This lovely old barn was made into a delightful easy home and needed a beautiful garden all around.   How did we do?!

On one side, the fields stretch away to the Chiltern Hills, with the church in the foreground, so we built a ha ha.  The garden now looks out across the meadows and river without any fence, visitors can shriek “the cows are in the garden!”… but all is well! 

The old concrete cattle yards were cleared away and a lambing shed was in a convenient position to become a garage and store.  New paths and a small terrace were made from old York stone laid with staggered edges.  Our plan was that plants would flow over the paths and terrace in a completely informal and natural way, so that there are no straight lines or sharp edges.  

The grass areas are a grass and wildflower mix which is left to grow long and then cut later in the summer for hay, the photographs show how lovely this is.   Some of the wild flowers, including various orchids, have taken years to germinate or appear, it’s a mystery and every year is different!  

We were careful with choosing the design of estate fencing because some are lovely and others clunky.  The price can be similar, but the result totally different!  

Interesting, new and old varieties of fruit trees were planted.  They seemed so small and fragile at the time, almost a whistle and a prayer sums up the feeling, but you should see them now!  And the crops!  The apple and pear juice!  And the apple and beetroot juice!  And the cherry pies!  And the apricot jam!  All the different flavours and the blossom in the spring and the difference in the leaves and character of the trees!  And a vegetable patch!  And a greenhouse!