I live in a Victorian terraced House so, as with most of this style of house, there is very little garden.

The Back Garden

The back garden was originally separated from the yard by a 4 foot (1.3m) wide, communal alleyway. Over the years, each house has incorporated this alley to make a larger garden but access is still needed by neighbouring properties.

Below is a plan (not to scale) of my back garden which is 18ft wide by 23ft 6 in. long. The yard section is 18 ft. by 4ft wide.

The Greenhouse

The greenhouse is a plastic covered lean-to model from Norfolk Greenhouses. It was originally erected 12 years ago and has had it's 4th cover put on at the beginning of this year. The original covering material was PVC sheeting but I found it was cheaper to use ordinary polythene sheeting to cover it and this id what I now use, it last just as long.

The Shed

The shed is a pent roof model that was erected 20 years ago. It contains all my tools ( non-gardening) and just about anything else that will fit in.

The Pond

I built the pond in 1995 and is just over 5ft at the widest point, 9 ft long and 3ft deep. I used a cheap plastic liner with old carpet underlay underneath to protect it from stones. The original pond was in the front garden but as it proved impractical there ( you'll see why, when you see the front garden) I decided to re-site it in the back. The fish that had been in the original pond were moved as well but I lost the all within the first year. These were replaced but, for some reason none seem to survive. I have now given up with trying to keep fish in it and just let the numerous frogs use it.

The Yard

The back yard was originally a very old and broken up asphalt. This was removed about 20 years ago and replaced with standard 3ft x 2ft paving slabs.

Over the years a collection of various tubs troughs and planters have found a home here with a large assortment of plants, bulbs and even a few herbs and vegetables (mainly salad stuff).

The Front Garden

The front garden (I call it a garden) is even smaller than the rear garden, measuring just 12 ft x 4 ft.

The plan below shows how little space I have to garden with. When I originally moved into the house 25 years ago, the whole area was paved with 3 ft x 2 ft slabs with a very rickety picket style fence along the front. I took these up and put in a 3ft x 9ft x 3ft deep pond with rockery and waterfall and a low 2 ft high double wall along the front of the property. The pond was very successful although a little difficult to work on due to the lack of space. For some reason, my front garden seems to attract any litter that is blowing about the road. It swirls around in circles and ends up coming to visit me, usually ending up in the pond. When the liner sprung more than a few leaks in 1995 ( this was due to a neighbours cat falling in and ripping the liner to shreds in getting out) I eventually decided to move it around the back of the house.

The 'garden' now consists of a central path of 12" square concrete slabs with an 18" border.

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Last updated 30 August, 2003
© copyright 1999, P. A. Owen