Notes from a Shropshire Garden

The past few years have passed in the blink of an eye. The last time I posted I was sitting in our makeshift office (a cupboard!) in Oxfordshire and yet I am writing this in our new home in Shropshire. The move was made almost 4 years ago and, whilst I was sad to leave our cottage and garden with its resident ducks, we are now closer to family and have also been fortunate enough to acquire a bigger garden to make our own.

New beginnings bring fresh challenges and exciting opportunities: our current home came with a small, but beautifully planted garden, and an additional half acre plot which had been used as a paddock area. It is this latter plot that I have mainly focused on, fuelled by the idea of making my own garden from scratch. I have rough plans swimming around in my head - a pond at the far end overlooking a meadow area and small orchard, a shaded walk along the boundary hedge and, most excitedly, the opportunity to create a wide herbaceous bed from scratch.

Like many people, I struggle with garden design; I know the "rules", but find it hard to consolidate everything into an achievable plan. We also made the mistake of bringing a van-load of plants with us when we moved. I hate waste and have spent considerable time fitting these plants into areas where other choices would perhaps have been better, planting them before an overall design had been finalised. That said, gardening is all about learning from your mistakes and I frequently remind myself of the two main lessons I learned from my WRAGS tutor, a wonderfully kind and knowledgeable plantswoman: first, don't rush, plan the overall layout first and then, when you are ready, think about each planting in terms of the aspect, the soil, the position in relation to other plants, views, walkways, seating areas, etc. Each small area or plant grouping should be a picture in its own right, and taking time to think about the composition will be rewarding in the long run. Secondly, nothing is wrong - develop your own style and don't be afraid of making mistakes - a garden is never finished, it merely evolves, and each "wrong" decision is simply a learning process.

As usual, our own plans have been stilted by a lack of sufficient time, knowledge and money, but we are getting there slowly. The herbaceous bed has been dug, several trees have been planted and a small meadow area has been created, which we aim to expand in future years.

It is slow but enjoyable journey and each year I become excited at seeing how plans will play out. We may be in a new home, but our garden remains a place of great fulfilment which is constant in its lessons of patience and acceptance, whilst occasionally bringing moments of pure joy.