There’s nothing so exciting as a new garden. Although we loved our Ranelagh garden to bits ( we had been there for 45 years or so) not only was it full of old mistakes - plants which were too large, too squashed, and dare it be said, a tiny bit boring, but also the soil was old and over-used as the house was built in 1830. Thus there was a build up of pests and diseases, from weevils to honey fungus, tulip fire, swift moth, clematis wilt and false widow spider, plus an ever increasing gang of long established slugs and snails.
The longer I garden the more I enjoy being a creator rather than a curator. And the great joy of a new garden is like collecting all ones’ garden worries and throwing them out of the window. Best of all, we are situated so near the sea in Monkstown that there is a new and very tempting range of plants to try.
