The Garden of Forgotten Wishes - Trisha Ashley Page 0,49
a great idea, and the grass edging and paths will tie in with those of the two side beds, won’t they?’
‘Yes, though without the lavender borders,’ he agreed, leading the way out of the far side of the sunken area and heading for the bottom right-hand corner. ‘My new wetland and water feature is this way.’
He’d narrowed the low bed on this side to make more room for his new project.
‘The spring always came up in the corner, but it’s been left to go boggy. I’m channelling the stream, so it’ll run through a marshy area and down a small waterfall, into this pond I’ve dug out. The runoff will go through an old drainage culvert under the wall.’
It was certainly a boggy mess at the moment, but either Ned or a giant mole had been busy excavating a large hole. On the far side, against the wall, were steps up to a platform.
‘Marshy plants, like marshmallow and mullein are going to love that top part. What are you going to put in your pond?’
‘I thought blue water iris and maybe katniss – arrowhead – in the shallows.’
‘And what about watercress?’ I suggested. ‘What’s going up on that round platform over there?’
‘A domed wooden gazebo – I’ve got it, I just need to put it together. It’ll be the one place where you’ll be able to see most of the garden. I’ve got a small bridge to go over the stream, too.’
‘Sounds lovely,’ I said, even if I couldn’t quite imagine what it would look like yet.
He might have guessed what I was thinking, because he said, ‘Take it from me, it will be. And now for my other new feature, the Poison Garden.’
We walked along the circular path past more tall shrubs and trees, and he pointed out the small gateway to the vegetable garden but said I could see that another time.
The black metal structure that I’d spotted earlier now came fully into view: a tall, wrought-iron fence, curved inwards like claws and set with a very Gothic-looking gate, shut off this corner.
‘I thought it might be better to collect the more dangerous plants in one section, behind a fence, to stop the visitors killing themselves. Though some of the other plants won’t do them a lot of good if they touch them, or try and sneak cuttings, despite the warning signs,’ he said. ‘That Irish yew at the back was already here, so it seemed the perfect spot.’
He’d obviously devoted quite a lot of time to planting up this part. There was another tall black metal structure in the middle.
‘That fence is like a cage, keeping everything from escaping,’ I said. ‘And actually, there seems to be a cage within the cage.’
‘The railings give the right impression, especially now I’ve got James to paint them black. They came from a architectural antiques place in a village not far away, and that really is a cage in the middle of the Poison Garden – a Victorian aviary, with a rosary pea in it.’
I stared at him. ‘But those are hugely poisonous – deadly!’
‘I know, that’s why it’s in a cage in a cage, and the gate locked. Later on, I’ll take small groups round it occasionally, and I’ll look after this part of the garden myself.’
‘You’re welcome to it,’ I said.
‘You don’t mean that – I’ve got a brugmansia – angel’s trumpet – that’s already six feet tall, and lots more interesting things, like deadly nightshade, foxglove, rat’s bane and hemlock. I think I might put some mandrake in there, too, because its history is really interesting,’ he enthused.
‘I can hardly wait to see it,’ I said, though since I’d never seen an actual rosary pea or an angel’s trumpet, I was only half-joking.
‘Of course, some of the things in there, like foxgloves, you can find anywhere,’ he said. ‘Amazing how many ordinary garden plants are quite poisonous.’
‘I know, like laburnum, which just looks so pretty.’
‘I pinched the Poison Garden idea from Alnwick Castle, though mine’s a lot smaller, of course.’
I could see the Poison Garden was Ned’s baby, just as much as the vegetable garden and the borders were Gertie and James’s.
We began to retrace our steps towards the courtyard, along the circular path and past the wide, low bed on that side.
‘I’m obviously promoting the garden as a work in progress, but I thought that would be a draw – I’ve ordered information boards to put up round the garden, explaining what we’re doing in each