original drawing of liz and mikes gardenThe Garden
July 2010
In July 2010 we decided to tackle the garden and, together with a few ideas from my sister-in-law (Kath), came up with a design for the garden (click on diagrams for larger versions). As we also aimed to build a koi pond in the future and, having visited Japan on three occasions, we decided to have a small Japanese-style garden in the top left-hand corner of the main garden. However, as Mike was working full-time and I am limited with the amount of manual labour I can do – due to back problems – we decided that it might make sense to employ the services of a gardener whom Mike already knew. Annette Fobister of AF Garden Solutions came for a site visit and whilst she thought our design was good, she felt that, overall, it was too patchy and that nothing would blend in!

As can be seen from the right-hand diagram the overall plot, including the house, isn't a straight-forward shape. I have calculated the overall size of the garden itself (excluding the garage) to be approximately 2,190 square feet.


For progress and full details of the garden from the beginning to May 2012, please have a look at The Garden Album.

The following photo was taken on 7th May, 2014. Observant readers will notice that the bamboos in the middle of the two eyes of the Yin & Yang have been replaced by two specimen Acers I although only one can be seen on the photo.

Please click here to see a short video of the garden and pond filmed in May 2014.

June 2016

Work on the garden has continued over the last 2 years and everything is now maturing - some areas perhaps a little too much so we now really need to get the confidence to start pruning heavily. At the end of June I decided to enter the garden into a competition being organised by the BBC's Gardeners' World Magazine. There are 3 categories - Small Space, Family Plot and Wildlife. Below are the photos I submitted and, in the meantime, watch this space!

The photo immediately below was taken from the bedroom window. As can be seen work is being undertaken to the koi pond - further details of which will be added to 'The Pond' section in due course!

The garden

  • Image 1 of 10 : The Garden - photo © Liz Donlan
  • Image 2 of 10 : The conifer and Magnolia bed - Photo © Liz Donlan
  • Image 3 of 10 : The Hosta bed - photo © Liz Donlan
  • Image 4 of 10 : The Grasses bed - photo © Liz Donlan
  • Image 5 of 10 : The Oriental Teahouse - photo © Liz Donlan
  • Image 6 of 10 : The Archway - photo © Liz Donlan
  • Image 7 of 10: The Fernery - photo © Liz Donlan
  • Image 8 of 10 : Heucheras - photo © Liz Donlan
  • Image 9 of 10 : Before..... - photo © Liz Donlan
  • Image 10 of 10 : ....and after - photo © Liz Donlan

 

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Liz & Mike's Garden           Tel: 07860 315300            E-mail: liz@lizandmikesgarden.co.uk
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