The Original Garden

The original raised vegetable beds, Stone Seat Bed and Lower Bank

The original raised vegetable beds, Stone Seat Bed and Lower Bank.

The original Front Beds

The original Front Beds.

The Acer Bed with overgrown path

The Acer Bed with overgrown path.

An overgrown Giant Rockery with the deodar cedar and rose of Sharon

An overgrown Giant Rockery with the deodar cedar and rose of Sharon.

The Field Bank and above the oil tank what was to become the Shrub Bed

The Field Bank and above the oil tank what was to become the Shrub Bed.

The original Top Bank containing a hen run, now the site of the Orchard and the Vegetable and Fruit Beds

The original Top Bank containing a hen run, now the site of the Orchard and the Vegetable and Fruit Beds.

The Garden Now

Hundreds of daffodils along the lane

Hundreds of daffodils along the lane.

Rose and the magnolia in springtime

Rose and the magnolia in springtime.

Part of the Giant Rockery and the steps leading to the Vegetable and Fruit Beds

Part of the Giant Rockery and the steps leading to the Vegetable and Fruit Beds.

The new Vegetable and Fruit Beds

The new Vegetable and Fruit Beds.

The recovered Acer Bed

The recovered Acer Bed.

Pathway in front of the Giant Rockery leading to the Acer Bed

Pathway in front of the Giant Rockery leading to the Acer Bed.

Owlers Garden

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The Original Garden

When we took over Owlers in 2008, it already had a sizeable garden developed from the surrounding hillside fields. However, as part of the renovation and remodelling of the whole property, many significant changes were made and new planting areas were developed. The design we inherited was of a garden made up of what we have considered to be a number of distinct areas. Starting in front of the house to the west:

  • The Sycamore Bed - a steep garden of shrubbery underneath a large sycamore tree.
  • The Stone Seat Bed - originally just a long, dry rockery-type bed planted almost entirely with aubrietia and snow-in-winter with unwieldy honeysuckle at each end.
  • The Front Beds - large herbaceous borders in front of the house on two levels above the Front Lawn - with a lovely mix of shrubs, perennials and border plants.
  • The Acer Bed - including four striking acers, plus a large magnolia and other shrubs.
  • The Giant Rockery - only partly developed and mostly overgrown with cotoneaster, with a deodar cedar in the centre fronted by a large, yellow flowering rose of Sharon.
  • The Field Bank - uncultivated but nicely populated with six young oak trees and bluebells in the spring.
  • The Top Bank - a triangular shaped area containing a hen run.

In addition there were three raised vegetable beds and a potting shed at the west end of the Front Lawn in front of the Sycamore Bed.

The Garden Now

The Owlers garden is still under development but many changes have already been made. In some cases, gaps have been filled and the original planting has been restored. Some new areas of the garden have been created from what was both a field and a hen run. We also brought a number of plants with us from Rough Bottom, our previous house. The most significant changes and additions are:

  • The creation of four Vegetable and Fruit Beds, built as terraces above drystone walls in the lower part of the Top Bank above the Giant Rockery. The potting shed was moved to this area too.
  • The introduction of an Orchard on the upper slope of the Top Bank above the Vegetable and Fruit Beds, replacing the large hen run.
  • A major development of the Giant Rockery, extending it to encompass a number of very large rocks dug out of the hillside during building work, and rescuing the existing neglected area.
  • Heathers added to the Field Bank, plus an extensive planting of daffodils along the lane.
  • A new Shrub Bed above the utility room extension and below the solar photovoltaic (PV) panels.
  • An extension to the herbaceous Front Beds, adding planted areas either side of new steps down onto the Front Lawn.
  • Two new Side Beds planted on either side of the Front Lawn to soften the appearance of the new drystone walls.
  • The Lower Bank below the Front Lawn planted densely with hawthorn, field maple, guelder rose, holly and hazel.

The hard landscaping has also been improved: flagging for the two parking areas, the Patio, the Upper Terrace and the Barbecue area; a cobbled Circular Terrace leading to flagged steps down to the Front Lawn; stone steps from the Patio to the Upper Terrace and a flagged and gravelled pathway leading to the Acer Bed; flagged steps from the Upper Terrace leading to the Vegetable and Fruit Beds; and cobbles to the whole of the lane running through the property.