GRANVILLE North’s mature and beautifully tended garden reflects all the garden experience of a man steeped in horticulture.
“My first neighbour was an allotment holder and he said it would take you 15 years to get the garden you want,” said Mr North. “I think that’s about right.”
Certainly the garden which wraps around the 1930s house which he shares with his wife, Muriel reflects that.
“What we have tried to do is create a series of rooms so that you don’t see the whole thing in one blast,” he said.
Those rooms showcase Mr North’s gardening skills encompassing everything from flowers and shrubs to soft fruit and herbs.
“My wife loves fuchsias and I overwinter those plus the hostas and geraniums indoors to ensure some continuity.”
The garden also has a fair crop of vegetables, everything from peas, broad beans, cabbages and kale to beetroot and onions.
“I’m trying out four different varieties of tomatoes to see which we like the best, including some Somerset yellow ones” he said.
Soft fruit bushes are brimming with summer produce - raspberries, black and white currants and even alpine strawberries, the latter grown to feed the birds.
“The only thing I spray with is Fairy Liquid and I do everything I can to encourage birds and wildlife.
“We get a huge variety of birds and I have a reed bed which helps oxygenate the pond.
“It us an archetypal English cottage garden which works very well with the style of the house.”
