2011 –

We live on the site of an old church/graveyard. Squeezed between the new church, the original church hall and a row of terraced houses. Our unusual L-shaped garden wraps around the house; two sides of the living room are black-framed windows, so the garden is always “on show” and feels part of the house.

Unfortunately we are overlooked by the row of terraced houses, but we had to start by cutting down our only source of privacy – the three soon to be giant Sycamore seedlings. We kept the Buddleja in the corner of the patio area because the butterflies and birds love it and it gives us privacy upstairs from the nearby high street.

So we started with an almost blank canvas, but have achieved a lot since we moved in in September 2011.

By rendering the nasty new brick walls with white sand and cement, the garden feels brighter and in summer the shadows on the walls create extra depth. The black decking has also made the space immediately outside the living room feel bigger and more inviting than the original cold grey concrete slabs.

As well as giving us a place to relax and experiment, I want the garden to encourage birds and pollinating insects. It has been so satisfying to watch the birds inspecting the new trees and plants as well as the nesting boxes – we have even had a bat circling during the summer evenings, so we have put up a box for them too.

The robins and blackbirds always come and wait for worms as soon as we start digging – they were especially excited when we spread our worm-rich homemade compost on the flowerbeds this winter.

We have planted rhubarb, apple trees, a fig and a quince and during the summer we grow salad, courgette and tomatoes as well as herbs. In the future I would like to grow even more edible plants and cut flowers.

We added a formal, but wildlife-friendly bentomat-lined pond in April 2014. The fountain distracts us from the noise of the nearby traffic and the bridge leads you slowly onto the ever-shrinking lawn.