This week’s slice of garden loveliness comes from my mum-in-law’s garden in Devon. We visited at the start of the school holidays and while the sun shone I spent a happy hour amongst the flowers with my camera.
When Penny and Mike moved to Devon 16 years ago their house had a large patch of land at the back but no garden to speak of – so they just created one from scratch. Among the countless hours of work this involved was the scarily huge job of hacking out mountains of earth to landscape the sloping hill. In fact most of the pathways in the garden are made from the stones they dug up – they’re experts at path-laying now! Within a few years the garden looked like it had always been there, I think this is so hard to pull off and they’ve done an amazing job.
This garden is both coastal and traditional English country; it’s only a couple of miles from the beach but it contains lots of cottage garden plants too.
There are lots of paths leading you around the garden, each with it’s own view into another ‘room’ – so clever.
The fish pond is a favourite with the children – and also with the local heron, hence the decoy which acts as a deterrent.
And then there are the ‘wow’ plants…
Did the #HDYGG gang ever get to the bottom of the lack of blue hydrangeas? Apparently a hydrangea needs acid soil to be blue – Penny’s dad always planted a lump of iron at the roots of his hydrangeas to create the right conditions for them to be blue. Penny also tells me that when she lived on Epsom Downs, which is heavily alkaline chalk soil, everyone’s hydrangeas were pink – all makes sense to me now!
All that from a blank canvas, wow! Our garden is quiet small (and full of children’s toys!) but I would love to create a space like this, beautiful.
It’s seriously impressive, I’d love to create my dream garden but wouldn’t be up for all that digging!
how beautiful and how inspiring! they have indeed created a magical place.
Yes they have, I learn something new every time I visit.
what an amazing garden, I love how the eye is drawn absolutely everywhere, the paths are fantastic leading one to what looks like magical areas
The paths are really key to the whole garden, they take you on a little tour before you’ve realised it – very clever.
Your mum-in-law sounds like she has the best of both worlds with a coastal and traditional English garden. Love the hydrangea photos, I like seeing the first flower heads appear out the buds 🙂
I’m with you on the hydrangea watching, I’ve definitely caught the hydrangea bug from the HDYGG gang 🙂
Country garden meets beach garden – my ideal setting, when can I move in?
Seriously though, from a blank canvas that’s outstanding work, getting it to look established so fast, they must know their onions.
Nice work on the hydrangea colour explaining, I had heard about what makes them blue but the iron trick is new on me (and genius btw). It’s the sort of garden that kids and grown ups would both love alike -ah such garden envy!
Thank you for taking these photos and sharing, we do love a mooch round family gardens especially! x
Yes envy is bang on – it always makes me a combination of dreamy, green-eyed and full of ideas! It’s brilliant sharing gardening knowledge isn’t it, nothing like learning from the experience of others 🙂
Oh my gosh, this garden is just stunning, I love it all!
Now this looks like a garden to have an adventure in! How gorgeous all the different areas and the planting is stunning. Love the nods to the coastal area too.
The pink plant in the photo is a Phlox. They are hardy perennials and come in all colours. White is especially popular. You can probably take a few cuttings from it after it’s finished flowering for your own garden. Then you’ll have nice young plants for next summer.
Mystery solved, thank you – I think I’ll be putting in an order for some cuttings!
Thanks for sharing this beautiful garden! The lavender fireworks are truly spectacular! What is the purple plant behind the grasses in the first picture? Again lavender or maybe nepeta or agastache?
Right first time, it’s lavender. I wish the lavender in my garden was as impressive!