How Does Your Garden Grow?

I never pictured myself as the green fingered type; pottering around in the garden, knowledgeable about plants and tending to my borders. That being said, I’ve always appreciated a pretty landscape and a colourful garden but just never quite got my head around creating it myself. How do you figure out what works well together. What is a hardy perennial? What is a succulent plant? And how do you go from novice bystander to passionate gardener?

For me it happened as soon as I got my own house, which is complete with a little garden and patio. My living room opens up onto the space through double French doors that bring the outside in and vice versa. South facing, the patio basks in the sun creating a perfect space of outdoor living. I’ve worked wonders inside my house; adding personal touches that have turned the space from a house into a home, but the garden has remained untouched. Yet with the promise of spring in the air and BBQ fuelled evenings looming I decided that it was time that I educated myself in all things green and flowery.

Before I began I set out in my mind what I wanted from my garden; an oasis, a nook that was just mine. Somewhere I could entertain and indulge my love of cooking. English garden meets the Med. With my inspirations flowering (I couldn’t resist) I headed to the garden centre to create something I could be proud of. Needless to say a Pinterest board and a few vague ideas are not enough to navigate a garden centre and I left empty handed and somewhat embarrassed at my complete lack of confidence and knowledge in the garden department. But undeterred and determined to have a garden that was summer ready I went back, but this time with reinforcement in the form of my Mum, Dad and Sister. 

The second trip was fruitful and even fun. With the help of my family I learnt what flourishes in spring and what lasts through winters. I educated myself on plant feeding and spatial awareness, and within a few hours I had filled a trolley with greenery that perfectly reflected my vision. Back home we got to work potting pansies and tulips, raking up earth and planting citrus and olive trees. Sipping on chilled mimosas while we worked we fixed coloured pots to fences to house my herbs, placed logs and stones around the borders to create interest, texture and height, finally completing the looks with a wrought iron table and chairs that I found in a tiny antique shop. With dirt in our hair and under our finger nails, we stood back and I marvelled at how together we had transformed a once dull patio into a living, thriving garden; a place honey bees will visit as I sit and drink my morning coffee. A place that bursts with colour and is fragranced by lemon thyme that hangs in the air. A place that I can enjoy – a little piece of heaven right outside my door.