Of Gardens

A garden tended well should give back far more than a human can put into it. We tended our garden in Frome for over forty years during which time we grew a mini coppice at the side of the house and managed the decline and removal of the ancient apple trees that defined the garden when we first moved in.

We kept the original paths and added to the number of borders, reducing the area of lawn. We went through a fortune's worth of plants as we painted this wonderful canvass with iris (the flag varieties refused to grow), monarda, primula and peony to name but a few. At one time we had over thirty species of salvia. Despite the hard work, it was a place of peace and tranquility; a place of sense and sensuality.

At the end, the herbaceous borders were still growing strong when we left Broadway. Nothing short of a mechanical digger was going to stop the crowns of astilbe, phlox, goats beard, hemerocallis, Siberian irises and so on.

Yet in truth it was more than we could manage. We had already failed to clear the main paths around the garden for the first year ever. I had also rebuilt a large part of the surrounding walls ( five foot high) as drystone on my own in recent years because the older constructions had fallen over, the thought of having to repeat the task for some of the remaining areas, was more than my aging self could handle.

The limitation brought about by age, or rather in anticipation of the limitations that would eventually be imposed by age were one of the deciding factors in our eventual move to Dartmouth.

So how do you go from managing God's quarter acre to living in a second floor apartment in a Grade II listed building of 77 square metres?

Decisively, of course!

Initially we had thought that our only gardens would be Royal Avenue Gardens on the other side of the Boat Float. However on a cold December's day on Newcastle's moor, we had a conversation with a friend of one of our daughters. We had just sold our Frome house and were expressing our regret at the loss of a garden and in particular the loss of access to fresh herbs. "Why don't you try hydroponics," he said,"you can get units that will fit a kitchen."

The conversation went on a while and then eventually his children called him away but it left the germ of an idea. When we got back home ( our daughter's home as we were at that point technically homeless) we dived into Google and found some interesting results.

Eventually we found a product by Auk in Sweden. It looked practical and the idea seemed plausible and it would give us ( if it worked) fresh herbs all year round growing in our kitchen. It is a measure of our outlook on life that we ordered two of these units even before we had a home to move into.

For more about Auk click on the link here but from our point of view it is a brilliant idea. Setting up was easy; growing and watering was easy and tidy; all the seed varieties germinated and started producing. So far, since planting in March, we have grown and continue to benefit from the following crops:

Lettuce

Oregano

Sweet Mace

Argula

Basil

Watercress

Flat-Leaf Parsley

Coriander

They are still cropping on the kitchen worktop

four months on and look as though they will continue for some time to come. We have just bought a new supply of coir, nutrients and seeds to replace the stock when they stop producing ( although I think that we may have to force the issue).

The only aspect that might be a negative ( and we haven't bothered to work it out) is the potential energy cost for the LED lighting. This is a passion for us so frankly we don't care.

So that was the productive gardening sorted out. All that we needed now was a form of flowering and ornamental planting. Did I mention that our apartment is north facing? It has a lot of benefits but it does limit what you can grow indoors. We have gone for the easy option of three medium sized foliage plants that we picked up from Marks and Spencer and we may eventually go back and get another.

So that just leaves the trees... perhaps we might consider a bonsai?