31/05/2026
6 years ago this was a spirit level sharp Leylandi hedge, perfect box ball beside an ornamental rhododendron and pieris japonica, set in white gravel.
That kind of front garden worries me so I cut out half the Leylandi on the road side (to maintain some privacy to a front house and as a structural support for climbers) and planted a deciduous hedge of hazel, wild pear, spindle, purple beech, hawthorn and oak.
The front garden has been 'let go' or directed as it moves to be what it wants to be, with guidance and the introduction of dog roses and monkshood, mahonia and fatsia, scarlet tempest geums, comfrey, variegated dogwood, wild garlic, red campion, primroses, and ox eyed daisies.
Plus a mini- .
Apart from the deciduous hedge, they were all planted into gravel with soil n compost, membrane cut.
Now it is covered in , butterflies and birds. A dense thicket of , layered, seasonal, all year round.
The leylandi has been integrated, not ripped out, and provides 'backbone'.
I now feel a sense of relief. It's also low maintenance.
'Let go' of worrying what the neighbours will think, and embrace life in all its forms to create abundance.
