As a garden designer I love seeing real gardens that real people have created. As a tv presenter I have recently been very lucky to work on Garden of the Year with radio and tv presenter Zoe Ball and horticulturist Lachlan Rae. We met Annmarie and Andrew on location when we filmed in their garden in Walsall. Their home is situated in a small cul-de-sac, and we were certainly not expecting the delight that we found at the back.

The Love of Gardening

Annmarie’s love of gardening started around the age of 5. Most of us gardeners start gardening encouraged by our parents. Annmarie’s role model was Nanna Farmer helped along by the skills of her mum. Nanna and grandad grew roses on one side of their garden and grew vegetable and fruit on the other.

Annmarie’s passion for gardening and plants started with her Nanna and her skills were guided by her mother. This pic shows Grandad, Nanna, Mum, Annmarie (in front of Nanna) and her two younger brothers Andrew and Garry.

Garden Facts

Annmarie and Andrew’s garden is 15m x 11m wide, so not huge. However, when we went to film, we could not even see the end of the back garden when we first entered. A great design trick that creates intrigue thereby making the garden feel bigger.

The garden is north facing and has clay soil so not easy conditions to garden in. They are surrounded by neighbours on all three sides but when we were in the garden, we could not see the roof lines of any of them.

Andrew a self-confessed non-gardener joined Annmarie in 2008 at the age of 48. He was probably quite daunted by Annmarie’s passion for gardening. However, inspired by Annmarie he has found a new love for gardening. Although Annmarie is still head gardener and Andrew the under gardener.

The Journey Begins

Annmarie moved into their present home in July 1997 and was confronted with a very overgrown garden. Tall Leylandii grew on both sides blocking any chance of light in an already shady north facing plot and a patio with crazy paving and a rickety old picket fence Annmarie wasted no time and got to work. The summer and autumn of 1997 and spring of 1998 were spent clearing and making the garden and lawn look both presentable and useable. Ann Marie does admit that as a self-taught gardener she did find the task ahead daunting.

The garden overgrown and unkept when Annmarie first moved into the house.

With a restricted budget, the following 9 to 10 years, Annmarie begged, borrowed, and procured plants from family and friends and began filling her planting borders. The garden soon became a retreat and brought Ann Marie joy and happiness. But there was something niggling away at her. Whilst it was satisfying to mow, weed and propagate, Annmarie craved more.

Annmarie wasted no time in clearing the garden, putting her passion and her skill to use. The garden was soon made practical and usable.

Then Andrew moved in and discovered Annmarie’s addiction to gardening. He said “But I know nothing about plants. How will I know what’s a weed and what’s a plant?” He was truly panicky and shall we say a tad overwhelmed especially as Annmarie was very precious about the garden. Annmarie recalled her Nanna’s words about taking it step by step, so she was patient with Andrew and set about teaching him the basics. Come late spring 2008, Andrew was getting quite keen with this thing called ‘Gardening’, at the huge relief of Annmarie.

May 2008 Andrew asked Annmarie if she had thought having water in the garden. She had never considered it, so they went and had a look at a piece of pre-drilled rock, sump, pump, and grill and came back home with four items. They had a sump to dig out, a quarter ton monolith to lift and move into place and electrics to install. Andrew just happens to be an electrician. Annmarie, you chose well. The following day it was all in and working. They both felt like they had won the lottery. Annmarie says, “I became we and my became ours”. The power of gardening.

The passion for water in the garden started with their first water feature. Although the garden has evolved this quarter ton monolith has been moved again into a new position.

All in the Planning

2009 – the planning started. It was exciting. They began to discuss more water, bringing in more trees, unusual plants, and hard landscaping. Most importantly they wanted to create privacy and not really borrow the surrounding landscape. All this on a tight budget so it would have to be done over time and they would need to be resourceful. Andrew a sparky and Annmarie being creative with space, they decided to put pen to paper to create a garden layout. They knew it would take several years to come to fruition. However, these two do not do things in small sizes. Their first project was installing a koi carp pond. It includes a waterfall and a stream. The pond became priority as they both wanted to attract wildlife into the garden.

Annmarie and Andrew started getting more ambitious and decided they were going to introduce a koi carp pond

2010 – disaster struck as the country experienced the big freeze. The lost a lot of plants

Spring 2011 – a heron punctured the pond liner, and the koi were dying. They were not deterred. The had to install a robust pond so they saw this as an opportunity to re-design a big part of the garden including a pond lined with fibreglass.

In early summer of 2011, they created the stream and bog garden. They took inspiration from Japanese gardens. They designed and built a bridge spanning the stream, allowing access to and from new pathways and seating areas. A huge project to undertake. They also added some Japanese style planting and statues to create the desired effect and some of that can still be seen today although the garden has evolved.

After the disaster they decided to get more serious and install a more solid construction for the pond.

They were still not satisfied and decided they needed more water in the garden. They felt the bog garden had failed. In spring 2012 they designed a dry-stone wall waterfall that flowed into a wildlife pond which would connect with the existing stream to the koi carp pond. As a final part of this phase, they also constructed new pathways around the waterfall area.

The garden continued to develop with a stream, a bridge and new trees added. The garden was starting to get a feel of a Japanese landscape.

Major Tree Planting

Between 2012 to 2013 they planted 12 trees. They wanted to emulate the feel of being in the middle of a woodland surrounded by trees wherever you were in the garden. They have certainly achieved that. Whilst most people would plant trees along the boundaries, Annmarie and Andrew have been bold and positioned some trees in the middle of the garden from top to bottom. The chose Larix decidua to make a statement and give dappled shade. Amongst other trees, they have planted Acer palmatum dissectum, Cedrus atlantica, Eucalyptus pauciflora ssp debeuzevillei and Rhus typhina

A birds eye view shows the trees that have been planted into the garden. The steely blue colour of the Cedrus atlantica in the foreground on the left, the red foliage of Acer palmatum dissectum.

Trees for Change

The next three years they started seeing some real changes in the garden. The trees started to fill out their canopies and gain height. This provided them with the screening they were seeking from their surroundings. The most important change they noticed was, whilst their neighbours’ lawns were covered with hard frost, their garden did not suffer this but also reminded a little warmer. They had managed to create a micro-climate in their garden.

This is what the Cedrus atlantica now looks like. Its canopy provides dapple shade and shelter. Annmarie and Andrew have provided lots of wildlife habitat in their garden from the pond to, bird boxes and bug hotels.

The koi carp pond has settled in. The pond benefits other wildlife too. The first five koi they bought were named at the cast of Friends

Gardening for Wildlife

Their aim was always to have wildlife in the garden. Now they have regular visitors. Their garden has frogs, tadpoles, newts, dragonflies, damselflies, over twenty species of butterflies and moths, more than 15 different bee species, beetles, 30 plus varieties of birds, spiders, caterpillars, ladybirds, ladybird larvae, hoverflies, hornets, bats, squirrels, mice and of course the few slugs and snails and the odd fox. These are just a few to list.

Fifty Shades of Green is a very fitting name for this garden. It has been beautifully thought out. This garden is a real asset to Annmarie and Andrews home.

Final Phase of the Design

Between 2017 to 2018 the large riven patio was removed to make space for what else but plants. These two are real plant lovers. They introduced the gravel pathway. They created a connection between the dining area and the garden by building a raised deck. Even the walls of the house have shelves giving them the opportunity to bring the planting right up to the house. Now the mature wisteria drapes across the top of the wall.

This was followed by the introduction of a gazebo. A beautiful bamboo screen has been created at the rear, knotted with hemp string. A heater provides year-round seating. Fairly lights in the roof provides a beautiful ambience. They have also constructed a bespoke pergola and Andrew’s skills helped to install lighting at each phase. What is wonderful about this garden is that it shows a small space can have big impact. I never felt I was in a small garden and wherever we sat you could hear the sound of water. In fact, when I closed my eyes, I was transported to an oriental forest.

A Passion for Learning

Annmarie and Andrew are clearly very passionate about their garden. Working through the different stages of design, construction, and planting they have discovered they have skill set that they otherwise would never have dreamed of.

The garden has moved away from its early Japanese feel although some feature still exist. But these have been blended into to create an oriental tropical paradise in an urban setting.

They started out using very ordinary plants but through their journey they have realised that they have a taste for unusual plants. They look for textures, patterns, architecture, and unusual foliage. The garden name “Fifty Shades of Green” came from friends and family saying how many different greens there were in the garden and Andrew said, “There must be at least fifty”. They now go to plant hunter fairs to seek out different plants they cannot find in retail nurseries. Their garden will continue to evolve. Their heart and soul is definitely in their piece of paradise.

The truly incredible Annmarie and Andrew. If you are anywhere near Walsall, please do try to go and see their garden when they open it for the National Garden Scheme. I promise you, you will not be disappointed.

“Fifty Shades of Green” is open twice a year and by appointment on behalf of the NGS National Open Garden Scheme. Do keep a look out for their next opening on the NGS website. You will not be disappointed.