A pear garden
Given the awful suffering of many across the world right now, I am very grateful to be in good health, to be living where I do and to have a garden to escape to. We have been gardening at our current block for 3 years now. Let me show you a little of what we’ve been up to!
When we moved here 3 years ago, this is what we started with at the back of the house - an expanse of mown weeds, clover and paddock grasses. The back of the house and the main living areas face north, so this is where we decided to start gardening.
I was keen to divide this area into smaller ‘rooms’. The first room we decided on was a simple rectangular space, straight off the covered area at the back of the house.
A French inspired garden by Peter Fudge - source
Now I need to tell you that our soil is solid gold s#%@*! It is truly horrible. A very thin layer of grey hydrophobic topsoil, with an all but impenetrable yellow clay subsoil. Bedrock is a yellow shale, sometimes just inches below the surface.
It did not take us long to realise that we would need some machinery to turn the first sods of our garden!
At the time, I had been reading Peter Fudge’s book ‘Form’ and was feeling very inspired by his use of pleached snow pears underplanted with ivy.
In particular, I loved the simplicity of Peter’s French-inspired garden, left - have a look at his beautiful garden here - you’ll see what I mean!
Knowing that the two rooms either side of our simple rectangle would be full to brimming with roses and perennials, I was keen that this central space would be restrained and restful.
Twelve snow pears (Pyrus nivalis) were planted with the help of our little blue tractor.
We felt a bit like we were digging graves, and to be honest, when we planted the trees, we did wonder if we were condemning them to a premature death. We shared very little confidence that they would grow given the soil conditions.
August 2017
We laid the turf in between snow showers and bogging the forklift during delivery!
And we waited nervously. Would anything grow in our new garden? Oh ye of little faith Bloom! Our first Spring and the snow pears exploded onto the scene with hopeful, fresh blossoms and an abundance of growth!
September 2017
And the growth has thankfully continued across the last couple of years, through rain, hail & shine, and even a big dumping of snow. It seems that our clay soil, despite being awful to work with, has good fertility. And that the underlying shale might be soft enough for tree roots to penetrate.
February 2018
May 2018
May 2018
October 2018
October 2018
August 2019
September 2019
As any gardener knows, the risk with a multiple planting of one species is that they won’t grow evenly, or that one of the multiple will die. We did lose one pear, but thankfully it was on the end of the row, not in the middle. I’m not sure why it died. Quite possibly, with heavy clay or even rock below, it may have waterlogged. We have replaced the fatality since, and the new tree is a year behind the others, but has survived so far.
And so here we are three years later. And now I’m worried the pears are going to grow too big!
While not as grandiose and perfect as Peter Fudge’s masterpiece, our little pear garden is coming along. I am very proud of my ivy. It is Canary Island ivy, Hedera canariensis which I had great difficulty sourcing. I may have eventually spotted some growing in the garden of a nearby courthouse. And I may have surreptitiously pruned it a little. And the prunings may have slipped into my bag. Just saying.
The ivy has taken an eternity to accustom itself to its new home, but it’s finally starting to look good.
So that’s our pear garden! An entirely unplanned surprise is that the lawn is the perfect size for badminton. A welcome distraction during the COVID lockdown!
There is a lot more to show you. This is just the first of our ‘rooms’. I hope to be back for another instalment soon! Bloom x