But right now I have a love of what is actually the newest part of the garden. It is an area we call 'The Western Beds'. As the name implies, this area is to the west of the main house and is effectively two large beds dissected by a curving grass path.
During the Christmas holidays of 2012 and early 2013 I spent my time creating these beds. It was hard work for the builders had left a large area of concrete and simply turfed over it! I could never quite understand why this grass looked so poor and shabby and so had resorted to digging small pits all over this so called lawn to investigate. That is when I found the concrete. So with a pickaxe and Vanessa's invaluable help with a wheel barrow, I took off the turf and set about smashing my way through the slab. Yes, it was utterly exhausting but in the end these two beds were created and during the Spring and Summer of last year I planted out a new colour scheme.
In the rest of the garden the predominent colours of late Spring and early Summer are purple and white but the Western Beds have always intentionally been planted using red and white and all the colours and tones in between. I had purchased trays of Dianthus barbatus 'Indian Carpet Mixed' and these looked great last year. But they over Wintered well and have developed into what the name might suggest, a magnificent Indian Carpet that spreads across both borders. They look lovely and for the time being are my favourite part of the garden.
