Sturdy Yeoman’s Pergola

I love a pergola. Jasper and I have built quite a few now, though no photos currently exist for most of them. They all have different personalities. Some reach for the sky, others are firmly rooted on the ground.

This one is in the sturdy English castle style. Big fat 6 inch square uprights set the tone. The raised paving allows the pergola to dominate its corner. All the timbers are much bigger than anything you might find off the peg. And the space we had to fit it into was not symmetrical in anyway, so the pergola was built on site to fit, and tweaked to give the impression of being a regular shape.

What I really like about pergolas, before the climbers get right over the top of them, is the way the sunlight paints shadows over the surrounding garden.

The garden we made for ourselves

The garden as it started to come together. (Thanks Jasper.)Son, dog, hens, raised bed. It’s all there.

I made a little home for the guinea pigs in here. They came out every day and mowed the lawn for me. No, by eating it, they couldn’t start the mower. And they fertilised it as they went. Really. Guinea pigs make for great lawns.

Cabbages, herbs, flowers…

It was a place to experiment, find varieties that worked…

…and to see how they mixed together…

Such transient beauty

Sharp design for a modern pad

(Click on the pictures for close ups)

As usual, the garden was a bit rough when we arrived.

But with the Spring comes the cheerful landscape team…

The apple tree had been first to receive the modernist treatment

Mark installs the trellis he made earlier…

Woodland plants and a strong central axis.

Every garden needs a compost bin. This one has two, in the classical modernist style!

Evergreen climbers and bamboo link the original brickwork with the new trellis

Sunny planting for a sunny spot…

…And we  were pretty pleased with the result.