Surrey Homes | SH97 | February 2023 | Education Supplement inside

istockphoto.com/ Varvara Kurakina
Patience is a
Virtue
Sue Whigham advises it’s worth taking your
time to discover how your new garden
grows as she contemplates the revamp of
her son’s new outside space near Bath
Having lived in a Brixton flat with a small but
perfectly formed garden for a decade, my son
and his wife made the big decision to move out of
London last year. Over the years their garden had become
absolutely full of mature plants, shrubs and a couple of trees.
We hadn’t expected the olive tree to get so large to be honest
or the crab apple to spread as it did. The latter might have
been my mistake as I was going through a period of absolutely
loving Malus transitoria which I still do – it’s a fabulous tree.
The fences were painted a dark browny black which looked
great draped with plants like the highly scented Trachleospermum
jasminoides and R. ‘New Dawn’ and the raised beds filled up
every summer with clouds of shrubby salvias and all manner
of lovely things. There had been a large white hydrangea there
when they arrived and we took half a dozen cuttings late last
year, which seem to have taken and are now ready to grow on.
And the raised beds, created using old railway sleepers
which had begun to rot, had added interest as they became
home to stag beetles who emerged into the garden in the
summer to find a mate. It was wonderful to see them
actually. The male has jaws which look like a stag’s antler,
hence the name. And, like stags, they use their ‘antler’ jaws
to fight other males for the females. London is apparently
a national hotspot for stag beetles and considerable
conservation work is being done to conserve their habitats.
But despite having a tree-filled park a few streets away, the
urge to have more space and fresh air worked its way to the
top on the list of priorities. And having made an offer on the
second house they viewed, the Brixton flat and its garden have
been replaced by a property in a village just south of Bath. And
what a journey that was with several months spent in Airbnb
properties whilst the chain sorted itself out and fears that their
mortgage provider would renege on their offer were resolved.
So now they are the proud owners of a sloping (and boy, what
a slope) garden of just under half an acre. Thankfully the area
nearest to the house is quite big and, luckily, perfectly flat – but
it is just getting there from where the cars are parked that
is the problem. But perhaps one should not worry about
that and just see it for the wonderful south facing views
they have over rolling countryside. And of course the slope
can be tamed one day with the help of a digger and some
innovative landscaping. Project Number 20 most probably.
So, picture a garden on a slope which has been well loved but
is now in need of a bit of sorting out. Where do you start...
I think the first thing to think of is not to rip everything out
immediately. Wait until you have been there for a while and
can see what appears in the spring that you like the look of.
Also it’s an idea to check what sort of soil you have
before planting anything. Have a look round to see what
is thriving in other local gardens perhaps. In this case, the
local houses, many of them listed, are built from local Bath
Stone, an alkaline limestone. So no acid lovers here.
Then think about the aspect of the garden. For instance
the vegetable patch is not only on a slope at the back of the
house but a good half of it gets a limited amount of sun –
especially in the winter when the light levels are so low. It
is pretty stony here too, but that’ll help with drainage. The
weeds are happily growing away but as old carpets from the
house have been ripped up already, some of them have been
turned over to be used as weed suppressors. Luckily they were
all fairly neutral colours so there haven’t been any comments
from the village on their way to the pub next door.
Something that might be worth doing whilst there is so
much else to do in the garden would be to sow a green manure:
a cover crop grown solely to improve the soil. The one that
I would use would be Phacelia which, whilst acting as a soil
improver, also looks very pretty with its blue flowers and the
added bonus of being very attractive to beneficial insects. Actually,
when you eventually dig the plant in to work its magic on
the soil, it’s worth leaving a few clumps here and there for the
insects. You can sow Phacelia from spring through to autumn
and as it is particularly leafy, it helps prevent nutrients being
leached out of the soil whilst also helping to smother weeds.
The previous owners have left a few bits of this and that
in this area. There’s rhubarb and Jerusalem artichokes up at
the back – it is very hard to get rid of Jerusalem artichokes
even if you wanted to – and surprisingly some of the herbs
like sage and rosemary are perfectly happy even in quite
a shady spot. I suppose the drainage suits them well.
Don’t forget to take photographs of the borders as they are now.
As nothing had been cut down in this garden, it has been quite
easy to identify most things. I’m a great fan of the Picture This
app. You have to pay for it but it seems to be better than most at
identifying plants that you are having trouble recognising yourself.
We’ve already spent a wet afternoon identifying umpteen exotic
houseplants that have made the transition from South London
to the West Country. Apparently there is a fabulous houseplant
shop called Cornucopia somewhere on Streatham High Street
which was difficult to walk past without being tempted. The
border plants were easier to recognise without any problem but
it’s obvious that some of them are either totally overgrown or
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