31 Jul '08 11:06 pm Hi everyone,
Speak to anyone not interested in gardens and they will speak of 'finished' and 'completed' gardens, whereas gardeners themselves will inevitably speak of their garden evolving. We are after all simply temporary custodians of the much-loved piece of ground outside our doors we call 'our garden'.
Compare the evolution of my own garden between July, 1999 and July, 2008.
P.S. It has been quite a while since my last visit but a PM from 'Mark' from California encouraged me to post. I've had to re-register since my old handle of 'Muddywellies' had (not surprisingly) expired.
Kerole
nominate your own title
Taupaki, New Zealand
Hello!
1 Aug '08 8:03 am I am a relative new comer to Mooseys but I have heard so much about your beautiful garden. Hugely inspiring to us lesser gardening mortals! Glad you're back
Mark
Home gardener & plant fetishist
Berkeley, California, USA
Hello Muddyboots!
1 Aug '08 3:18 pm I mean wellies, oh well ... hello Mike! Good to see you at Moosey's again. You have some great before and after photos.
One thing I've been curious about is where the "Winsford" part of the "Winsford Walled Garden" comes from. I know you're in a small town called Halwel Junction so it wouldn't seem to be a place name. Was that the family name of the folks that originally built the garden and the house which burned down? [Side note: my middle name of Wesley was a last minute change from Winfield, my mother's father's first name. Just makes me curious what the "Win-" root goes back to.]
Dixie
garden enthusiast
Waikato-New Zealand
vision
1 Aug '08 5:44 pm It takes a great deal of courage and especially vision to see a blank canvas-in Mike's case a huge,neglected mess,and create a masterpiece.Do have a look at Winsford website,Kerole...several of'us' are members there too.
I wish I had taken more 'before' photos here,but was anxious to get going and clean up,only vaguely visualising a pleasing result.
Mike Gilmore
helper
1 Aug '08 9:23 pm Thanks everyone.
There is a Winsford in Cheshire and another in Exmoor National Park in North Devon. In my case, the property was known as Winsford Gardens because it had at one time been a commercial market garden in the '60's I believe. But the original Victorian property was known as Winsford Tower due to the original main house having a very tall water tower which enabled the Victorian owners to have radiator heating (a new invention then) and hot and cold running water (another new invention of the period). From the top of the water tower the church steeple at Winsford in Exmoor could be seen - hence the name. The half-mile lane to my property is still called Winsford Lane.
moosey
head gardener
9 Aug '08 10:09 am I have a handy saying which fits nicely with your ideas:
Quote:
Speak to anyone not interested in gardens and they will speak of 'finished' and 'completed' gardens, whereas gardeners themselves will inevitably speak of their garden evolving.
I'm always going to 'start finishing' this or that piece of garden. Story of my life, hee hee! Actually, I don't think I've even ever finished starting...
Lots of love to all those beautiful plants and people at Winsford. M
jack two
nominate your own title
The new improved Jack Holloway v.2
Start finishing
10 Aug '08 8:45 am I love the way you use the combo, Moosey! And here you build on it!!
Soon I will start finishing my teaching career. At the moment I'm working flat-out on our production of Romeo and Juliet which takes place 19-21 August, then we go on half-term. When I get back I will need to catch up on a great deal of marking, but the count-down will have begun. Around 5 December it will all be over. Hopefully I will be able to sneak into Winsford before then! Your recent photo (above) is quite ravishing, Mike!
