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This website
previously documented and provided a pictorial progress report on the development
from scratch of my garden in Derby. Have a look through the pages of my old
gardening diary for details of the previous garden's development and
planting. Recently, I have moved, and now have another relatively untouched garden
to work on and makeover! Yipee. The new
gardening diary can also
be found on this site.
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My garden is
located in the outskirts of Derby - Derbyshire, UK. The soil is a mixture of
clay loam and loam, and jumps from one to the other depending on where you are
in the garden. The back garden is south facing and is in full sun for most of
the day. One side remains shaded for half of the morning, and the bottom half
of the back garden is shaded from late afternoon onwards, which provides potential
for me to grow a few shade-loving plants too.
I have lived here for almost two years now. When I first moved in, both front
and back gardens had been almost untouched since the house was built. All that
was here was some lawn which had been laid by the builders, and some really
poor soil (which consisted of solid lumps of clay, and a lot of builder's rubble,
as well as some nice pliable soil!). I have mixed in sand and organic matter
to try and break up the clay and generally improve the soil, and am constantly
digging in a bit more manure here and there to poor areas of the garden.
The front garden was just tarmac drive and lawn when I arrived. During September
of 2004, soon after moving in, I set about digging out a small border to one
side of the drive, and another cut out area on the other side (on the front lawn),
for planting. I have put in two small trees on either side of the drive, and
various herbaceous plants. Underneath an ornamental cherry I have planted some
shade-loving plants and, on the other side, more sun-loving plants such as verbena
bonariensis and a buddleia. I'd like to include some scented plants in the front
garden at some stage, and plan to extend the planted areas to run along the boundary
of the property. I have placed some large and small pots around the front bay
window and front door, planted up with box, an acer, a clematis and various other
annual and perennial plants.
The back garden was simply patio, lawn and an already
well-established leylandii hedge at the bottom of the plot. The previous owner
had made some effort to put some plants in the garden within the year it was
sold, and the deep (and one and only) border to the right of the patio had two
rhododendrons, two choisya, an azalia and a couple of conifers of some variety
or other, all planted in a straight line along the border. It looked incredibly
boring and unimaginative! I instantly set about removing the leylandii, with
the help of a friend. The hedge was chopped down, each plant's roots dug out
and the border it had been planted in was dug over really well, all within the
space of a few days. The soil needed improving, so manure was duly dug in along
the length. Soon after, I removed most of the conifers from the right-hand border,
and moved around the remaining few plants, then started to add my own new plants.
Since then, I have continued to dig out more and more planting areas, and have
added a small pond.
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I am keeping
a visual and written record of the creation of the front and back garden, which
can be found on this site. Hopefully, it will start to look fabulous over the
next few years, with the addition of many more plants and
some more planting areas, some screening in the back garden and maybe a nice
feature or two as well.
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Whilst in Cornwall
in 2001, I visited and took more photos of the Eden
Project, which were added to the public gardens section
of the site. I managed to visit Trebah Garden in
2001, and added a section and images taken during my visit there, to accompany
info and images of Haddon Hall gardens in Derbyshire.
You can still find short reviews on the same page of Heligan, Eden Project, Wisley,
Chatsworth and other gardens that are open to the public in the UK. I plan to
visit more public gardens soon, and will add pictures and info as and when.
If, after looking around the site, you find that you've enjoyed the gardens,
do let me know. Alternatively, if you have any questions you'd like to ask, feel
free to mail me: clare@derby.org
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