22 March, 2002
 
Aerial View of 3 Manor Close

Left to right: Christine Jason Alex Barry GreenBarry, Christine, Alex & Jason moved to Carlton in Februay 1986.after having spent 9 years living near Aberdeen in the North of Scotland. This site has been produced as a result of a village "open garden" day. The images and information were compiled from a large poster which was for visitors to look at and see how the garden has developed over the last 16 years.
The photos show how much blood and sweat went into creating a beautiful, natural relaxing garden and reflect Barry and Christine's love for plants and animals.
Please browse around the website and click on any of the smaller pictures to enlarge them. I hope you enjoy your visit! Don't forget to leave a message on the guestbook.

 

     
New Garden in Winter 1986

Early thoughts, but limited experience on this scale. We inherited the garden in the bad Winter of 1986. Early photographs show the children with dog 'Lady', quickly followed by the adoption of 'Sam', dwarfed by the stark contrast of the dominant Leylandii and the otherwise general emptiness. A few early thoughts about building stables for our 2 horses brought down from Scotland quickly evaporated as commuter lifestyle vitually eliminated riding from the adgenda. The horses were put in livery at a nearby farm and eventually sold on.

Clearly, the garden was a major challenge in its own right with mainly grass cutting in the early stages and lots of thinking about what to do with few neglected shrubs and a complete lack of structure. Access was difficult via a narrow gate by the house so changes were bite sized and progressive in the early stages.

Soil is basically clay and forms a good loam when lightly moist but a hard, dusty 'pan' when thoroughly dry. The soil tends to dry out quickly and water retention is poor. Rotovating vegetable areas requires good timing to catch the best moisture level to make the soil workable. The better areas of topsoil are about 18 inches deep having been meadow. Poorer areas nearer to the house are based on the original Home Farm yard and soil covering is only a few inches deep.

 

 

   
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