The Plot So Far
Looking back, we were either mad or naive to take Springfield on, probably both. Sometimes I straighten my back and think we are getting nowhere at all but when I look at old photos and see what we have achieved, I see the changes and wonder how we do it, along with everything else in our lives.
Looking back, we were either mad or naive to take Springfield on, probably both. Sometimes I straighten my back and think we are getting nowhere at all but when I look at old photos and see what we have achieved, I see the changes and wonder how we do it, along with everything else in our lives.
Springfield has taken us beyond our comfort zone and challenged us in so many ways but perhaps that is the only way you really find out what you can do. Perhaps that is why Springfield means so much to us, because there are times when we thought it would finish us off! In any case, our family has a strong work ethic and why would we sit around when there is work we can do?
Our Edwardian house sits on a hill and there is a gravel driveway with a couple of mixed borders at the front. The back garden is south-west facing. From above it appears long and thin but measures 20 yards ( 18.3 metres) wide and just over 144 yards (131.8 metres) long. It overlooks a valley and slopes down 40 feet (12.2 metres) to the rear boundary where there is a natural spring. Only the able bodied walk to the bottom because it is a long way back up the hill to the house! (It’s an even harder walk if you are pushing a wheelbarrow full of fallen apples!)
When we moved here, there was a structural backbone to the garden but it was overgrown and in need of a makeover. We did not want to, nor was it practical, to wipe the canvas clean. It was clear that the best thing was to work with what we had got, enhancing the features already here and adding new things along the way.
We started by doing the easy bit, walking round the acreage and looking at this and that, dreaming and painting the landscape with bold, imaginary pens. This was good for the soul but eventually we had to draw up the Action Plan because ‘pottering around’ and Springfield do not go together.
The list filled an A4 sheet of paper and we are still ticking our way through it. (When I need a break, I re-write the list!) The garden is divided into 5 linear ‘rooms’. At the top there is a stone terrace with a rockery and borders which lead down by some steps to a formal garden with a lawn, summer house and borders. More steps take you to the new vegetable garden with a separate rabbit-free zone (Mr McGregor’s Garden) and then to the orchard beyond. At the very bottom is the secret garden where currently we have bonfires. All around there are mature trees, rhododendrons and azaleas as well as naturalised spring bulbs. However, visitors find it amusing that the top of the garden is acidic and the further away from the house you walk, the chalkier the garden becomes!
Developing a vegetable garden was a priority because it needed the most building work and we were keen to reap some edible rewards from the garden as soon as possible. Doc took on a lot of the landscaping himself and we now have raised beds, a greenhouse and a utility area with sheds and compost bins.
Some of the oldest fruit trees were felled to make way for new, smaller ones on dwarf rootstock to make picking easier and Doc planted cordons and fruit bushes in the vegetable garden. Monster shrubs were cut back six feet or more to open up the aspect and massive ornamental trees were pruned to within an inch of their lives. As a result we now also have a woodshed in which to store the logs.
Springfield is not a labour saving garden but why would a gardener want la abour-free garden? However, we only have 24 hours a day and there are other things to do as well as gardening (like sleeping!). We are lucky that Mitch comes to help us cut the grass and hedges. I think he would like to see the grass looking more like a lawn since he spends so much time mowing it but he is very tolerant (and diplomatic).
Gardens are never finished, nor should they be. We will never get to the stage where all Springfield needs is a good tidy up in the spring and autumn, leaving us time to play around with a few flowers and harvest the bounty. If we let Springfield do its own thing, it would be a jungle in no time and of course our larder would be empty. In any case, part of the enjoyment for us is the commitment, the planning, the learning and the creativity. We are never bored and thankfully, we are still young enough to be able to make the most of our plot.
There are plenty of boxes to tick on the Action Plan. There are borders to re-claim and new ones to plan. The summer house is home to mice and several unwanted household items (aka junk) and it needs replacing. The hens arrived in a flurry of feathers in 2010 and spend a lot of time both enjoying and destroying the garden at the same time. Doc intends to build a permanent home for them whilst I need to make sure there is colour all year round and replace the plants that the chickens have killed!
Interestingly, there was a heading on the Action Plan called Seating. Indeed, the terrace was re-laid and a table and chairs were bought. A lovely swinging bench hangs now from an old, gnarled apple tree in the corner of the orchard and I think this looks very romantic especially when the daffodils are in bloom. We have also a new tree seat in the orchard and a cute little bistro set consisting of 2 cast iron chairs and a little wobbly table which is ideal for al fresco lunch by the greenhouse. Oh, and there is a smart Edward Lutyens style bench near the utility area in the veg garden....
Visitors usually remark that it must be nice to choose a place to sit on a warm summers evening, to sip wine, chat and enjoy the garden. However, that any of our seats are for actually sitting on is a mute point! Not only are we usually too grubby for sitting on nice seats but we simply never find the time. In any case, if we do sit down long enough to eat a sandwich, we just see something else that needs doing. There are beans to pick and weeds to pull up! And if you look closely at the photo, you can see Nester – in a pink cardigan running somewhere or other. ..... I have probably got a watering can in one hand and secateurs in the other.
I think we need a new heading on the Action Plan: Sit down somewhere in the garden and stay there until the sun goes down.
Our Edwardian house sits on a hill and there is a gravel driveway with a couple of mixed borders at the front. The back garden is south-west facing. From above it appears long and thin but measures 20 yards ( 18.3 metres) wide and just over 144 yards (131.8 metres) long. It overlooks a valley and slopes down 40 feet (12.2 metres) to the rear boundary where there is a natural spring. Only the able bodied walk to the bottom because it is a long way back up the hill to the house! (It’s an even harder walk if you are pushing a wheelbarrow full of fallen apples!)
When we moved here, there was a structural backbone to the garden but it was overgrown and in need of a makeover. We did not want to, nor was it practical, to wipe the canvas clean. It was clear that the best thing was to work with what we had got, enhancing the features already here and adding new things along the way.
We started by doing the easy bit, walking round the acreage and looking at this and that, dreaming and painting the landscape with bold, imaginary pens. This was good for the soul but eventually we had to draw up the Action Plan because ‘pottering around’ and Springfield do not go together.
The list filled an A4 sheet of paper and we are still ticking our way through it. (When I need a break, I re-write the list!) The garden is divided into 5 linear ‘rooms’. At the top there is a stone terrace with a rockery and borders which lead down by some steps to a formal garden with a lawn, summer house and borders. More steps take you to the new vegetable garden with a separate rabbit-free zone (Mr McGregor’s Garden) and then to the orchard beyond. At the very bottom is the secret garden where currently we have bonfires. All around there are mature trees, rhododendrons and azaleas as well as naturalised spring bulbs. However, visitors find it amusing that the top of the garden is acidic and the further away from the house you walk, the chalkier the garden becomes!
Developing a vegetable garden was a priority because it needed the most building work and we were keen to reap some edible rewards from the garden as soon as possible. Doc took on a lot of the landscaping himself and we now have raised beds, a greenhouse and a utility area with sheds and compost bins.
Some of the oldest fruit trees were felled to make way for new, smaller ones on dwarf rootstock to make picking easier and Doc planted cordons and fruit bushes in the vegetable garden. Monster shrubs were cut back six feet or more to open up the aspect and massive ornamental trees were pruned to within an inch of their lives. As a result we now also have a woodshed in which to store the logs.
Springfield is not a labour saving garden but why would a gardener want la abour-free garden? However, we only have 24 hours a day and there are other things to do as well as gardening (like sleeping!). We are lucky that Mitch comes to help us cut the grass and hedges. I think he would like to see the grass looking more like a lawn since he spends so much time mowing it but he is very tolerant (and diplomatic).
Gardens are never finished, nor should they be. We will never get to the stage where all Springfield needs is a good tidy up in the spring and autumn, leaving us time to play around with a few flowers and harvest the bounty. If we let Springfield do its own thing, it would be a jungle in no time and of course our larder would be empty. In any case, part of the enjoyment for us is the commitment, the planning, the learning and the creativity. We are never bored and thankfully, we are still young enough to be able to make the most of our plot.
There are plenty of boxes to tick on the Action Plan. There are borders to re-claim and new ones to plan. The summer house is home to mice and several unwanted household items (aka junk) and it needs replacing. The hens arrived in a flurry of feathers in 2010 and spend a lot of time both enjoying and destroying the garden at the same time. Doc intends to build a permanent home for them whilst I need to make sure there is colour all year round and replace the plants that the chickens have killed!
Interestingly, there was a heading on the Action Plan called Seating. Indeed, the terrace was re-laid and a table and chairs were bought. A lovely swinging bench hangs now from an old, gnarled apple tree in the corner of the orchard and I think this looks very romantic especially when the daffodils are in bloom. We have also a new tree seat in the orchard and a cute little bistro set consisting of 2 cast iron chairs and a little wobbly table which is ideal for al fresco lunch by the greenhouse. Oh, and there is a smart Edward Lutyens style bench near the utility area in the veg garden....
Visitors usually remark that it must be nice to choose a place to sit on a warm summers evening, to sip wine, chat and enjoy the garden. However, that any of our seats are for actually sitting on is a mute point! Not only are we usually too grubby for sitting on nice seats but we simply never find the time. In any case, if we do sit down long enough to eat a sandwich, we just see something else that needs doing. There are beans to pick and weeds to pull up! And if you look closely at the photo, you can see Nester – in a pink cardigan running somewhere or other. ..... I have probably got a watering can in one hand and secateurs in the other.
I think we need a new heading on the Action Plan: Sit down somewhere in the garden and stay there until the sun goes down.
