Last summer my husband and I visited Hidcote garden (England). Directly
next to the entrance we saw a well-designed, yet simple garden. This
garden triggered something in us. Would this layout suit my backyard? After
all, since excavating the box hedges my garden does not look as special as it did.
Later that day in the lobby of our hotel, I had a lengthy brainstorming
session with my husband. After a few glasses of wine it becomes clear: the back
yard has to change!
Back home again after the holidays, the first thing to do is to go to
the drawing board. I draw the new lines to scale and make the new planting scheme.
Now I can start working. I order a cubic meter of sand. I take out the
old stones and use these for the newly designed paving. Next I replace the
Portuguese laural (Prunus lusitanica Angustifolia). They are part of
the evergreen skeleton. Then the new plants I bought at the garden fair of Beervelde
last week, go in the ground. When it’s done I am very pleased with the new
layout of the garden.
Proudly I show the garden to one of my friends. She responds quite
soberly: "You had such a nice garden and now it's so empty again!"
However, I see what the garden will look like next summer: roses,
peonies, phloxes and of course.... Lavender Hidcote!
Spring. My back yard with Box hedges.
Spring. My back yard without Box.
Summer. The back yard with box.
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| Summer. The back yard without box. |
Digging out the lines.
Paving.
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| Half way. Left old situation right new situation. |
Final result.
In these long borders I will plant tulips.
Hidcote garden. The inspiration of my plan.
New planted in my garden Lavendula 'Hidcote'.
I link up with:
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Dear Hetty, the boxwood hedges and edging in your "old garden" made it truly special and I can see why you miss it. The boxwood framed the beds in a very nice, soft and lush way, but even more importantly it added different heights to your garden and therefore made it a very interesting to look at multidimensional space. It is really sad that you had to remove it.
ReplyDeleteI know you opted for a completely different design approach, but I wonder if using another hedging material other than boxwood, for example the Hidcote Lavendar, would be able to achieve a similar effect.
Implementing your new design must have been a lot of work and I am admiring you for rolling up your sleeves and getting it done. I hope you are satisfied with the result and I am curious how it will look, when things have grown in a little bit more.
Warm regards,
Christina
While boxwood hedging is nice, I do like the brick pavers. I think it will really allow for the expansion and flow of the new varieties you planted.
ReplyDeleteI think your garden is very nice (I wish I have one). Hope it turns out the way you want (or better!).
ReplyDeleteYou have a very nice garden.
ReplyDeleteSuch a lovely garden, Hetty!
ReplyDeleteThanks for linking up at http://image-in-ing.blogspot.com/2016/10/springtime-memories.html