Garden TOUR
A meticulously planned garden that sings, even in the winter months
When Carolyn and David McHale moved to The Limes in 2007, the garden was mainly laid to grass, with a magnificent elm and several lime trees along the southern boundary. The border beside the drive was full of Rhododendron ponticum, overgrown laurels and ground elder. The previous owners had planted a leylandii hedge around half of the property – most of it had to go!
Unfortunately, the elm tree finally succumbed to Dutch elm disease four years ago and had to be removed. But the stump was kept to grow aHydrangea anomala petiolaris up it. Two of the large limes were also removed and the remainder were pollarded, letting much more sunlight into that part of the garden. The leylandii has been replaced with yew hedge, which is much easier to manage, is far better for wildlife and looks more attractive.
Carolyn says: “I am the plant person and David tends the lawn, hedges and does some weeding. Before we moved here, he knew nothing about gardening, but he has learned a lot! I have always loved gardening since Iwas a toddler helping my parents in their garden.”
One of Carolyn’s main interests is growing plants from seed. The couple are members of several specialist plant societies, such as the Scottish Rock Garden Club and the Meconopsis Group. The clubs offer an annual seed exchange and members collect seeds during the year to donate to the exchange and can order from the extensive seed lists each winter. Many of the seeds are not available commercially, so it’s a good way to obtain unusual plants and help to keep them in cultivation. It’s not expensive either.
