And down came the trellis

Our courtyard garden has been a joy this year with a froth of white and pink cosmos and Japanese anemones practically taking over wherever they can. This garden is surrounded by rather an ugly wall, which until very recently was screened by climbers, my vine and an ivy but this year disaster struck. 

The weight of the climbers and my neglect led to one of the trellis panels snapping. It didn’t stop there, as there was a domino effect on two more panels and down they all came! (When I get above myself and refer to the ugly wall please understand that the rest of the courtyard is either very old dry stone wall, seasoned oak or the barn so it is ugly by comparison.)

This loss has meant the chance for a bit of a rethink and I want to focus on the enormous stone trough you can see. This trough arrived over 20 years ago when I was having the back garden cleared and covered in a patchwork of old stone, bricks, grit and even old land drains. Bless Geoff Hamilton on Gardeners’ World for the idea…

Having noted the style of garden I was trying to make, my builder called me from another job to tell me that if I did not want this wonderful trough it was going to be broken up as the farmer wanted it gone. I had a quick word with management and the deal was done. Gerry Dodds brought it over in his digger shovel and lowered it over the wall – I could not bear to watch!

Over the last week, Bill and I have cleared the debris from the trellis collapse and tidied up after the chaos. My reward was a visit to Hardy’s Cottage Garden Plants in Hampshire. What a treat! Rosy Hardy has been exhibiting at Chelsea for over 25 years and what a nice person. She had time to chat and all her team were so helpful and knowledgeable, and they grow everything on the site – you can see from the pictures.

I filled the car to the top and returned home to plant it all.  I’m thrilled with the new collection of plants and am so looking forward to how they develop next spring.