Back Garden Before & After Part 2

Gosh Annella, what wonderful photos and the transformations are fantastic. How everything has changed ! Really great. You have worked so hard how can you bear to leave it all.

Thanks Cinders. It will be hard to move but the challenge of another overgrown garden does appeal to me.

Wish I still had your energy Annella. I could no more tackle something like that than fly !

And you want to leave this fantastic garden and move. I am crying on your behalf! GOOD LUCK.

this is a great blog ~ thanks annella ~ i love the before and after ~ just shows what you [but im not sure about me] can do!!!

such a fantastic transformation ~ if you are really going to leave it someone is in for a treat!!! lucky them getting your garden!!

Such a beautiful garden Annella...You are soo talented, wish i was moving into a house with a garden like that...I'd be quite happy....Jamie & Ella look a picture with their Halloween makeup...:>)

Thanks Sticki, I will introduce them to GOY too. How brill would it be to know exactly what is growing in your garden every month of the year as soon as you move in. Take out what you don't like and replant without having to wait and see. GOY could be a real plus point for buyers.

Thanks Moti, they are not really monsters.....well some of the time Lol!

you could sell them some photos!!!

Good idea! Or take all my plants and should them on GOY what they are missing Lol!

are you taking some with you? i hope you are!!

Yes already started to dig and divide Sticki.......I bought van loads from my last garden

i dont blame you!!

Oh Annella, just wonderful .... How have you done it. Every aspect looks wonderful and the transformation has taken my breath away. I'm depressed now, I put so many hours into my garden and it looks nothing like yours. Your planting schemes are something else.
Good luck with the kids going through the teenage years :)
Adding to my favs and going back for another look x

Absolutely STUNNING transformation!!

You have an obvious talent, the transformation is just amazing, and if I were 10 years younger I would love the challenge and excitement of starting another garden, lucky people who do buy your house they have had all the hard work done, creating boundaries etc, good luck and keep us up to date.

I feel quite sad looking at this Annie...so much work and you have such a beautiful place. I love your views over towards the town....sigh. BUT...a new garden, a new challenge...and the chance to put in to practice all that you have learned from making this garden....it will be great! Love the halloween photos, what a couple of gorgeous young people you have grown there!

Such a transformation Annella! That's absolutely marvellous, I had no idea you created your lovely garden from, well...nothing! It's an absolute credit to you, anyone would be thrilled to move to a house with your garden, I hope they appreciate it, I know I would!!

Such a beautiful garden...

That is some transformation Annella..not only your fantastic garden,but your two good looking children too..how they all change..I would be more sad leaving the garden than the house...it is so beautiful..:o)

Thank you all for your lovely comments. I took on the mortgage here in 2007 after my divorce was completed mainly to give the kids some stability. Their dad leaving was a shock to us all but they needed to go to school locally, so I have managed up until now. I always knew we would have to move and I think now is the right time.
The properties I have viewed so far are all a lot smaller but the gardens have been a lot bigger, it's just a case of marrying the two together......seen some nasty smelly houses with huge gardens and lots of new clean ones with no outside space. I think I will be going with cleaning and weeding x

I hope you find something nice annella, im sure those tv people could find you something in the right location!??

Wow, absolutely amazing, I always enjoy looking at your photos, and I would also be sad to be leaving a garden like that, but as everyone says a great challenge to start again, which judging by this wont be too difficult for you, beautiful!! Also they will be very lucky new owners.!
ps. good luck in your house hunting. :^)

The terraced houses I'm looking at now all have long gardens which is a view I miss in this house. I will hold on for the biggest garden I can find even if we have to live in a shed for a while Lol!!!

Sticki thanks, but I don't think I can afford a place in the country ;O)

Simply...beautiful! :-)) I want it!

Send you the details then Izzy!!!! Lol :o))

'To buy or not to buy'? 'Homes under the Hammer'? It would be such fun!! :)))

Thanks Daylily, I think we were posting at the same time

i fancy a log cabin ~ does that count as a shed?

Hi Annella, I just noticed that too :^))

Karen the smelly house would involve us living in a caravan for 12 months.......I am still seriously thinking about that one. The garden was like a field and I would be very happy girls x

how would the caravan be in the winter?

Luxurious compared to the house Sticki! I would like to think a local builder will sort it out then I could buy it all clean and ready.

builders will be glad to have work in the current situation so that should work in your favour.

Thanks Sticki, I have seen a few amazing gardens so far, all in my imagination though but the attached houses have been in need of some repair. Weeding is one thing but underpinning another.

yes i totally agree, it would have to be sound structurally, the rest i can cope with; must confess though I do like it light!! [this house was very dark when we bought it]

What an amazing transformation. I cannot believe how much your garden (and kids) have changed in 10 years. They are a credit to you. All I can say is very lucky new owners getting such a fabulous garden.

Good luck with the house hunting, I'm sure you'll find something you love with plenty of garden to play with and no underpinning needed :)

That's another one Sticki, this time I would like to be south facing. My garden is North East and not easy.

Thanks Samjp

same here annella and i would love to face south or west!!! and have a view of the sky!!!

Im totally gobsmacked Annella...this is real talent. Your lawns always amazed me cos they look like carpets, but the transformation of the garden sections are out of this world!
If you make the next one as good or better, you will have to open for NGS..I will visit!

Oh wow! You have done an amazing job on your gardens! I need to hire you to come over to NZ & do the same for me! Quarter of an acre section, most of it at the back .... good view of sky ..... mild winters .... hot summers ....am I tempting you yet??? Wow! If I can do just half as good in my garden, I will feel very satisfied. You ought to have taken up gardening as a career! As your children are now in their teens ..... maybe you could look at doing that? You have a very real talent & people will pay to have their gardens lanscaped ... or at least, to have a plan drawn up for them. Your kids are great too .... & Jaimie still has the same smile he had as a little boy! lol good luck with finding a place which will suit you right down to the ground (no pun intended). My previous home had half an acre & a graceful 1920s villa surrounded by lovely verandahs .... & my home before that was an eight-bedroomed historic home high up on a hill with the most beautiful views over the ocean, but nightmare terraced gardens of over an acre ... which I was terrified to work in, as no fences anywhere on the steep terracing. This house has no views .... no graceful verandahs .... & it needs a lot of renovation work (its got no insulation & no form of heating other than an open fireplace & we have frozen in our first winter here ..... & virtually no garden .... & the house is close to the road. BUT ..... we love it! We saw lots of much more lovely homes with established pretty gardens, & my friends & family thought we were crazy to buy this home .... but it was from a deceased trust & we got it very cheaply, with just a small mortgage, which has freed up money for us to travel annually to the States where my sons & their families live .... & it gives us the funds to do this lovely old villa up as we want it, & to gradually put in the garden we want to have. So go with your gut feeling & don't worry about what anyone else says (apart from the children if they will be moving there with you ... not sure of their ages). Sorry my 'comment' is so long.

Lovely photos showing much to be proud of! Particularly love what you've done with the slope. Beautiful! :o)

omg wot a transformation hun .................. gawjus pics !! and lovely to see the history be hind the planting ....... love it all , and the views

what an amazing transformation and such a great set of pictures..truely awesome what you have done in your space and garden in that time..im sure it will be hard to leave the house if you do decide to move..

fantastic blog and great to see an insight into such a lovely garden..

Thanks all, I had great fun matching up the old and new pics. I was impressed with how much the slope had changed after seeing the old pic again, it was the bit I didn't really enjoy doing but looking back it was worth all the backaches.

How come everyone knows you're moving but me??? Your garden is so beautiful...I'm so sad your leaving it, you've worked miracles with it...still as you say, a new challenge...exciting:-) You have to help Flori Lauri on Pamg's blog, Sunny Sunday Morning..have you got a ladder? :-)

ooo hec i dident know u were moveing either ....................... why !!

Oh wow, how amazing watching all that growing!! Beautiful job.

What an amazing story Annella! - You have achieved so much in a relatively short time. I do hope you continue to blog on Goy. I wish you luck in your search for your new garden and hope you get a house that suits you well. I have added you to my favourites, you are an inspiration.

I would have to go with the smelly house (been there, done that!!) with the BIG garden lol !!

Annella, what a wonderful eye for garden design and planting you have! .. Fabulous pics to show what you have achieved over the years ... not sure I would be able to leave it behind if it were mine! .. :o)

Hi Annella! What a wonderful blog this is! What a total transformation..you are so talented my friend! This has to go in my Favs...Loved it. Good luck with the house hunting my friend..\0/x

Annella, just visited your pics again and noticed the pink/red flowering rose on the slope - which is this one? Certainly stands out :)

I love the Midsummer Photo, what a beautiful garden to leave behind for the new owner.

Your most precious plants are those two little monsters now all grown up. They are a credit to you and you can take them along with you (until it is time for them to fly the nest). The garden is a masterpiece of love and design. No one can take the memories of that from you when you look back at your photos. I wish you all the luck in the world in finding your new dream garden with house to match. Have lots of fun designing something to match your get up and go outlook on life.

Thanks all :o))
Dawn the rose is 'Flower Carpet pink'. I think you said you bought one a little while ago. It is still full of flower and buds in mid September.

That's great news about it being Flower Carpet Pink Annella, as you are right, got one a few weeks ago. Dead headed it as Karen described and hey presto, its flowering and the 2 Flower Carpet Gold ones I got are too :-)))) I cant wait for them to establish. So pleased I saw yours.

What plants will you chose to have again in your new garden that you already have now - ground cover roses I suspect for one.

I have already started to divide my favourites Dawn, some that came with me from my old garden and lots of newbies from friends on Goy. I will definitely have more ground cover roses as they flower profusely for so long.

Good plan Annella, take as much as you can. I cant wait to get more shrub roses into my garden. I've been clearing ground ready. What height and spread is your Flower Carpet Pink? Looks quite big on the pic.

It must be 5ft by 5ft now and I really hack it back hard every March but it flowers forever so brilliant! There are times in the year when you can't see the leaves for flowers x

Wow, quite big, lovely. Must be an amazing sight when loaded with flowers.

Your blog is a total inspiration for me with my sloping garden Annella. The transformation is breathtaking, you should be very proud of your achievements.

The before and after photos are a wonderful idea.

With your true talent and ability you have really inspired me with which plants and shrubs to put in.

WONDERFUL!!

Thanks Loola I'm glad it has given you some Ideas. This was all trial an error, I had never worked on anything like the slope before. Over time it has become more manageable although the weeding still kills my legs :o))

Fabulous. Really beautiful example of how to build a paradise. Congrats!

Lovely to see this again

Yes Scotsgran, I've enjoyed seeing it again too. Truly inspirational, clever you Annie:-)