6 years ago we bought our current house – and it came with a small garden: my first.

Although the garden had some nice established plantings – a few rhodos, a magnolia and a lovely maple – it had been somewhat neglected and I have spent the last few years gradually overhauling various areas and adding several raised beds, particularly to the back lawn as grass is a total yawn to me. My back yard is south-facing so it’s a good spot to grow veggies and flowers, which I tend to mix up together in beds as I think it’s more fun and looks less regimented.

As a relatively newbie, I am definitely learning by doing and making mistakes along the way! It’s safe to say that gardening has become a real passion and I derive enormous amounts of pleasure from playing in the dirt. I try to grow as much as possible from seed and am fortunate to have a dining room with a glass roof which I turn into a greenhouse from February to May.

In addition to growing all the usual veggie suspects, I am very keen on having lots of flowers for cutting, with dahlias, lilies and sweet peas being my top 3 favourites.