Mary’s garden at Forge Farm

Mary’s garden was her pride and joy. She usually spent five days a week working in it alongside her gardener. It showed. She knew her plants and was an accomplished plantswoman. She once told me that if she bought a new plant she would move it around the garden for at least a week before planting it in the chosen spot.

In the late seventies, following the drought of 1976 she completely redesigned the large front garden eliminating all grass and creating a labyrinth of evergreen shrubs under trees and set in areas and paths of gravel.

Another feature of this very individualistic, rural folksy garden were the ‘tableaux’ which Mary created herself. There were the tree root found sculptures, often being roots brought back from the fields by Jim and forming the centerpiece of a planting arrangement. Sometimes they might have a beady eye, cleverly placed, so the whole thing became a playful bird or other strange animal. There were many other ‘arrangements.’ Plant pot men pushing small wheelbarrows, all kinds of invented figures from scrap, this and that. Outside the kitchen door was an extremely large stone trough beautifully crafted, and filled with water. Waterlilies floated along with other aquatics creating a miniature water garden. On the water floated small plastic ducks. Yes, plastic ducks. Only Mary could have got away with that but get away with it she certainly did. How? Well, the garden was pure garden theatre.

It was cleverly packed but not overpacked with rich incident set in generous and diverse planting. There were dozens of bird boxes arranged to cover a long brick wall as you entered the rear garden, tapestry ground covers of intricate design and a host of other details too numerous to waste words on.

For my granddaughter Zara, it really was a magic kingdom, a garden fairy-land. I’m sure she would agree. I have many photographs which help to prove the point.

I took a series of photographs of Mary’s garden and put them in an album – they are worth a look.