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The lost garden of Marple

macpat

By macpat

14 comments


For a long time, this was ‘a lost garden’


I have created many a garden from mostly neglected ones, but this one was a beast!

I live in one of a block of four Flats each of which has its own garden. I am in an upper Flat and so my ‘garden’ is beyond that of my downstairs neighbour. It is a Council property and I came to live here in October 2006 by way of an exchange. I exchanged a Council bungalow in a beauitful small village in the Lake District for this Flat in Marple…….DON’T ASK!
That is another story and a very long one!

Of the four gardens, according to my new neighbours, mine had never actually been cultivated in any way since the property was built in 1956 and to make matters worse, had become a dumping ground for all manner of rubbish on top of the original builders rubble.
Preoccupied with decorating, carpeting and settling in to my new home, the project wasn’t started until the end of February 2007.

Undaunted and challenged, I paid a much younger, man and wife team to clear the space of all grass and rubble so that I could see what was available. What was removed filled a large skip but what was left was a manageable space for me. However, there was a long way to go….
The main work had to be done in batches as my cash flow wasn’t flowing…

Having spent the previous twelve months recovering from a serious back operation and walking with sticks, I wasn’t able to tackle any of the heavy work myself, so making this garden was not going to be cheap because as we all know, man hours cost the most.
In March, the area was rotovated…this appeared to be quite a task for my small team as the ground was solid clay. Job done and hundreds of £’s lighter, I covered the area with black matting myself and waited ‘til my cash was flowing again. In April, my team returned and over a period of about two weeks, laid a lawn, made borders and a gravel path and the rest was down to me…..
I had brought some of my favourite plants from my previous garden without disturbance for the incoming tenant.
Other plants were bought from car boot sales and my neighbours and newly made friends have all contributed. At the end of June I gave a little celebration party in the garden for family, neighbours and friends and it was really uplifting to see so many people in my new garden. I still feel that I have a long way to go and that my garden is a tad ordinary being just a ’square’ but……..I LOVE MY GARDEN!
I never wanted to live in a Flat and the only reason I am doing so is…I have a garden….something I know I cannot live without.

More blog posts by macpat

Next post: Open Day at the Allotments



Comments

 

Sent you a pm Macpat but if it doesn't help I'm sure Drc will know more :-))

12 Jun, 2010

 

Well done Macpat, it looks lovely!....:o)

12 Jun, 2010

 

that is lovely,hope mine turns out like yours,what hard work it is tho,but worth it in the end,chris

12 Jun, 2010

 

What a lovely garden Macpat. You have done well.

12 Jun, 2010

 

Macpat it looks really lovely

12 Jun, 2010

 

It is a lovely garden,Macpat,and glad you are happy with it.It is a wrench to move from somewhere you love,as a lot of us have done that,but you seem to have made new friends and there is nothing like gardening to bring people together...Enjoy...you have something to be proud of there,with all your hard work...well done :o)))

12 Jun, 2010

 

Sounds like you've put a hell of a lot of time & effort into creating a lovely garden Macpat ... I want to sit on that bench!

12 Jun, 2010

 

Thank you everyone for your lovely comments. My garden has been hard work and there is still some to go...

12 Jun, 2010

 

What you have achieved is a credit to you. Well done.

13 Jun, 2010

 

Your garden is beautiful. It must have been a wrench moving from where you did, but I'm glad you still have a garden. It's hard work but most enjoyable, and from this blog you do enjoy it :o)
Good luck for the future .

13 Jun, 2010

 

Glad you got the pics on Macpat, your garden looks lovely :-))

14 Jun, 2010

 

An amazing restoration....you should be justly proud of yourself!!!

15 Jun, 2010

 

Wow! I had to go back and look at the first pic to make sure it was the same garden. Well done! That looks like a lot of back power and mega pounds! Looks like it was worth it though. It's really lovely and hard to believer it was just a dumping ground before. Sit back and enjoy it now!

5 Jul, 2010

 

What a transformation ! A lovely place to sit or potter around in :)

6 Jul, 2010

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