Thanks for the nice comments. When we moved in (ooh! I shall have to find an old pic and scan it) there were no plants at all. It was lawn, lawn and lawn, with a cruddy, badly made concrete wishing well at the end of the garden....UGH!
We've been here since '87, so it didn't all happen overnight.
First was the soil to sort out. Stones and rock hard London clay. I reckon I've put a fair few ton of muck and topsoil into it over the years, but now I can push a spade in with ease and lift out dark brown fibrous stuff in most places.
I didn't set out with any plan in mind, and believe it or not, at least 75% of the plants were cuttings from friend's gardens, or juicy bits that were nipped off from stranger's plants that took my fancy as I walked the dog. Now I see people doing the same thing to MY plants....OUTRAGEOUS!
As I acquired a plant or tree, I would set it down in certain areas, stand back and see what it looked like. One thing I was determined to have though, was plenty of shady bits.
Over the years, I tried every flowering plant that was going, but soon realised that I quite disliked garish, "blousy" colours, and grew to like various shades of white, light pastels, cool vivid blues and lavendar.
Most of all, I have really got into foliage....tons of it, all crammed together. I try to mix up as many shapes and shades as possible. As long as it is basically green, I'm happy with it.
There is nothing easier than having a mass of green stuff that comes up every year with very little input. By the time May has arrived, what was quite blank in March now looks like a bloody great jungle.
Then......all I have to do is stick a few plants in amongst it that will give a splash of white/blue/lavendar here and there, and wonder at the dramatic effect as I put weight on in the corner by having a cold beer.
My kind of gardening.
Anyhoo....here are two more piccies of things that have sentimental wotsits.....
This Victorian clump fern was originally dug up by my wife when it was a tiny one fronged sproglet, from the area adjoining the moat at Hever Castle, where Ann Boleyn (Bullen, actually) was born and raised. This criminal act of vandalism occured in 1974, when my wife was at teacher training college, and it has been transported with us ever since. So, it is now 32 years old. This is the "mother" plant, and you can see that I have recently taken off yet another great wedge, which is now planted in another spot. All in all, we now have twelve rather large ferns dotted around the place, all nicked from the 32 year old.
Don't worry, it is just about unfurling and looks a bit mangled, but it will survive...it always does.
And.....Atahualpa. He was made by my son as part of a school project, quite a few years ago. Made from one of those bloody great building bricks (we call it "breeze block" over here), using nothing but a steel bolster and a hammer. He may be ugly, but he takes pride of place. I have a notion to hollow out the top of his head and plant a small fern in there. He would then resemble Sideshow Bob. I wouldn't dare touch it though, 'cos if I broke it, my wife wouldn't talk to me for several decades.
Atahualpa.
I LOVE it LOVE it LOVE it!
