For time to time, I have mentioned that this year we have embarked on a complete redesign and overhaul of the garden, which was essentially a large patch of grass that the children and their friends played on, camped on, did their own versions of Reading Festival (complete with guitars until 4am), and my gardening desires were pushed to the edges, and took second place.

Now that the children are grown, and essentially living their own lives; Robyn has graduated and is living in Brixton, and Tom is in the final stages of his MA at the Royal College of Art. I felt it was time to reclaim the space, and create a place where both the iGit and I could relax, and enjoy quiet moments.

The garden is an awkward shape, it is 3 times wider than it is long, and that always makes it harder to create a cohesive design.  Conventional wisdom would tell you that such a space should be designed along diagonal lines, this helps reduce the width, and lengthens the space; one of several visual tricks  used by Designers.

I did think about going this route, but in the end I decided I would actually prefer 3 small gardens. This was I could connect them together by pathways and vistas, but each could have its own character.  To this end we had the garden divided into 3 in July by the addition of decorative trellis with gate ways that allowed you a glimpse of what was beyond, and an attempt to cause a sense of surprise when one changed spaces.  I wasnt going for anything particularly high art, or meaningful as some might, what I wanted to create was 3 different areas, where I could indulge my passions for various plant forms, but make each space attractive as a space too.

This led to me thinking of the spaces in their crudest forms as Chicken World, Rose World, and Woodland World.  Chicken World speaks for itself, and it is the place where I have housed my hens. They have a run of about 25 feet square, with a newly planted box hedge on one boundry, existing fences on another two, and the decorative trellis on the 4th dividing it from the Rose garden adjacent.  On this trellis I have planted some double-u trained  pear and apple cordons, which has existed in vast pots for several years, and now look so much happier for being freed.

I have also planting some free standing fruit to create a mini orchard;  3 minerette Morello Cherries in a little cluster, and 2 apples and 2 sweet cherries  in the grass (what remains of it after the chicken action)  and a Damson, a Mirabelle and a Quince on the west facing fence.   Under this are various wild flowers,  species Daffodils, and Snake's Head fritillary,  which should do well as the ground is always damp.

In the central area, which I refer to as Rose World, we have  removed most the grass and begun to prepare the borders for their new residents by adding countless wheel-barrows full of horse manure and compost to improve the sandy structure of the soil.

More excitingly, my dreams to create a loggia, at the north end of this space are well under way, as seen above. A chance conversation on Twitter, where I moaned that it was so difficult to find a crafts men capable of constructing a bespoke structure in my garden to my design. The end result was, someone showed me their husband's work, and that was it, I had set my heart on trying to commission him.  A brief conversation ensued, and soon after Jonathan phoned me and agreed (despite me being in Hampshire and him in Somerset) to come and take a look at what  wanted building.

Sometimes you meet people who you know instantly understand what it is you want. Jonathan is one such person. After some discussion, he produced a mini-sketch on the spot of pretty much what I had in my mind's eye.  I didn't need any further convincing, here was the right man for the job.  Work started last week, and much of what you see has been fabricated by hand on site- its probably half way there now, but I have fallen in love with the wood, and love to stoke it, especially where the joints are - they are so smooth, you cannot feel them. It will have a roof of cedar shingles and a floor, and will be sanded down to remove all the mud -we have had a lot of rain, but J still carries on working.  Once this structure is complete, I intend to place a wicker sofa and chairs in it.

The remainder of this area will be a formal box edged affair, with a  strict symmetry. I intend to have water centrally, but something simple like a gurgling stone font, or pot,  rather than anything as ornate as a fountain. Within these  confined boundaries, I hope to make the planting exuberant and generous. I am using Roses, Clematis, Phlox, Penstemons, Campanula, Hemeorcallis, Lilies, and various other fluffy cottage garden plants. I have restricted the colours to whites, all shades of red, pink, purples and blues, with the occasional shot of the very palest yellows and creams. I hope it works. In my minds eye it does. Time will tell.

In the third area, I want to create a woodland feel wit hthe emphasis on spring, autumn and winter colour, and in summer, I want it to be a cool shaded place to relax in without too much colour to excite the eye. So form and texture will be important here.

I will write more about it as we go through the Autumn and Winter, as things take shape, and things get planted.  Watch this space!