A Garden in Oberbergischen Kreis (Germany)

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Last year, we leased a small piece of land, up here in Oberbergischen Land, in North West Germany. We are just 450 metres up, but the climate here is so utterly different to the climate in my adopted home town of Schermbeck.

The plot of land is only some 300 square metres, is a slanting piece of land with a difference of about 4 or 5 metres between the top of the land and the bottom of the garden, bordering the little road. The soil – if you would be so bold as to call it that, is really just clay, and hard, very unforgiving slate like stone.

When we first came here, and asked about the weather in this region – the sun was shining brilliantly at the time – we were told that in Oberbergischen Kreis, you can only tell it is summer, because the rain gets warmer. We thought they were joking. They weren’t!

The winter was a real eye opener. When it rained, it came down in not just buckets, but shed-loads. When the wind blew, it blew with an aggression and strength that left even me, who comes from windy West Midlands in the UK, more than a little worried. In the space of just a couple of days it can go from summer-like episodes, to 40 centimetres of snow piled up against your back door. Honestly, this is a real challenge, and yet, it is also exciting.

This was how we started. Ready for the big build.

• 2 May, 2022
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