Gardens I have lived with part 6 - or in which I meet my garden nemesis
It turns out that not all gardens can be saved. Or at least some gardens cannot be saved by a specific owner due to the weight of issues mounting up against them.
I moved into this garden in Spring 2006. It was always a temporary move and that was problem number one with the garden. I had no idea how long I would be living there, whether it would be six months or three years, but I knew I would be moving again relatively soon.
Issue number two, this garden more than any other I have ever experienced, was not mine. Usually I have moved into a house and the garden is obviously a legacy of the previous owner, but it is immediately mine and I start work to shape it how I want. This garden never felt like it was mine.
I started on the front garden first of all. It was a beautiful Victorian villa, an end of terrace in the city centre. The house had the largest rooms I have ever seen in a house and for a city centre garden it was a reasonable size. Because it was a corner plot that helped too.
The front garden was a litter trap and along the side of the house were lots of spikey thorny shrubs. I was advised to leave these alone as they would deter working girls from use the side of the house for their trade. I was also advised to wear thick gloves when working in the front garden in case there were any needles discarded in there. (thankfully there never were).
I planted a magnolia and some acers in the front and some bulbs and a rose. It looked quite nice and certainly more looked after when I had done. So I turned my attention to the back garden.
The back garden had a large formal brick lined pond with koi carp in it. The garden was terraced and rose up quite a steep bank and there was death-inducing slippy decking. There had been a start of designing the back garden which involved brick edged parterres with gravel paths. I have to admit I hated it. It was far too formal for me and constraining. Still, I began to weed it and clear out the years of weeds that had accumulated and I made quite good progress. There were some nice shrubs and a rather stunning climbing rose that grew close to the back gate.
I cleared a bed to grow vegetables in. But the high brick walls made it shady and it was difficult for them to thrive. I planted various perennials in the other beds and tried to keep it nice but the motivation just wasn't there. I did not like this garden, no matter what I tried to do with it I could not make it feel like mine.
I was very grateful that I only lived there a year, by that point I was desperate for a garden I could call my own and could shape to what I wanted. I was so glad to move into my current garden which is described in the earlier post of introduction to my garden (10/02/11).
and for now that's it. I am sure one day I will move again and have a whole new garden to conquer but I cannot see that happening in the foreseeable future. There is so much I want to do with where I am now unless something remarkable happens I will be here for a few more years yet.
The postscript to this post is that the house was sold a couple of years after I left it. I made the mistake of driving past recently to see that the front garden was now largely gravel though I think the Magnolia Stellata was still there. The back garden is now a car park. Whilst I never got on with the garden, that made me sad. A bit more city centre space turned over to concrete.
It turns out that not all gardens can be saved. Or at least some gardens cannot be saved by a specific owner due to the weight of issues mounting up against them.
I moved into this garden in Spring 2006. It was always a temporary move and that was problem number one with the garden. I had no idea how long I would be living there, whether it would be six months or three years, but I knew I would be moving again relatively soon.
Issue number two, this garden more than any other I have ever experienced, was not mine. Usually I have moved into a house and the garden is obviously a legacy of the previous owner, but it is immediately mine and I start work to shape it how I want. This garden never felt like it was mine.
I started on the front garden first of all. It was a beautiful Victorian villa, an end of terrace in the city centre. The house had the largest rooms I have ever seen in a house and for a city centre garden it was a reasonable size. Because it was a corner plot that helped too.
The front garden was a litter trap and along the side of the house were lots of spikey thorny shrubs. I was advised to leave these alone as they would deter working girls from use the side of the house for their trade. I was also advised to wear thick gloves when working in the front garden in case there were any needles discarded in there. (thankfully there never were).
I planted a magnolia and some acers in the front and some bulbs and a rose. It looked quite nice and certainly more looked after when I had done. So I turned my attention to the back garden.
The back garden had a large formal brick lined pond with koi carp in it. The garden was terraced and rose up quite a steep bank and there was death-inducing slippy decking. There had been a start of designing the back garden which involved brick edged parterres with gravel paths. I have to admit I hated it. It was far too formal for me and constraining. Still, I began to weed it and clear out the years of weeds that had accumulated and I made quite good progress. There were some nice shrubs and a rather stunning climbing rose that grew close to the back gate.
I cleared a bed to grow vegetables in. But the high brick walls made it shady and it was difficult for them to thrive. I planted various perennials in the other beds and tried to keep it nice but the motivation just wasn't there. I did not like this garden, no matter what I tried to do with it I could not make it feel like mine.
I was very grateful that I only lived there a year, by that point I was desperate for a garden I could call my own and could shape to what I wanted. I was so glad to move into my current garden which is described in the earlier post of introduction to my garden (10/02/11).
and for now that's it. I am sure one day I will move again and have a whole new garden to conquer but I cannot see that happening in the foreseeable future. There is so much I want to do with where I am now unless something remarkable happens I will be here for a few more years yet.
The postscript to this post is that the house was sold a couple of years after I left it. I made the mistake of driving past recently to see that the front garden was now largely gravel though I think the Magnolia Stellata was still there. The back garden is now a car park. Whilst I never got on with the garden, that made me sad. A bit more city centre space turned over to concrete.
Maybe the next person will see the light. Even concrete can be dug up. Would have been quite a job though.
ReplyDeleteYes I'm sure it could be rescued, I would have loved to have seen photos of when it was first set up as a garden, it had the potential to be lovely but I just couldn't get on with it.
ReplyDelete