New challenges in gardening

Not exactly spreading acres...

When we acquired the Shoebox the two obvious disadvantages for one who loved cooking and gardening were the minute kitchen and the diminutive back yard garden.  The kitchen problem has been resolved by replanning, and I now revel in it.  The garden has proved a little more problematic.  

We're talking of a space about four or five metres long and about three or four metres wide - a little wider if you take in the space at the bottom of the flight of steps that come down from the rear door on the ground floor.  We have a couple of flower beds, but the major part of the area is paved in brick.  It faces west, and gets a lot of light.  The views between neighbouring houses to the sea, to the south, and the open view of the Old Town to the west, are stunning.

All of this is fine.  The real problem, though, which I hadn't bargained for, is the wind.  It howls off the sea, bringing an abundance of salt.  All those delightful plants you see in cosy Sussex gardens simply shrivel and die with us.  Add to this a rigourous winter such as we have just had, and it's a miracle that anything at all has survived.  Last year we planted phormiums, which have staggered through but are looking a bit sorry for themselves; lavender, which has somehow been able to cope; and sedum and artemisia.  The sedums would have coped had it not been for another hazard - snails.  They've more or less survived but aren't exactly flourishing.  

This year we've taken a more restricted approach, and filled a number of gaps - it's quite surprising how many gaps there can be even in a space as small as this.  I'm not sure we'll ever create something with that Amazon jungle look, but we're gradually learning.  

Antony Mair