Readers’ gardens
Winter in the Hebrides is not for the fainthearted nor, I have to say, gardeners! I’ve taken down my greenhouse as the panes were popping out in the wind! The polytunnel is the overwintering ground for ducks, quail and a small bantam cockerel called Twizzle and his two elderly girlfriends. So, not much growing space. On the plus side, it’ll be weed and slug and snail free come the spring!
I’ve cyclamen, primroses and winter pansies in pots that are protected by the house. We don’t get a lot in the way of snow, or even prolonged frosts, but the wind can be a real killer.
Gardening hasn’t always been a hobby up here and most houses make do with a green area round the house. Few gardens are open to the public so the chance to have a nose round someone else’s hard work are few and far between. Fortunately, my neighbour Robert is a gardener and has let me to share some of his hard work with you. Robert brought a number of old sinks with him from his home town of Barnoldswick, Lancashire, and they sit very prettily around his front door. The alpines love the shale soil and shrug off the winter weather – in the summer he has a gentian to kill for! As he shares his time with the house here and the one in the south, his garden needs to be low maintenance. Even so, the shrubs are beautifully tended and provide texture and colour all year round. This year he has had a new bed added and in the spring I bet it’ll be full of the cuttings he grows every year. It’s great to share your love of gardening with someone and Robert’s advice has been fabulous for a new Island dweller like me. We’re having some trees removed this winter and I’m hoping to plant a hedge that will help buffer the garden from the north wind, I have a fancy for some hazel, beech and, maybe, to tuck in a rowan – I need to ask Robert what he thinks!