Garden Design
I have had the privilege and fun of setting up 20 gardens in both southern UK as well as new England for a variety of conditions. Themes include woodland, lakeside, shade, hot sun. Extremes included deep forest shade and boggy country side. All featured cooking herbs and perennial flowers and shrubs. The nature of the plants were the key to the designs, and landscape and hardscape secondary, but well positioned as the given landscape would allow.
Anna Valley Gardens
When we bought our terraced home on the southwest side of Andover, Hampshire, in Anna Valley, part of the village of Upper Clatford, Hampshire, United Kingdom, we knew it was the right one at the right time. I either wanted mature trees or a blank canvas. This was a combination.
The back garden was approx 25-foot square, deck along the house flat on the ground, surrounded by an old batterede fence. In one corner was enough English Ivy to support a few families of garden birds. In the other was a very tall Leyland Spruce. How tall? Oh wild guess maybe 30-40 feet. Is that 9 metres? Also a guess. But I looked it up - 9 m is nearly 30 feet.
Most of the garden was covered in a layer of yellowish pea gravel, suitable for the border collie who used to live there, and a family just trying to sell their house to move closer to work! But a blank slate was a fantastic opportunity.
How will we use the garden?
We were overlooked on 3 sides, and the lovely backdrop of hedges was under threat of being removed. We wanted to be able to enjoy a bit of privacy while encouraging wildlife into the garden and our dear cats to find a reason to stick close to home. An opportunity for poterring in the garden, with photography and drawing subjects are a plus!
The garden is small at 5.7 metres square. We hope to maintain a simple colour scheme at any time, marked by lilac shrubs, mock orange (bright white flowers) and roses (pastel apricot or peach tones). These are highlighted by blue, indigo & raspberry. The timing of bulbs and various perennials is monitored to retain simplicity. A variety of leave and flower shape are sought for balance, contrast, and attraction to wildlife.
The Plan
A quick assessment of the light patterns revealed the sunniest quarter of the garden, and the rest would be part shade. Additionally, under the evergreen no doubt would be dry. Further, we live near a chalk quarry and the local lad at the garden center assured me that the rhodos and azaleas and mountain laurel (do they have that here?) would not thrive, so I would need to consider pots and soil improvements.
Picture a square, divided in to 4 even parts. Put the shade of the tree in one corner and the sunniest bit opposite. This inspired me with a bit of yin and yang pattern, so we host a bright white garden statue (Diana?) in the dark corner, and the dark cool pool of a birdbath providing contrast in the sunny corner. I was able to reuse some pavers found in a corner to make a snaking path from the deck at the kitchen door to the beautiful new back gate.
My plant selections focus on potted tulips (March and April) lilacs and a peony (April and May), Roses and Mock orange (June), tall Phlox and white hydrangea (July and August). A clematis and passion flower adorn the left side fence. Clematis has buds in late April, and the passion flower I have seen bloom in winter and also autumn, so I will have to get back to you on that!
Lesson Learned
In hindsight we should have invested in the effort to dig up a few layers of rock, sand, and landscape material. It would have saved time and effort and addressed design obstacles well before starting.
Anna Valley: DURING
The new fence process was amazing - despite a love for faded glory, it was incredible to see how much larger the space felt with the walls down! Wow! It would definitely be an option for forgo a fence at all, if your neighbour agrees, and use various landscaping techniques and plants and shrubs for privacy.
But we hired Mick the Brick to make our shared wall good - rebar, concrete, new fence posts, the works with a beautiful blue capped brick top. The fence was beautiful too, even more gorgeous on our neighbours side.
Anna Valley: AFTER
In the first year we said good bye to the lovely ivy as it pulled the fence on to the ground in a shambles. We invited our friend Mike to fix up the low wall and he smartly replaced the cheap and crumbling fence panels with a handmade close-board fence. It was beautiful, if a bit high per our lovely neighbour David. I have since offered to remove some boards (if poss) to let some light through but he declined. Once the shrubs get big enough to constitute a green fence, we can talk reducing the height of the wood fence.
I transferred quite a few plants collected from our previous two gardens where we rented, and they needed to get in the ground fast for best results. (Just ask our day lilies! Despite me splitting and putting them in more pots, they have not grown much.
As gardens can be life long endeavours, it’s a labour of love and an ongoing project. But also a great place to sit now and listen to the birds with my morning cup of coffee, or sit and read on a Sunday afternoon while on furlough. While I ran in to a few stumbling blocks - like a layer of brick patio/foundation in the back corner which have prevented me from finishing the planting design, I have had the privilege of watching the lilacs and phlox blossom and grow significantly. It is wonderful to finally be sitting still long enough to get the enjoyment from sitting in on place! What will be the final chapter in my traveling garden? (More on that in an old blog I unearthed.)
