Hi CM - all. Gosh I am so sorry - you misunderstood my intention and meaning there with my comment ref posting. I very much appreciate all the good folk such as your self and all the others whom you know who have kindly responded to my attempts at starting topics whether ref gardening or Pottery etc etc - I did state not the regular posters meaning these all. My thoughts were to try to encourage all those others who look but rarely post to join in. Very sorry for any misunderstanding and please believe me again its my pleasure to talk to you all. I fully understand that I am retired and though I keep busy I have all the time in the world compared to so many others such as yourself who have much to do (yourself with family and farm etc). As stated before love all the little natterings and chats. Just sorting those pics I promised ref the first garden - they are pics of pics so I have to straighten, crop and tidy a little. I will start from scratch with them and post that first early pic of it as just mowed meadow grass and give a brief outline of it all. Think the pics are early 70's. Syd
Hi Kay - all. Another lovely garden with many beautiful plants - we have seen so many in this topic and looking forward to seeing more. As stated a wonderful winters tonic being those remembered last year and those we look forward to seeing again this year. Once again Hostas play a real role as they do with all our gardens, they must be getting on to being our favourite plants. The Maple is brilliant and likewise the Crab-apple - I planted one last spring with silvery greyish young foliage and am hoping for flowers this year. Many thanks. Syd.
Hi Syd-- Ah! that's good. I just checked the opening page of Gardenstew & there are at present (as I write this) 4 registered users & 29 guests. I think 'guests' mean they are unregistered & can't post.
Hi CM - Netty - all. Think these pics are the early 70's - there was a little more added later - we went there 1957 and left 1982 - sadly had to due to being made redundant from work and had to move to find some. Firstly just a very quick run down. Started as raw meadow grass which was was quite undulating but not mentioned before was a large grassed "hillock" immediately at the back of the property. This was with fork and barrow spread to property width and walled round with steps central to form a "terrace" about a foot higher than rest of plot. This was bordered round with shrubs and plants and I cut a large rectangular bed centrally in it for planting. Later when the Alpine bug got me I built a series of raised beds positioned so as to create a winding path leading off this "terrace" down the steps to the main garden. Left just a small grass area for sitting out. I hope I have the pics in order starting immediately at the bungalow with the raised beds and going off down the garden - then some shots looking back up to it. If I have them round the wrong way start at last and work back. First pic is the original showing the more or less bare plot. Any and all comments welcomed. Later pics to come. Syd. ( photo / image / picture from Sydney Smith's Garden ) ( photo / image / picture from Sydney Smith's Garden ) ( photo / image / picture from Sydney Smith's Garden ) ( photo / image / picture from Sydney Smith's Garden ) ( photo / image / picture from Sydney Smith's Garden ) ( photo / image / picture from Sydney Smith's Garden ) ( photo / image / picture from Sydney Smith's Garden ) ( photo / image / picture from Sydney Smith's Garden ) ( photo / image / picture from Sydney Smith's Garden ) ( photo / image / picture from Sydney Smith's Garden ) ( photo / image / picture from Sydney Smith's Garden )
Very impressive Syd! I do notice a few large Hosta's in a few of these pictures ... are you another Hosta lover?
Hi Netty - jewell. Thanks for your kind comments. We were in that property 25 years and only moved then due to lack of work. Those years were a real pleasure and I had so much fun, recreation and indeed joy from that garden - masses of hard work also but always were the results very well worth that. Was very fortunate since there was a dampish area all along one side and I took full advantage of it. This was my introduction to (and falling in love with) Hostas and other moisture lovers like Astilbes, Lobelias, Ligularioas, Lysimachias. Rodgersias. Peltiphyllum etc etc, also Cornus shrubs both red and yellow stemmed and many smaller plants of which there are many liking such conditions as you know. Having given only a brief outline of that garden I would if I may like to give a better description as to its progress and changes/additions over the time there. These 3 pics are of the garden near winter just before we moved. All the herbaceous plants are resting and also I had by agreement removed a load of plants to take with me. Chap subsequently cut down trees and rooted up beds to grow vegetables but to each their own. Syd. ( photo / image / picture from Sydney Smith's Garden ) ( photo / image / picture from Sydney Smith's Garden ) ( photo / image / picture from Sydney Smith's Garden )
Syd, you're showing a park landscape, not what I would call a garden at all. Wonderful! I can't imagine all the hard work you put in to make it look that lovely. I love the curves and the terraces.
Hi all. Glad you liked the pics and thank you ALL for the very kind comments. May I say please that I am equally and indeed more so completely delighted to return the same compliments to yourselves having seen pics of your own lovely gardens, plants and the equal amounts of hard work put into creating them also. Just a few comments ref the site there. The lane was just a short private one and we owned that part of it beyond our front boundary and across to the opposite side of it. On that opposite side was just a few older type houses and some even older cottages. These new bungalows fitted in nicely and they were over a period built in 4 pairs (one was ours) and a single. The land this building was done on was all open meadow land as I said earlier and it was also 3 to 4 feet below the lane level. This being so the bungalows were raised up to this Lane level and it meant that under all of them was a handy space left which with a trapdoor in the floor to get down into it was so useful for all kinds of maintenance purposes, electrical wiring, plumbing etc. The curves in the garden were such that it was an easy task to go round a couple of times with a motor mower and then just stripe out in between. It did in fact take a good couple of hours to walk all around it, seeing and talking about the plants on the way - loved it and loved like minded (gardening) visitors to chat with. Over that 25 years and since as we all do have grown a good range of plants - many more there than since these two later gardens being smaller and also this one having the Mole problem half of it is sheeted and stone shingle applied. I did just before leaving it type up a plant list of growing and had grown plants over those years and these covered double columns on four and a half sheets of A4 paper - that included species and also varieties of them. Happy days indeed and oh how I would love to turn back that old clock and do it all again - especially if I could know what I know now. Thanks again - pleasure to chat to you all. Syd.
