A SUMMER PARADISE Taming an overgrown wilderness

An overgrown wilderness has been transformed into a gorgeous garden that’s a joy all year round

It takes a leap of faith to create a garden from scratch – to believe that a muddy stretch of soil will be transformed into a lawn, and pocket-sized plants will grow sufficiently to fill gaps in beds and borders. ‘Within weeks of planting our new garden, we were mowing the lawn and the plants were filling out and flowering. The speed at which it matured far exceeded our expectations,’ says Sheila Rabin, who lives with her husband Anthony in a four-bedroom 1920s home in Muswell Hill, north London.

The couple, both in their early sixties, moved to the tree-lined avenue in 2012, won over by the 34-by-12-metre back garden. ‘Our last garden was very pretty, but it was small and narrow,’ says Sheila, a teacher. She explains how they brought about the transformation…

A blank canvas

‘When we first saw the garden, we couldn’t really appreciate its size because it was so overgrown and had no fence on one side. One of our first jobs was to install a new one that would provide privacy, without stealing light. We then removed a pond full of frogs, because our cat, Thierry, would have brought them into the house.

The mature magnolia was already here, three-quarters of the way down the plot, as were two big firs in a neighbouring garden at the far end. They cast big shadows, so it was a good place to position our garden sheds and a compost heap – compost is essential to help break up the heavy London clay soil.

In 2012 the garden was bulldozed, the ground levelled and tonnes of topsoil wheelbarrowed in. The ground at the far end slopes down more sharply, so it was tricky getting the levels right. I wanted a design based on curving lines, rather than straight, to lead the eye along the garden to a patio beneath the magnolia. We also wanted a separate shady area, patios at both the top and bottom of the garden, colour throughout the year and a large sunny bed, inspired by expanses of summer flowers I love at Sissinghurst garden in Kent.

I’m rather old-fashioned and prefer lawn to gravel areas, even though more maintenance is needed – our lawn becomes mossy and has to be regularly scarified and treated with moss killer. The views from the house are very important to us, so we really wanted the garden to create a wonderful, ever-changing backdrop of plants to look out on. Our previous garden was lovely in spring but that was it, so here we’ve planted to create year-round interest. We worked with an imaginative garden designer, Stephen Grover, and after initially considering a very contemporary design with lots of flowing grasses – which looks beautiful but doesn’t always last – we decided on a herbaceous scheme that peaks around late July, with

some perennials surviving until the frosts arrive. Last winter I didn’t cut much back because it makes the garden look so bare.

Border control

The garden is wide enough for a broad sunny border that follows the curve of the lawn as well as a brick path that links the house to the far patio. The path is built from reclaimed bricks that match the house; they’ve also been used to edge the steps and for a circular patio beneath the magnolia. By the house we’ve planted golden roses and ‘Hidcote’ lavender to waft fragrance as you brush past.

Running through the sunny border is a backbone of structural plants, such as a silver birch, a holly, a big-leaved Fatsia japonica and a smokebush with rich autumn colour. There are also a handful of ornamental grasses, such as miscanthus and pennisetum, to add body and autumn seedheads. For the first couple of years, poppies and rampant wild garlic appeared, a throwback to the previous garden – it took a lot of digging to remove them.

Most of the flowers come from herbaceous perennials. There’s a large clump of Crocosmia ‘Emberglow’, which gives lots of colour and looks lovely when it splays over in the border. Eupatorium loves it here, and has formed a huge clump that flowers long into autumn, attracting bees and butterflies. It’s the same with the sedum – the

‘Spending time in the garden has become a natural extension of our lives’

flowerheads survive right through winter. Another tall perennial we grow is purple Veronicastrum virginicum, but it does tend to flop over in rain or wind. Lower down, there are flat golden achillea heads, dark red scabious and little orange geums. There are several clumps of bright pink flowers — coneflowers and bergamot – and Verbena bonariensis seeds itself around.

A number of the garden’s plants were originally indoor pot plants, given to me as presents and then put into the garden once they stopped flowering. There are fuchsias and a plum tree that bore its first fruit last year. The tall myrtle in the middle of the border is a surprise – it was a gift, initially in a tub, until it was planted out: since then, it’s shot up! I’ve been given quite a few hydrangeas, which provide lots of colour. They do very well in the shady border, as does a big holly bush, an original plant that we left because it was healthy, though it does seem to drink a lot of water. We didn’t install an irrigation system, so during the first summer I was watering every other day. It was a good way of regularly checking the plants.

Dining out

While the steps were being built from the top patio, we asked Stephen, the designer, to leave gaps at the back of the stone treads to break up what would have been monumental steps. The trenches

were made as deep as possible to prevent the plants’ roots from drying out. Later we decided to grow herbs because it’s near the kitchen, so it’s easy to pop out and pick whatever we need. There’s silver thyme, mint, golden oregano, chives, rosemary and sage.

Facing south-west, the top patio can become very hot in summer, whereas it’s always cool at the far end, under the magnolia, so we regularly eat out there. It may seem a long way from the house, but it’s nice to be completely separate, and it’s very private with apple trees to each side. There’s a white Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Schneeball’ that creates a punctuation mark at the end of the lawn, as well as a Japanese maple, our third attempt and hopefully successful this time. We’ve found maples difficult to grow here, but this one is in a pot, not in open ground.

Creating interest

The garden has now been established for five years. Spending time there has become a natural extension of our lives. First thing in the morning, we go into the conservatory and often from there out into the garden. There’s always something of interest – even in the depths of winter, purple crocuses are flowering in the lawn. It’s our pride and joy. HB Sheila and Anthony’s garden opens in aid of the National Open Garden Scheme on 5 August. See ngs.org.uk for details