Last summer I was asked to design a garden in a beautiful Devon combe for my great university friend Marina and her husband. My friend was receiving chemotherapy treatment so this project allowed her to focus on something positive and look to the future. It was a great shock however when she passed away in September.
The plan for making the garden was to continue and what better project is there for helping to heal torn hearts? At a time when we can feel so powerless in the face of death, the coming together of friends to make a garden is a positive action on so many levels.
Friends at the funeral were invited to make donations for the plants whilst myself and close friends set our hearts on ‘making Marina’s garden’ this spring.
We are a group of university friends who all studied horticulture at the University of Bath and have stayed in close contact over the last 40 years! Mike and Louise, from the Gardens Group, sourced the plants and last weekend a group of us met up to help prepare and plant the beds alongside Marina’s husband and daughters.
We spent a glorious sunny weekend together celebrating our incredible friend and creating a special space for Marina’s family; a peaceful haven snuggled between beautiful ferny Devon walls, meadows and a glorious stream. A space which will mature, provide memories, a refuge and contact with nature.
The garden includes yew which will be clipped as beehive topiary for year round structure to complement the beautiful Devon walls. Marina was very keen on Benton Irises which have been mixed with Nepeta, Euphorbia ‘Wulphenii’, Viola cornuta, Sedum ‘Matrona’… Shady areas are planted with evergreen ferns, Hydrangea paniculata ‘Limelight’, Cyclamen coum ‘Album’, Omphalodes and Libertia formosa…
Making a garden with friends, sharing knowledge, skills and stories is something I think we should do more often under more ‘normal’ circumstances…
#weboflife #communityspirit #Friendship #Universityfriends #Gardenmaking