Why did I sign up to an evening course in Garden Design?
I asked myself the same question every week, usually on the night before the lesson, when I had to do “the homework”. It probably was not the wisest of decisions to sign up to an adult learning class in January at the same time as starting a new job, but it was something I fell in love with, and I knew that I had to get my ideas down on paper early this year to be in with any chance of actually planting something before the summer.
BEFORE - This is the only part of the garden we liked and used which I filled with pots, cushions and ‘toot’ as the boy calls it
The wrap-around “Strip Garden”
The “BEFORE” shot above is an illusion. Don’t be fooled. Our garden nothing looks like this as a complete space, but I’ve cheated a little patio corner and I only ever took photos of this area. I also thought I knew what I was doing here and tried to style it out with lots of cushions, candles, throws and random objects (I’ll let you decide whether the flamingo is treasure or toot). I also filled empty spaces with pots. I had no idea what was in these pots - everything was bought on a whim in a garden centre based purely on ‘that’s pretty’ and ‘ooo, I like that colour’ emotional decision making. Luckily, my Mum came to the rescue and helped identify what I had bought and took charge telling me how to look after them. She educated me on what they (the plants) needed to stay alive, to what they would love to look at their best. My mind was blown. But before I tell you about my 2018 journey from gardening hater, to lover, lets take a look at the rest of the garden. It won’t take long!
We have a strange shaped garden. Our house is on a corner plot, at the end of a little lane, barely overlooked, in an established old part of town (tick, tick, tick, tick) with two narrow strips of land that wrap around the house (big fat cross). And annoyingly we have a third strip in the front garden that we wish was in the back garden but we’ve come to accept we can’t change that. When we viewed our house the garden was the big ‘X’ on the list. We both wanted land and a big lawn for parties, games and so the Boy could play cricket. Honestly, this was his priority! But we fell in love with the house and told ourselves that this garden was more than enough for us to maintain (we had zero gardening experience) and if there was one thing we could compromise on, it was the garden that we didn’t even know we needed.
The main strip
For orientation purposes only (ignore the crap on the floor) - the main strip at the back of the house leads to the corner patio
The other strip
The front strip
The corner patio where the strips meet - the only nice bit of the garden
When we moved in Autumn 2017 we did absolutely nothing to the garden. In hindsight we should have started planting so we could have maturing shrubs and trees now, but we knew nothing. Then in Spring 2018 I started to want to do more pots and started asking my Mum if I could go to the specialist nurseries with her to check out plants as Homebase and B&Q just weren’t cutting it for me anymore. I’m pretty sure this was a proud moment for my Mum after the last 5 years of her encouraging us to do “at least something” with our old garden. I didn't listen to a single word she said when we lived in our old house. Instead Will and I bought a BBQ and a little fire pit and cobbled together a little seating area with the cheap furniture we had collected over the years. It wasn’t pretty, but then again, neither was being overlooked. Looking back now, it’s pretty obvious why we hardly used this garden!
After 5 years in the old house…
A BBQ and a FIRE PIT - we had the all essentials
Basic furniture so we could host a BBQ was as far as we got. And the Cala lillies gifted by my Mum.
Falling in love with gardening
With the excitement of the new house and garden, I had a new hobby forming, and I didn't even realise it. I always loved going to a Garden Centre but now I was getting interested in plants and garden design and could start to see (and almost understand) different styles and themes. I even went to Gardeners World at the NEC in 2018 (another proud moment for my Mum) and skipped along the exhibition halls with my little trolley behind me filling it with plants until it was bursting. My phone was starting to fill with photos of garden “inspo”, plants, colours and textures and I soon realised I had opened a massive can of worms and had too many ideas for our garden.
I was actually overwhelmed with ideas and didn't know where to start. All I really knew at this stage was that landscaping was physically hard, expensive, takes a very long time and can go terribly wrong if you chose the wrong materials, or don't design it to fit the house, shapes and light in the garden. I also knew we had a tricky garden and I needed some ideas of how to make two narrow strips of land a cohesive garden that looked good. So when a flyer popped in the letter box advertising adult learning courses at a local school, Mum and I both signed up for ‘Introduction to Garden Planning and Design’. Gulp!
I’ll do a blog on each lesson to share what I learnt and how my garden design developed.
Katie x