The weather did not look too promising this morning (and I'd had a dreadful night) but I was determined to empty that bag of soil and yes, at last the garden restoration/ redesign is done. All was done by the afternoon which is when the heavy rain set in.
It has taken three years to get from this poor overgrown garden,
with the help of the builders to put in foundations and solid block walls,
to this. (The angle of the photo makes the paving look much bigger than it really is. It is actually a lot less than the length of the shingle.)
The landscaping has been done and all that remains is to add more plants and wait for them to grow. There are a couple of tiny jobs left to do but it is such a relief to have got to this point. Now we have; a spacious terrace to watch the ever changing sea and the world go by, mature hedges to provide shelter form the sea winds and privacy from passers-by, raised beds for when my back gets worse, herbaceous borders for the plants brought from Dingles (and a few more), a tiny pond (after all doesn't every garden need a water feature?) and of course the shingle garden since I love stones of all kinds.
Above is a map of Gogerddan in 1765 showing the woods we walked through to the north of the house. The Pryce family had owned the estate since the 1500s. By the 1800s the estate was nearly 30.000 acres. You can read more about the history of the family here. We only caught a glimpse of the back of the house, which is now owned by the university, and the remains of a water wheel which would have provided electricity to the house.
As we sat eating our lunch I noticed what was obviously a fairy door in one of the trees and couldn't help adding a few details. The woods are popular with families so maybe this will delight a young person before the rain washes away the pen marks.
2 comments:
Beautiful garden and you must be so happy after ALL your hard work. We have been with you every step of the way.
Wendy (Wales)
Thank you.
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