Beginner Gardening: Front yard / corner lot needs help for British pocket garden, 1 by Twincol

Twincol wrote:
Let me tell you about my British magazine stash and what I found last night. And, BTW, here's some web research related to the history of English gardens. I've cut it from the text above so that those who don't care to get into such things in these threads can simply scroll past it.

But . . . I've also taken the opportunity to add another photo. I took it this evening. I am in awe of seasonal changes, often getting confused about the changes, wondering if the seemingly negative changes I see are a result of my poor care or just the seasonal changes I'm unaccustomed to watching. But more importantly, I see some awesome stuff. The pic attached has, if you look at the lower left corner, brand new baby growth peaking out, some sweet Fall blush blossoms on my Sally Holmes, and a leaf blown by the wind from the Fruitless Mulberry nearby. Such an awesome display . . . babies, late blooms, seasonal leaf falls . . . all at the same time. Just awesome!

So . . . here's the magazine and web history references I mention above:

I went through all my English Garden magazines last night and pulled out an issue of The English Garden, February/March 1998, to take to work with me today for break times. Why? There was an article entitled “Great ideas for small gardens” I wanted to look at. It’s a great little article and one of the little gardens uses “old Yorkstone flags” to pave in in much the same way I envision my own paving. So I put a little sticky on it and will set it aside to reference. And on to the next British The English Home magazine; I have 4-6 per year for the years 2003 through 2007 stacked up to peruse. I bought them on eBay last year and now that I’m doing the work it’s time to go through them again with a more serious eye. How exciting is that? And I have some books related to gardening history to go through as well.

BTW, there’s a nice little history of English gardening (though not as thorough as you provided us), The Story of Gardens; Victorian Gardens, including Chester, Taunton, Chatsworth. You’ll find it at http://www.swgfl.org.uk/storyofgardens/victorian.asp . There are references and photos and links to “Garden Case Studies” of some of England’s gardens; Belsay Garden, Birkenhead Park, and Brodsworth Garden. I was in Chester in 2003 and loved the homes and gardens on the river. And I've some stunning photos of some of the land between Chester and Carnarfan (sp?) Castle. Lovely. Anyway, this is a nice little reference.

Linda