“Necessity is the father of invention” is what my Dad often says and so hearing that I was not allowed to ‘cultivate’ the front garden because it essentially is a verge and belongs to the Local Authority sent me back to the drawing board. I figured that I could cultivate the strip that is right against the house and also any land to the side around the driveway.

I wanted something neat, formal and easy to maintain, as because it is by a very busy main road,it is not the most relaxing place to do gardening. I settled on a lavender hedge (planted through a weed proof membrane) and a bed on the south facing wall with a fig tree against it and seasonal bedding, along with decorative pots by the entrance.

Happily I recently won a pair of lollipop bay trees in a competition run by my local nursery. This was a real delight as I had lost all my bay trees when I moved house and we also took out a large bay tree that was half dead and over grown.

I am really pleased with the formal neat effect. Quite unlike the back garden.