My Garden

My garden started nine years ago as a field surrounding a cow-shed in SW Cork, Eire. There was nearly 3/4 acre of field, wet ground, bramble and rock surrounding it and a small stream running along one boundary. Once my son had converted the stone cow-shed into a single storey house I was able to begin work on the garden that would surround it.

Before...

Flower-beds started to emerge, helped by donations of farm manure from my next-door neighbour. Digging down was nearly impossible in many places as there was a lot of rock close to the surface so I made raised beds using the stone that was left lying around after all the building work. A lawnmower made it possible to turn the rough grass into a lawn and the garden was beginning to take shape.....

After...

Working in a garden centre meant that a lot of my wages were coming home in flower-pots. It also meant I was likely to be owing money after a day spent unloading the latest delivery. And after the flower-beds came the ponds and more flowers...the cows would think they were in heaven if they got back in now!

Once I find where the next lot of photos disappeared to I'll show the pond stages....started with a small one, dug manually, and then got a bit carried away and had a mini-digger transform a boggy piece of ground into the larger pond in the picture above. The otter and herons appreciate it too...