There is another very inhospitable patch in the walled garden, at the back on the left hand side of the fruit dome, underneath the large sycamore tree. There is an old wood fence belonging to the neighbours and over the years it has been used as a dumping ground for garden waste, builders rubble and all sorts of other paraphernalia. The shade of the sycamore tree and the roots dominate that part of the garden making it very hard to grow anything except ivy and weeds. It has been tricky deciding what to do with it, particularly since that area may be impacted by building works for the studio.

It took a long time to clear the area and was done gradually over a couple of years. The first thing to go was the ivy. It had been there for many years and was rampant, growing strongly along the fence wall and smothering the sycamore tree. Underneath the ivy we discovered a couple of large elder tree stumps which required stump grinder Steve’s attention. Tree surgeon Michael came in to crown lift the sycamore and to remove the ivy strangling it. The last step was to remove some of the rubble and soil piled up against the wood fence, and to try to even out the area. That wasn’t wholly successful: the extensive root systems below that part of the garden restricts how much we can remove and how even the surface can be.

The neighbour’s wood fence is old and not in good condition, so I have chosen a camellia hedge to hide that. They are planted in large bottomless containers, partly to allow them to establish themselves before they hit the sycamore roots, and partly to be able to control the acid levels in the soil. We do not have good quality ericaceous soil in this area, so need to top dress the soil regularly to keep the ph balance right for camellias. And I will need to keep the plants well watered. The hedge is made up of large 5 year old camellia plants supplied by Burncoose Nurseries and will have hidden the wood fence completely in a couple of years time .

A planting plan for ground cover was harder to decide on. I needed something that liked shade and would keep the weeds down. But it was also something that might be disturbed when the building work for the studio goes ahead. I was watching BBC’s Monty Don’s Japanese Gardens series recently, where they showed a shady Japanese temple garden with a chequerboard pattern of paved stones and green moss. That gave me the idea for planting in this difficult area, but replacing the moss with a selection of woodland violas. They do well in partial shade, grow into dense clumps and flower from early spring until late autumn. This combination makes them ideal for this situation.

The tiles are small Victorian paving stones in a mix of terracotta and black. Victorian tiles tend to be deeper than their modern equivalents so make good planting spaces for the violas. My favourites are sweet violets (Violeta odorata) with their semi-evergreen foliage, strong scent and edible violet flowers. I have started off with six of these plants, and will grow more from seed for next season. The other violas are a combination of garden centre bedding and alpine varieties, and will gradually be replaced by the seed grown sweet violets over the next few years. The pavers are easy to remove / re-organise as needed as the violas establish themselves and spread.

The wooden bench is used for storing my empty plant pots and I have added some large Stewart olive pots with prunus (cherry) and a magnolia tree. The trees are in the olive pots until after the building work is completed, at which point they will be planted in the ground. The whole area , including the adjacent path around the fruit dome, will be finished off with a bark mulch to give a peaceful woodland feel to that corner.

It will be a lovely shady spot to sit in the afternoons when the rest of the garden is bathed in sun. And the bench is an ideal position for dead heading the violas and keeping a beady eye on any emerging weeds, an evening gin and tonic in hand.