Gardener takes walk on the wild side as he creates own meadow
AN amateur gardener who was fed up with his terrible lawn has stunned neighbours by creating a wild meadow in the front of his suburban home.
Peter Thain transformed the turf after noticing that his brideto-be had to walk past a ‘desert’ on her way to their nuptials in 2018.
The 31-year-old, from Bishop’s Cleeve, near Cheltenham, said his whole front garden was destroyed by the hot weather last year.
Confronted with a blank canvas, he then decided he wanted to do something different.
Mr Thain,who works as a lecturer at Birmingham City University and as a physiotherapist for Great Britain Basketball, experimented with a few seeds in the months that followed.
And, when they succeeded, he went on to grow the whole garden as a meadow this summer. The garden is made up of colourful wildflowers and long grass, which gives the couple’s pet cat a place to hide.
Mr Thain said: “My wife walked out on our wedding day surrounded by what looked like sand. I’d grown a few flowers that summer, which we used on the tables, which went really well.
“So I thought : ‘why don’t I take the brave decision to sow it through the whole front garden?’.
“I left it for about five weeks and it kept growing.”
Mr Thain, who admitted that he has little previous gardening experience, said his neighbours had been supportive throughout.
The garden is made up of colourful wildflowers and long grass.
“Most people who live in the cul-de-sac see our house,” he said.
“Because it’s out the front everybody asks what you are doing.
“I wanted a statement piece – something for the wildlife, too.”