Beverley Nolan has turn a newbuild mud pit into a MAGICAL SPACE for the whole family
BEFORE
GARDEN makeover
GARDEN MAKEOVER
Tulips and alliums and foxgloves, oh my! Self-confessed fairytale fan Beverley Nolan doesn’t need to click her heels three times to take her anywhere, because she’s exactly where she wants to be. Nowhere is she more at home than when she’s immersed in her whimsical flower-filled 10m x 10m Scottish cottage garden. “It’s my own little slice of tranquillity and solace, a place to relax, decompress, play, learn, potter, nurture and watch the world go by,” she enthuses. “Life is busy and as a mum of two, with a constant to-do list in my head, the garden helps me switch off and calm my mind. I only need to step out into the garden for 10 mins or so, picking some flowers or deadheading, and I feel calmer and more relaxed. It’s like magic!”
Admiring the swishy, floaty cottage-style borders, the perfect-for-daydreaming seating areas, the potter-tastic greenhouse, it’s hard to believe this is the same mud pit that Beverley inherited seven years ago. The transformation is extraordinary and far, far away from the lifeless newbuild plot it once was. “We moved here in November 2016 and there was no hard landscaping in the garden,” Beverley recalls. “It was full of builder’s rubble and dominated by fencing.”
With their hands full with two-year-old son Frankie when work started on the garden the following summer, Beverley and husband Joseph’s main stipulation was for the space to be low maintenance. With help from a friend, they conjured up four large raised beds, two patio areas and a turfed lawn. While the patio against the house is perfect for enjoying a morning coffee, the larger semi-circular shaped patio at the top end of the garden, home to a greenhouse and a second seating area, enjoys the late afternoon to early evening sun.
Perennial plants, including climbers, were also planted to soften the look of the garden and to break up that in-your-face fence. “Although I’ve always had a love for flowers, I hadn’t really discovered my love for gardening at this stage,” acknowledges Beverley. “How things have changed! Now, more is more in my opinion and I’ll give anything a go! When you’re growing from seed there’s not a lot to lose really. But the joy of sitting out in the garden in summer and marvelling at all the life and colour surrounding you is something special.”
NEVER-ENDING GLORY
While the plot continued to evolve during those early years, and still does, with new additions including a pond and pergola, it was in 2021 that the real flower wizardry began when Beverl
