2021 was the third season for the garden and it was good to see the perennial planting knit together and settle into its natural rhythm.  It was also the year I completed my RHS Level 2 Certificate in Horticulture and with my new-found knowledge, I’ve come to understand the soil and plant community better and, annoyingly, noticed a couple of errors with the garden design that are not easy to rectify.  There will be a few edits with the planting going into next season as some plants are establishing a bit too well and bullying their neighbours.  I’ll also be replacing two of the trees as I’ve come to understand the growth habits of the ones we originally chose for this garden.  The crab apple Malus ‘Red Sentinal’ in the centre of the garden was stunted when a heavy wood pigeon landed on it and snapped the leader.  It’s not entirely his fault though, I should have thinned the apples as these were already weighing the branch down before our uninvited and somewhat rotund diner showed up.  I have a new home for this tree in another garden and I’m replacing it with a bare root full-standard version with a plan to keep the crown high so you can walk underneath it.

Meanwhile, being somewhat restricted in my ability to do any photography work, I turned my lens on the house and garden to try and document how the character of the place changes through the seasons.  I’ll leave you with a few pictures from that collection…