Rather excited

I’m quite excited. The landscape gardener is supposed to be coming round this evening with his plans for our garden. From our telephone conversation I’m hoping for great things, a real transformation from our rather dark jungle into an area I can get around, where the light will pour in, full of colour & wildlife. He’s even hoping to drain off some of the excess water that abounds so much in the garden, no more extra lakes inhibiting access to the garden.

We’ve been watching a few episodes of “Love Your Garden” (ITV 8pm Monday). Most of the gardens Alan Titchmarsh has transformed have been with disabled people in mind, most of them wheelchair users.

Certainly the gardens do look wonderful immediately but I do wonder how wonderful they will be in a few years time. For that matter I wonder how wonderful they will be in all seasons. The problem with a large garden, and ours is large, is how you keep on top of it when you haven’t the physical ability & stamina to do much.

Yesterday we watched Alan put in a fabulous looking pond. The idea of a pond does appeal. The problem is we don’t feel either of us is up to the business of thinning out the water plants to keep the pond in good health.

Our present garden looked great when we arrived here 13 years ago, but the previous owner was a keen gardener & the garden reflects that fact. We went through a bad few years (ill-health & family problems), as we do from time to time, with the result the garden got neglected. In that time, loads of unwanted trees have planted themselves. Brambles & couch grass, not to mention mare’s tail, have invaded the borders & rockery. Al, our gardener comes round for an hour once a fortnight, but by the time he’s mown the lawn, he hasn’t much time to do much else. The beautiful garden is becoming a jungle before our eyes. Most of the colour is eliminated as more & more trees make it so dark that the undergrowth of flowers is giving up.

I want colour & scents. I want the garden to remain full of wildlife. In the time we’ve had the garden more & more birds have visited & we want to encourage them to keep coming. They are so much better at keeping on top of the snails & slugs than pellets. Similarly we’re keen for the frogs to keep coming. This year, with the warmth, we seem to be having more butterflies fluttering around. All these we want to encourage, along with the bees – the oregano in the front herb garden is a real bee attractant, truly abuzz.

Oh I do wonder what the designs will be like. As I say I really am rather excited.