A gardener’s tale

I confess – I am addicted to gardening. It started early with a row of little cacti on the bedroom windowsill which were swapped with friends. I graduated to growing herbs in pots, having become fascinated with all things herbal.

When I finally achieved my own garden in Rye it was attached to a derelict house, the grass was waist high and when we slashed it back it revealed car seats, tyres and other horrors, apparently the manager of the local garage had lived there. There was a straight path with a row of gooseberry bushes, a venerable old quince tree and an elder – that was it! With the emphasis on self-sufficiency we set to, creating a large vegetable garden and planting fruit. Hens and ducks joined us who provided entertainment if not always eggs.

The next move was to a derelict oast house. As major rebuilding was required, planting had to start at the boundaries. Gardening in a farmyard was a huge challenge, every metre dug yielded a bucket or more of rubble, we were on the old sea cliff so terraced areas had to be created. Eventually building work was completed and the garden crept nearer to the house, we were not visited by rabbits or squirrels so new plantings didn’t disappear overnight, that was a novelty.

Now we are in our eighteenth year with a level garden – a joy after all those terraces, it’s taken time to eliminate all the giant conifers we inherited and introduce some colour. Spring is wonderful, first the snowdrops, then daffodils appear in abundance so there are plenty to pick, carpets of primroses are followed by magical patches of fritillaries. The pots are full of tulips but they are too precious to pick so I still need to buy bunches of them, soon I am itching to dump the tulips and plant something else in the pots – what will it be this year?

There are seats scattered around the garden but fellow gardening addicts will know that it’s rare to sit down and relax for when you do there is always something that catches your eye and you know that you just have to get up and see to it straightaway. We gardening addicts are always aiming to create the perfect garden but of course that will always be next year, for the secret is to keep looking forward.

Image Credits: Yvonne Metcalf .