OLD FLAMES

WORDS MATTHEW REESE

I like to think I rescued this handsome, rectangular oak box from being swallowed up by an advancing sea of blackthorn. It’s one of several trough boxes I discovered languishing by a friend’s hedge, and I’d coveted them for quite a while before I finally asked my friend if I could sell them on his behalf. That was six years ago. Fortunately, I have yet to find a buyer and have been looking after them ever since. Over the years the oak has mellowed to a soft woody-grey and spots of lichen have started to appear, giving them a comfortable, aged look that makes it easier to position them in the garden. I have planted this one with Papaver commutatum and mulched with picked lavender flowers to hide the dark soil.