Back in 1996 we purchased our home and this is what the garden looked like at the time. But Mr. B and I could see the "bones" of the property and fell in love. So the guy working in the yard then is the same gardener working in our yard today. Every time I ask him to move something that he put in twenty years ago, he just shakes his head and laughs.
Once the yard was cleared of ivy & pyracantha we began to plan. And gardens are constantly evolving because hey trees grow and a once sunny patch becomes shady so the plants that used to thrive in the sunshine, now need to be changed out.
This week we are tearing out the plants in our "island" (it's not really an island, more of a peninsula). It became a beautiful rose garden but it has seen better days and is a little too busy for my taste now. As I searched through photos to show you the before and after, I realized that I rarely took photos of the island because it was not a beautiful focal point. Yes I enjoyed the individual roses, most of which were David Austin fragrant English roses but I failed to enjoy them in a mass.
I kept eight of my favorite ones to replant elsewhere and closed my eyes and tossed the rest. As we pulled the plants away from the stone wall we realized that the wall has begun to lean over time and needs to be restacked.
This is the corner where the island meets the vegetable patch and was fairly straight three years ago.
Two more Japanese Maples will be planted in the back, the stone wall rebuilt and raised higher at the bottom, a fountain will be placed where that stake is and the rest of the area will be filled in with white Iceberg roses so it will feel cleaner and less chaotic.
I'll keep you posted as long as my gardener isn't laughing too hard at my changes!
"Nothing happens unless something is moved."
--Albert Einstein
