In 2004 our garden was just a bare plot of soil. It was a mixture of heavy clay in parts and half decent soil elsewhere. As I dug it over, I found lots of buried rocks but surprisingly little builder's rubbish.
Once the soil was turned over, it was time for planting. We visited several different garden centres in the area to source a variety of shrubs, trees and other plants. We had no idea how some of them would grow because they were unfamiliar. Some of the plants lasted a couple of years, others have survived well –in some cases too well.
We definitely overplanted and are now paying the price by having to cut back some of the most vigorous shrubs and remove those that have tried to take over.
Perhaps we should have followed the example of others and covered the whole area with gravel and then just planted the odd shrub here and there or better still confined the plants to pots. No use crying over spilt milk, the job is done and 10 years on we are not inclined to try and turn back the clock.
We should have known from past experience that there never comes a time when you can sit back and simply enjoy your garden, it is a constant effort to keep things under control. Still, we have time on our hands and the exercise is good for us.
 | Bare beginnings! Our original intention was to have a wall of bougainvillea in different colours along the garden. Having seen how vigorous those things grow, I am glad that most of them died off. |
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