the little garden that could

As is common in my area, my home has no 'garden' as such. Instead there's a small paved yard at the back, leading to a communal back lane. It's a traditional way of building terraced houses in northern England.

My house is unusual, though, as it has a relatively generous front garden. The houses on the other side of the street don't, so I'm not completely sure why I lucked out! Possibly because my house is south facing, so the houses on this side of the street were designed to take advantage of the sun. On the other hand, my back yard is absolutely tiny! Luckily, the several years I spent living in London taught me how to make the very most of *any* outside space.

This was my house spring 2012 (just under a year before I bought it). The front garden was largely paved, with a few ancient rose bushes at the edges and a couple of evergreen trees at the centre. Smart, but not gorgeous.

And here's the garden in late spring last year. I tried to soften and feminise the space - all sorts of cottage garden plants, grown in pots. There's lilacs, foxgloves, and sweet peas. I have a dwarf nectarine tree by my front door, and window boxes and hanging baskets provide lovely drifts of pink and purples. I also bought a small wisteria, which you can just about make out at the right edge of the garden - fast forward a decade and I hope it will have crept half way over the house!