May 2003

The winners of this month's Garden Of The Month title are Mike and Wendy Bushell from Wokingham, Berkshire.

The garden as left by the builders at the end of July 2001

May is a great time for this garden as all the flowers and shrubs are bursting into life. This year it is particularly special as it is the first year that the garden has blossomed. This is a new house, which they moved into in August 2001. Mike and Wendy spent most of the first half of 2002 digging the area where a previous house had been demolished, clearing all the builders rubble to give the plants some chance!!!

The garden is a delightful feature of this house. It backs onto woods; it is a particularly private and peaceful location in the often frenetic Thames Valley environment. The garden is about 110 feet long by 55 feet wide. The soil is acidic and rather easy to work - which is unusual and pleasantly different from the heavy clay typical of the area. Mike and Wendy had previously developed a garden from scratch in Wokingham when they were first married, and time was not so precious. They had great fun selecting the plants with some help from colleagues in the work gardening club and their own books. 20 years later with 4 children and a hectic lifestyle, they needed some professional help! They chose a local landscaping company and had a lovely patio designed to catch the sun, and a nice water feature alongside. The previous garden had (along with the weeds from 2 years neglect) a number of trees and bushes, many of which were in poor shape. They retained a couple of ornamental maples (as well as the protected 75 feet tall pine trees) and a spectacular deciduous azalea which flowers throughout May. Wendy is the "plants person" and had the final say in the planting scheme, incorporating many of their favourites from their previous 4 gardens, and with the designers blending them into a superb planting scheme.

It is a practical garden, with plenty of space for the children to let off steam, with sweeping curves to give the impression of walking into the woods, and of course the patio for barbecues and evening G&T's.

 

 

 

If you think your garden could be up for next month's title, use the information on the main 'Garden Of The Month' page below to let us know all about it.