lack of sun.

I think though, that this weekend will probably turn out to be when the garden was looking at its best. By 12/13 August when we open again, I suspect it will be beginning to look a little overblown. I hope I’m wrong, I know you will practically need a machete to get around, so lush has been the growth since the rain kicked in.

Most of you live too far away to visit, unfortunately, so I went round on Sunday morning and tried to take a set of pictures that covered most of what our visitors will have seen. I don’t escort people round, so they don’t get a commentary on what is what. We don’t have a fixed route, we just let people go their own way. As much as I ever say to people by way of introduction is that the garden has a sunny side and a shady side, with a partial shade zone in between, and that our planting is very much more informed by trying to give plants the conditions they need than by any visual design criteria such as colours.

People come up our street, usually on foot having parked at the bottom, and it’s fair to say their expectations are not likely to be high when they get to us. The front garden is colourful but very small, and there is a side gate leading along the side of the house to the back garden. At the back of the house is an area of wooden decking and it is from here that visitors take in the fact that there might be a bit more going on than they’d anticipated. The main part of the garden is a couple of feet higher than where they’re standing, they still aren’t seeing it all. It is readily apparent that though small, it is absolutely packed with plants. One of the advantages of our garden is that you get to see a lot without having to walk miles to do so.

  • The side of the house, Fuchsias on the bench, all sorts on the floor.
  • First glimpse of the back garden.
  • Eye level view from back of house.

Let me give you a few pictures from angles our visitors don’t get, upstairs in the house and from on high using my monopod at full stretch. It will orientate you somewhat.

The one part of the garden that you can’t see in these pictures is the shady area in behind the purple Acer in the first of the previous set of pictures. I started my virtual tour by going between the two small greenhouse by the house and heading for my one tree woodland.

Through that and you’re heading for the top corner of the garden, shade, through part shade to sun. This area is relatively young planting done in the two years since my polytunnel was removed. You will want to look in Sue’s greenhouse.

You’re now back to the main section of the garden. Many years ago this was a circular lawn. We cut flower beds in it, leaving a perimeter grass path and three paths leading to the centre. The perimeter path is now paved, the inner paths gravel. The outside diameter of the circular path is 11.6m.

That’s about it. Indigofera pendula is by a country mile the most asked after plant in the garden, with the cleomes trailing in second place. Sue’s greenhouse gets a wow reaction on a par with the surprise at how big and full a garden there is lurking hidden in the middle of this estate. Everybody has been very complimentary, which does wonders for my ego. I think the key thing though is that it is a garden on much the same scale as most of theirs, so they can take away ideas for their own gardens to a much greater degree than from larger and grander gardens.

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Published by Jim Stephens

Gardener, no-dig allotmenteer, camellia enthusiast. I love colour, it cheers me up. Retired nurseryman.

31 thoughts on “If only you’d been there….”

  4. Hi Jim,

    This is a terrific walk around your garden. It’s a beautiful space and should be rightly proud of it. I’d love to see a video walk around, identifying some of the plants – I’m sure it would be really well received! Thank you for sharing it.

    I’m not using WordPress any more so I can’t log in to respond in the comments!

    all best June June Girvin (Professor Emeritus)

    june.girvin@btinternet.com

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  5. Wonderful, just the sort of garden I like; packed full of interest. What a treat for your visitors. Thanks for the tour. I bet you don’t have a weed problem, there’s no room for them. What is the name of your red Penstemon?

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    1. We have two or three reds but the one that performs bests and sticks around, in that it survives the winter best, is one we know as ‘Burgundy’. The broader leaved forms have showier flowers but rarely if ever survive the winter and don’t produce much cutting material either, in our experience.

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      1. I wondered if you have one called ‘Drinkstone Red’ which was born in my former garden. I lost it and there are now only about 4 suppliers, none of whom have any available.

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  7. You have a garden to be proud of Jim. It looks stunning and like Noelle I’d be there for hours. One day I will visit you, maybe not whilst it is the summer holidays. In the meantime I shall have another wander…

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  8. You’re right – you’ll need a machete to get thru the paths in August! I love the layers and textures you have when seen from above, and the colours when you get down to earth. It’s a beautiful garden Jim – thanks for sharing it with us!

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  12. Should I be visiting, I would need to arrive early, and may well be the last the person to leave with so many different plants to view. I would then have to leave some time to ask about different plants I had seen, and I have better have my camera on full charge when I arrive. Magnificent!

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  16. Thanks for taking us round with you, the virtual tour of your garden was awe inspiring! So many colourful plants, so much contrasting texture, something interesting everywhere you look, I love it all! I’m so glad that numbers on Sunday made up for Saturday, making it all worth while.

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  18. You certainly fit a lot into such a compact space. Several acres of the landscapes here are not as diverse. It is unfortunate that only two guests arrived on Saturday. Well, Sunday made up for it.

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    1. Yes it is. There’s no moving it now, but I do sometimes wonder whether it isn’t getting a little out of scale with the rest of the garden. It was better at two thirds the size. One day I will grasp the nettle and prune it.

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