2007 Newsletter - Garden
The fact that I was opening the garden to the public under the National Gardens scheme for the first time this year meant that the focus was on ensuring that every plant looked as good as possible and that virtually every spot of ground had to be covered by a plant. Despite the fact that I had done a great deal of hole filling in the autumn of 2006, there were still a few places that needed a little work and I also had to resolve the challenges of plants that had not made it through the winter. So I had to visit a few nurseries – what a hardship!
One of the best things that gardening has brought me is meeting local nurserymen (of both the male and female varieties). I have had the privilege of getting to challenge the brains of those who stock plants that suit my conditions. Give them the requirements and they provide a short list of suitable plants, and then all I have to do is choose. Fortunately there are a number of very good local nurseries to work with. There were some plants that I already knew that I wanted and just had to source, one of these was the papyrus for the pond. Some years it comes through the winter ok, and some years it doesn't. Unfortunately, the winter of 2006 was one that it didn't make it through. Luckily, I have a supplier close to home, so it was just a matter of visiting him to pick the plants up.
Delenn, Cerys, Oliver and Miar enjoying the garden
I decided that I should also visit a few of the gardens that opened before mine, so that I could get an idea of exactly what I was looking for. I soon realised many how different things gardens provided. Whilst the gardens were obviously the main focus, some places we visited also indulged the British fascination with seeing how other people lived. One featured a beautiful thatched cottage in large grounds that all one could do was to suppress the envy. Certainly the key thing that I learnt from these visits was that the garden had to be immaculate. One garden had labelled the plants in a very professional manner, so I got details from them of the suppliers, so that I could copy this idea – I quickly recognised that they would save me having to remember the names of plants which undoubtedly would slip my mind when I opened my garden.
Early in the year we suffered from a distinct lack of rain. I felt very glad that my clay soil meant that I didn't have to water too much and I felt very glad that I didn't have rolling lawns to look after.
A month before the open garden, I had to go away on business for two weeks. I obviously panicked about what sort of state the garden would get into whilst I was away. I was therefore very glad that my friend Janet volunteered herself and her husband to come and help me get things back together in time for the big day. We worked hard all day and by the end of it, it became obvious that the garden would be up to scratch for the big weekend.
Eventually the big day arrived. We went out on the Friday night and put up the imposing yellow NGS signs to direct people. On the morning, we positioned the cars to let people get easily to the back gate and put up the balloons to show exactly where we were. The wonderful team of helpers (Carol and her daughter, Trudie ably assisted by grand-daughter Chantal) arrived and got organised and then we sat down to wait for our visitors. Would anyone turn up?
Luckily we need not have worried. The first visitor arrived just before our official opening time and there was a steady stream of visitors all afternoon. I had worried that my small garden might struggle if too many arrived at once, but we were lucky in that the garden never was empty and neither was it ever too full. I was also amazed by how long some people stayed – I need not have worried as to whether it was capable of holding people’s interest for the NGS required 45 minutes. One visitor even returned on the second day, having travelled 30 miles, as she wanted her husband to see what we had done. I had some lovely conversations with visitors, some about our plants and conditions, and some about the design. More than one was interested to see a garden would be achieved without grass, and realised that doing something similar was a practical proposition. One visitor likened the garden to a Tardis, a quote I liked so much that I have included it in the garden description for the 2008 Yellow Book, which lists all the gardens open under the NGS. Since a key element of the design was to accommodate the dogs, I decided that we should have some dogs loose in the garden during the open times. Oliver and Miar fulfilled their roles admirably, even if Miar did take frequent breaks from her public by retiring into the house.
Amazingly quickly the opening was over. In the two days, we welcomed 122 people into our garden. After the open day, the team had a post mortem and decided that it would be something we would be happy to do in future. There were a few small lessons to be learnt, but overall we had had a very happy and enjoyable weekend.