A Magical Garden in the Making 1 #OurAuthorGang

The first steps of creating a garden

Right the way through growing up until leaving home to get married, our garden was always beautiful. Dad was a top-notch gardener, particularly with regard to his immaculate ‘bowling green’ lawns, both at the front and back of our house. Due to his expert lawn care, there was never a weed to be seen. They wouldn’t dare! The privet hedge was another focus for Dad’s exacting high standards and was always hand-trimmed using garden shears. Gorgeous, colourful flower borders framed the lawns – his pride and joy! Yes, delightful gardens indeed but to me…boring!

Throughout my married life, I was lucky to have some beautiful gardens, though they were created courtesy of a couple of husbands, not yours truly. When my last marriage broke up, I lived for three years in a third-floor apartment. It was a beautiful place that overlooked a river and stunning weir…but sadly, no garden; no wonderful outdoor space. I left there and did a house-share with a very dear friend – yes, it had a garden, but not one that I could call mine! After two and a half years with two hours of travelling time each day to get to work and back, it became extremely tiresome, so I returned to live in my hometown.

My new home is a much smaller house, but at least I have a small area of garden. The previous residents, needing a low maintenance garden for health reasons had had the previous garden dug up, a membrane laid and covered with slate chippings. (See picture number 1) I was delighted though, to have been left the sundial.

That same year when spring arrived I was determined to start work on the garden. It didn’t take me long to decide what I wanted to achieve. I had become Nana to three small granddaughters (then aged 4, 3 and 2 years old) and I intended my garden to be a source of magic and wonder for them as they grew.

My work started by clearing a good corner of the slate away. Once I’d cut the membrane underneath the patch, I dug it over in preparation and that small area was mind-numbing and a great deal of effort due to the compacted soil. My fairy house complete with its own tiny garden would take up the first little plot.

The removal of all the remaining slate chips and digging over of the garden would be too much of a mammoth task for me to cope with. My first husband, (dad to my son and daughter), is a very close friend these days and he kindly offered to take up the challenge. A few days later, the slate chips and the membrane were disposed of. He started all the digging the following week and boy, was I pleased I’d never attempted the work myself. The soil underneath was dry and heavily compacted. I could tell from the expressions on his face as the work progressed, he was finding the labour exhausting and a strain on his back. I’ll ever be grateful to him for the work he put into this.

Stepping stones, there had to be some stepping stones, so I visited the local garden centre and purchased some pretty wildlife ones. The hardstanding at the bottom left hand corner of the garden had obviously been the base for a shed at some point. I needed garden tools and at some stage I would require a ‘she shed’ to house them.

Picture 2 show the first stepping stones laid on the garden after it had all been dug over.

My visions were going to become reality. It would take some time, but I didn’t mind. A truly magical and colourful garden should be thought through, each careful stepping stone at a time.

Follow my future blogposts here as the magical garden takes shape!

Eva Bielby

https://www.evabielby.co.uk

Eva Bielby was born in North Yorkshire in the Northeast of England. She has spent over thirty years of her working life as a company accountant. Eva has a keen interest in spiritualism/mediumship and has attended several workshops to develop her skills further. During her quieter moments, Eva enjoys a cryptic crossword, sudoku, and gardening.