How a garden grows!

How wonderful Lutleyyeltz

Thank you!

Its amazing how mature it looks in just under two years.

It looks great and worth all the work!

Can't believe you did that in 2 years - it's fantastic!! Lovely style of gardening, Lutley.

It was a lot of work but, as they say; "no pain, no gain."
I am a total plantaholic and although I know that i really haven't the room, I'll always find a hole for a new acquisition!
I love tropical looking plants and try to achieve "the natural look" with rocks, cobbles and gravel.

Thats a well done revamp it's lovely .

Congratulations. Well done !

Love the way you've got height to your greenery. Beautiful!

Wow - what a transformation! Its incredible what you have achieved here it all looks fantastic! Please tell us more!

Are you sure? I can go on a bit.

Absolutely! I'm fascinated to know your plant choices to get such great results in such a short time.

This is the third garden, two of which have been bigger and on sloping sites, that I have developed from scratch in the last 13 years. This, at 74 years of age, is the last!
The garden, when my wife Heather and I moved in July 2011, was the typical “path up the centre of a grassed area and a few tired shrub” design. Plus a huge holly tree which was sucking the life from the soil.

My idea was to have a semi-formal style with no grass, using gravel, cobbles, stepping stones and rocks to give a natural, rugged look. The initial work entailed removing everything except for one Azalea and three small Pieris. I dug the whole area over, removing all weeds by hand – the only way to do it! New fencing was installed before any planting was done. I learned that lesson from experience.

I used old decking boards that were given to me to edge the planting areas at the back and sides.

I cannot envisage a garden of mine without a pond of some sort. I decided that I wasn’t going to dig one out again so I bought a raised, self assembly, wooden inter-locking one. It came complete with a shaped butyl liner and, once I had made a level area with a sand base, it took no more than an hour to assemble and get level. Instant pond. The cost - £215. Money well spent IMHO!

Prior to moving I had potted up lots of smaller plants and divided others from my garden. All pots and topiary came with us – you can have the house, but my plants are a different matter!

By the time that autumn arrived I had put in the basic garden structures such as: pergola, seating arbour and an arch leading from the patio to the garden.
Planting of trees shrubs and herbaceous perennials was also done by late October.

The rate at which everything grew during 2012 was phenomenal and it has continued to amaze us this year. My most expensive indulgence was a Trachycarpus palm (a birthday present to myself this year) 7 feet tall costing £145. This was a break from the norm as I usually seek out small growers and visit car boot sales to find bargains of all sorts.

If I may be so bold as to offer any advice to those with a small garden it would be – BE BOLD. Small space doesn’t mean mini planting and no trees! In a space that measures 34 feet by 21 feet I have three large bamboos; 1 Phyllostachys nigra and 2 Phyllostachys aurea. I also have 4 trees in a group (Silver birch, Norwegian maple, Snakeskin maple and Sorbus aucuparia. I love the dense planting and “jungly” feel that you get with big plants and big leaves. Size does matter!

I have many pollinator friendly shrubs and herbaceous plants, as the bees and insects are an often forgotten part of the wildlife structure.

The front garden is given over to a mixed border, once again emphasis is on wildlife friendly plants and a grassed area with sections left unmown (see another blog).
That's the story so far, the garden will continue to change here and there because we're never satisfied, are we?

I apologise in advance if I’ve bored most of you silly thus far, but I was asked to tell more!

An amazing transformation, I do like a good before and after. I love your little mirror :o)

Absolutely fantastic! I loved reading through your description. I sat looking at the photos - the first and the last, again and again, with my mouth open - all this in two years! And we took two years to build a small retaining wall.

The mirror was a real bargain - £10. It's amazing what a difference they can make to a garden. That little air of mystery!

Thanks so much for sharing Lutleyeltz - really enjoyed reading your description, anything but boring! I'm inspired by your advice to "be bold" - I'm off outside now to sit and have a think about what I can add to my small space. Thanks again :)

Go for it - the bigger the better! Get plenty of height into your planting and don't always put larger shrubs or trees at the back.
Make a statement here and there by planting something large right at the front of a border.

Good luck!

Beautiful what a wonderful transformation LOVE IT:)

Don't know how but I missed this one, so pleased I backtracked, your garden looks amazing and in such a short while really.
I enjoyed reading about your transformation and seeing it in the photo's, thankyou for sharing Lutleyyeltz..