The composite image attempts to provide an overall impression of our garden. Although  relatively small, it is secluded and bordered by a two meter high leylandi hedge which, with regular trimming, gives shelter from the wind and frost and provides a lovely green backdrop for all our plants.

My wife and I derive a great deal of pleasure from our flower garden where we like to maintain a mixture of plants, bulbs and flowering shrubs to provide colour and interest throughout the year.

I grow black currents, and    raspberrys –  a  late summer fruiting  primocane  giving good yields .It is very easy to maintain – just cut all the canes back to ground level in December. A crab-apple tree  completes the fruit supply. I also grow small patio tomatoes in a builders bucket placed upon another inverted one to raise the cascading tomatoes above ground level.

The vegetable plot is used to grow a selection of vegetables encompassing, potatoes, parsnips, leeks, courgettes, sugar snap peas, and dwarf french beans. From time to time I like to try the odd “exotic” vegetable which has encompassed “elephant garlic”, “jerusalem artichokes”, celeriac  and butternut squash with mixed success. I started an asparagus bed some years ago which now provides us with an abundance of spears from May through July. Brush them with olive oil and BBQ for a few minutes.