During spring 2024, we viewed a new home. Setting foot into the long back garden where turf dominated and shrubs were only planted along the perimeter made me think, this could be my opportunity to create a truly beautiful garden where shrubs and perennials filled the entire garden space. I was so happy that the garden contained three mature fruit trees, because if no 26 was to become our new home, we would sadly be handing back the tenancy of our orchard.

It is now exactly a year since we picked up the house keys for our lovely new home at no 26. The garden is progressing slightly slower than I anticipated. It is fair to say “my pace has definitely been more tortoise than hare like “

John and I drew up a sketch scheme last winter, which will become the basis for the design of our new garden.

It is definitely still at the concept stage.

I do need to remind myself, that our previous garden was 18 years in the making, so a year really is nothing. I have spent my time thinking about what I would like to visually create, rather than setting out the design and planting. There are two very definite reasons for this.

Firstly, I really do need to create decent growing conditions for my plants to grow and thrive in, as it is a heavy clay soil over lime stone. And secondly owing to the relentless heat and lack of rain this summer, the ground is too hard to work .

I am and have used no dig principles for many years, which will definitely help my garden. If you are not sure what this entails, why not check out this link No Dig .

This first year of spending time in our garden, has on the whole been truly wonderful. I really have only been frustrated over one thing, but I have resolved that, by removing all the weed suppressing black membrane. For more details on this, an earlier blog discusses this in greater detail – why not take a look at My new garden – mid April 2025.

Once the weed suppressing membrane was removed, blackbirds appeared instantly, as they were able to forage for food .

I made the decision from the outset that I was not going to dig up any of the existing shrubs in the garden. They provide shelter for wildlife and are a good food source so they are going to be incorporated into the new design. Why do some people, hack away and throw into skips perfectly beautiful garden plants when they move into new homes ? I really cannot fathom why this regularly happens. Why don’t they just employ a professional gardener to prune their garden shrubs ?

This flowering quince was about twice it’s original size, so I have pruned it , and my tomatoes are now using it as a plant support

I pruned out the lower third of the bay, which provides more light into our home, and provides a view through the garden.

The greatest difference between my previous garden and no 26 , was that it was a hard paved yard and the vast majority of the planting was in big containers. Being totally honest, I did create a really beautiful garden, but I rarely thought of myself “gardening” whilst living there. My reasoning for this was because it was a huge collection of containers.

Every year time was spent researching and then propagating new plants I wanted to see in my garden. Once they were ready to be planted out, I would literally haul the freshly planted containers around to create a new garden space, which was great fun to do – but it never quite felt like I was gardening. Whereas in our new home from literally the first moment of being at no 26 , there was definitely a true sense of “gardening” as I was physically placing my plants into the open ground and pruning and lopping shrubs and trees.

The major benefit of previously having a containerised garden was that we literally bought all the containers along with us.

I have yet to plant the majority of the big containerised trees and shrubs into the ground, as I know they would have struggled with the heat of summer and the present ground conditions. So instead we have them as a collection by the kitchen window. I have really enjoyed watching the birds taking the fruits and berries as I’m washing up.

I have grown sunflowers, and I am really happy with how they have grown together with the ornamental grass Deschampsia cespitosa ‘Goldtau’. The following images were taken this week just to mark a year of gardening.

I hope you have enjoyed reading about my first gardening year . I have created a page My new garden which is where you can find all the blogs about our new garden.

My favourite part of the garden, is actually the three bird baths which are directly in front of our lounge window. Every morning before I head out to work, I just spend maybe 5 minutes seeing how many house sparrows visit – believe me it is a great way to start the day.

It has been a great first year. Hopefully my second year will find a greenhouse arriving and our sketch design will start to take shape.