The Front Bed

Other than the small area behind the garage, grandly known as "the courtyard", the garden is square. When I started to think about the changes I knew I didn't want to be able to see everything from the living room window, because if I can see everything from inside then why would I need to venture out? 

March 2025

The cardoon and a large clump of echinops were already in the front bed, along with a calamagrostis Karl Foerster, but that was about it. They offer some decent height and are the basis of masking part of the garden. In the autumn I chucked in a couple of teasel seeds, and a month or so ago moved a tall achillea in amongst it. Should be a decent screen, with some beautiful seedheads.

May 2026

Circle side I wanted things to be lower, but still creating a bit of a curtain in front of the water bowl. In the middle there's achillea Sassy Summer Sunset, sea holly and some grasses. To the front, and this was a way to stretch the budget as much as anything else, I have herbs - fennel (green and bronze), sage (green and purple), chives, oregano, and a couple of varieties of thyme. Later on there will also be some cornflower, and nasturtiums. I've fallen into a bit of a purple scheme here, which is fairly surprising as it's probably my least favourite colour in all other areas of life. 

The water bowl is mainly hidden now, although the insects and our resident pigeon know it's there, the latter has been seen bobbing about in it on multiple occasions. 

It's quite hard to get a decent photograph, which is another thing I wanted, I started to ask myself where would I want to sit were I to paint this garden, which doesn't always translate well to the camera of a £100 phone. It's another way to keep getting me out there, which is at least half the point.