Giving in and letting go, also known as a lesson in listening

After four years living in this garden, I have finally admitted defeat or rather woken up to what it really needs.

The summer of abundance 2022

The first two years that we lived in Devon were deceptive. The summers were scorchers and rain levels were low. The garden flourished and my flowers grew, I couldn’t have been happier and felt I had struck gold.

The last few two years have been the total opposite and are probably more reflective of how life will be moving forward. Sunlight levels have been low, the mist and fog frequenting us with increasing regularity. And the rain, oh the rain! We knew it rained more in the West Country than anywhere else in the UK but we massively underestimated the volume of water that falls on this hill of ours. Add in a mature garden with shrubs and trees that grow at the rate of knots and you have a recipe for a hard growing life. This summer the flowers did not grow and whilst many parts of the garden flourished, my growing space where I used to grow the majority of my everlastings has been disappointing, to say the least.

The only year I have ever managed to grow tomatoes here in the Devon - 2022

The inefficiency of my growing space was really bought home when we returned home from our summer holiday. Nearly three weeks away from the space helped me to see things with fresh eyes. The allotment (situated 2 miles away but in full sun and on a gentle slop - east facing) was absolutely thriving, with minimum effort or input from me, whilst the growing space seemed to have languished in my absence. Plants had barely grown and the flowers had not appeared in the abundance I was used too. There is without a doubt an issue with the soil after years of topping with mushroom compost, more on that in a future post, but more than that it was apparent that the lack of light (made worse by the grey skies) is having a detrimental effect on what I can grow in that space. Hardy annuals planted late Autumn or early spring seem to do well, before the leaves have appeared on the trees casting their shade, as do peas and sweet peas which benefit from slightly cooler conditions. But heat loving plants such as strawflowers, statice and other everlasting beauties are best grown on the allotment.