I think I now have a working plan for the middle part of the garden. To start with I spent a good deal of Saturday measuring the plot and making a plan of what I intend to keep.

You would think that this was easy- a simple case of measuring what was where in relation to the boundaries. But OH what a boring headache it was! It had all the aspects of a job that I hate; I had to be careful and accurate, while repeating the same actions over and again, remembering numbers and writing them down. Then when I got to drawing it out there were the inevitable absent measurements or ones that had to be wrong and had to be repeated. Plus it was bitterly cold and snowed on and off for most of the time. BUT I was determined! I know that if I want to think radically I have to make a plan and give free reign to my ideas because if I simply start from what is there I will be too guided by what is already on the ground.

So this is the plan that I produced, featuring the pergola/wisteria walkway, two large pine trees that I intend to keep and a couple of birch trees.

The top of the plan faces west and south is on the left hand side.

My first idea was to do something formal and geometric as a sort of counterpoint to the rest of the garden that is informal and ‘organic’. I had an idea of two paths at right angles to one another, the first following the line of the existing path through the pergola, forming quadrants that I would plant in tidy fashion. The trouble is when I drew it it looked all squew-whiff on account of how the actual pergola is not symmetrical to anything else. So the effect would have been ‘off’ .

I then thought about what I wanted from the garden. The key features would be;

• private spaces to sit ( meditate)
• sheltered from the wind that comes up the garden from the west
• many shrubs, with ground cover for minimal upkeep
• white flowers and scent; the white wisteria at the bottom left of the plot has a wonderful scent and I want to add Daphne and winter box
• a feeling of ‘peace’ and ‘seclusion’ so that it is the ‘quietest ‘ part of the garden

I also thought of my visit to the Isabella Plantation in Richmond park and how I had enjoyed the path winding through the shrubs for it’s feeling of peace and seclusion and constant changes of scene.

So, the obvious thing then was to add a winding path rather than a straight one. The path can wind through the garden between the uprights of the pergola and I can break up the form of the pergola with shrubs, both deciduous and evergreen. There would then be small areas, even cubicles in the pergola ‘bays’, where you could add a bench. So here is the shape so far (apologies for the blurry bottom!).

All I need now is a planting plan for the shrubs that I already have and a list of what I want to buy. I am keen on ferns under the fir trees and I already have a Daphne, Philadelphus, Box and Hebe- all with white flowers. My ‘man’ Steve comes next Sunday to clear the area, taking up the old railway sleepers that are there and the scrubby undergrowth. With a blank canvas I can start setting out the path and then after that start planting.

Today I also spent some time cutting back overgrown shrubs in the middle of the garden. As with so much here, the plants are OK but are terribly over-grown so that the shrubs are long and rangy and take over the space and are pretty formless too. My aim, as with the fruit trees is to work through the garden pruning and shaping so that I end up with plants that have form and structure and healthy growth.