IN THIS GUIDE
Nestled in the heart of a residential area in the West Midlands , Annemarie and Andrew Swift have transformed their small backyard into a hobo camp paradise .
This tranquil garden was a finalist on Channel 4 ’s Garden of the Year in 2022 , and it ’s easy to see why .
With collections of fern , hostas , and ivy growing amongst uncommon and strange plants , get together the Swifts as they take us on a must - see hitch around their garden .
The Garden Transformation
“ Andrew arrived here in 2008 , but I ’ve been here since 1997 , ” Annemarie shares .
“ The garden was quite normal and had just conifer up either side of a lawn . When Andrew arrived , we decide to do more in the gardenby introducing some water . ”
“ We did the pond the first year and put a few Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree in down the bottom , ” Andrew continue .
“ As the years have gone by , we ’ve expanded up the garden and done around a task a twelvemonth . ”
“ Everything that you see , we ’ve done it all ourselves on a budget , ” order Annemarie .
“ We’veused upcycled materialsor bought them and made things , we ’ve not bought a matter off the ledge . ”
Plant Collections
“ I screw tropical plants , anything withbig , green leavesis a favourite of mine , ” says Andrew .
“ I love fern and genus Funka , which accommodate this garden , ” adds Annemarie .
“ We ’ve had to design the garden around your industrial plant likes and mine , but we ’ve had towork around the tropicalsas they are the most demanding and tend to be the biggest !
“ We ’ve been collecting plants for a long fourth dimension , in peculiar , genus Hosta and fern .
“ We ’ve probably got about 70 different sorts of hostas and approaching250 dissimilar fern .
“ There ’s so many plants in a modest space that you just ca n’t see them the first clock time you walk around ! ”
Gardening In A Smaller Space
“ Planting big makes the garden see large , even though it might sound counterintuitive ! ” Annemarie joke .
“ The canopy of the trees is always rising in our garden , so we ’ll keep planting underneath them , even if the plantings change . ”
“ Yeah , in a small garden , you ’ve got to have theheight with the heavy plants , and then you have a midway planting area and then under that you may have lower planting , ” adds Andrew .
“ Planting marvellous plant really gives you more space to mould with . The garden might only be small , but if you use the outer space right , it can still front amazing . ”
Visiting 50 Shades Of Green
“ When some the great unwashed natter , they come in and then they go back out again and then go around a dissimilar direction , ” say Annemarie .
“ There ’s so much to see and a peck you may miss the first metre around ! ”
If you need to chatter this alien garden for yourself , lead over to the NGS website to discoverall you postulate to knowabout the garden ’s coming open Clarence Day .
