A touch of grass
Four seasons garden is 37 years in making
PUT in two hours of work a day for 37 years, spend £15,000 and you too could have a garden as spectacular as this oasis in an industrial heartland.
Dedicated Tony and Marie Newton, both 71, have crammed 50 azaleas, 120 Japanese maples and 15 blue star junipers into a third of an acre.
Gran-of-four Marie started tending the garden in 1982 after retiring as a transport planner.
The couple have won Britain’s Best Garden for the plot in Walsall, West Midlands. It is called “four seasons” because of its year-round appeal – and these stunning drone shots show why. Marie said: “There are over 3,000 plants, so many I can’t even count.
“In autumn you see brilliant reds, oranges and yellows and in the spring the colours are equally as vivid.
“All but two of the plants have been planted by us.”
Their home is part of unofficial tourist trails in the Black Country.
Marie added: “We’ve had more than 14,000 people from 48 different countries visit over the years.”
Retired GP Tony added: “At this time of year it is glorious.”