This first real garden was challenging, a small courtyard area, surrounded by hedging and buildings and west facing with sandy soil. At the same time I was also spending many weekends in Suffolk at a lovely cottage with a large garden almost completely surrounded by very large trees and with heavy clay soil. Both of these gardens provided me with the opportunity to really learn about what works and what doesn't. The main learning curve being "always buy the right plant for the right place."
Having really been caught by the gardening bug by this time and having learnt by my successes and failures in my two previous gardens I decided to move again but this time to find a garden with a house! Not an easy task. Why do estate agents say large garden when they really mean slightly bigger than a handkerchief!!

My first challenge was to do nothing -difficult for someone who likes to act impulsivley! I decided that I needed to watch the garden for my first year and do the minimum of keeping it tidy. This would enable me to see what was good to keep and what I really wanted to change. This blog is part of the record of the first years journey of discovery, which has been fascinating. Surprises all the way and only one or two catastrophies so far!
The year of waiting and watching has also enabled me to think about the changes I want to make and rethink plans again and again. As the garden is much larger than my town garden it does require a huge amount of work to keep it looking reasonable but with the help of a willing ex farmer who has gone into the garden maintainance business I am able to at least keep the hedges that surround the garden and the grass in decent shape.
Some of my more ambitious plans include moving the pond, developing the small orchard, removing a large old shed, relocating a new one and creating larger beds.
Come back and check for regular update on my progress.