I was clearing leaves from a client’s border, ready for bulb planting, when a little blond boy’s head popped over the neighbours’ fence, and he said “Hey!” Me: Hello. Have you had a good morning? Boy: Yes. Me: What are you standing on? Boy: *pause* … uh, a fence. Me: What have you been doing this morning? Boy: Playing with… Read more →
Category: Becoming A Gardener
The Garden Awakes :: A (Mostly) Walled Garden In Norwich
Today was a glorious day to be a professional gardener. I was working in the (mostly) walled garden of a stunning, mid-19th century terraced house in Norwich. The garden backs on to the original coach house, which is shaded by an unusual white mulberry tree. This back area is where I had my tea break this morning, and where I watched the frogs getting busy in the… Read more →
Gardens as memory keepers
This is me, aged 3, in a friend’s garden in Nairobi, Kenya, in 1981. You’ll probably see a similar scene if you visit me in my garden now. I lived in Kenya until I was nearly 14. It was a pretty idyllic childhood in many ways, and I have lots of memories of playing outside. I remember squeezing snapdragons so… Read more →
Gardening is therapy
To quote my gardening hero Monty Don*, writing in August’s Gardeners’ World magazine: “Working with plants and dealing with the rhythms of the seasons is powerful medicine.” Monty, like me, is prone to depression. I suffered very badly in the years following the birth of my son, and have only this year started feeling more like myself again, whatever that… Read more →
The Good Life
One of the most thrilling moments of our first summer in this garden was our first harvest. It was a crop of cute ball carrots that were given to us as plug plants by my father-in-law. My just-three year old daughter had the pleasure of pulling them out of the ground, seeing their orange heads peep through the crumbly brown… Read more →
Beginning gardening
Three and half years ago, me, my husband, my two year old daughter and my still crawling baby boy, packed up, left London and moved to Norwich. I wasn’t really a gardener then. We had come from a two-bed, ground floor flat with a shared courtyard and lawn, near a busy high road. I did have some special plants in pots: an… Read more →