In our series #GMinyourgarden, we’re peeking over the fence into gardens across the country to explore their places in our lives today. This week, Caroline’s garden in Plymouth (@duckgardenplantsandposies)
“We lived here in Plymouth with a sloping lawn for almost 25 years before deciding to literally turn the garden upside down in 2023.
We used the turf to create mounds with curved paths sweeping through them to allow more opportunities for planting and to try to create a resilient garden. Plants at the top of the mounds enjoy free-draining conditions in wet winters but are chosen to be tolerant of the increasingly dry summers.
This change was inspired by the incredible work of Keith and Ros Wiley @wildsidegarden which I feel a deep emotional connection to. I didn’t set out to copy any particular part of their creation but rather to explore what our space could be if I let it develop in a more naturalistic way.
I see our garden as my artwork and enjoy “painting with plants” to create pleasing combinations whilst also growing flowers and grasses to arrange in my many pre-loved vessels. Matching the stem colour with one plant to the seed heads or petals of another gives me great joy, whether that be in the garden or the vase.
We have other areas of garden including hellebore borders and a front garden with a pond and curving path, but I have chosen photographs from the new mounds and one, featuring some of our ducks, to show how it looked before as a lawn.
You can support my ongoing fundraising for the proposed Cancer Respite Pavilion Project at Wildside by visiting my website www.duckgardenplants.co.uk.”
#GMinyourgarden is our series peeking over the fence into gardens across the country to explore their places in our lives today.