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Dog-Path Garden Tour

The Dog-Path Gardens reach along the water race from Middle Bridge to the Plank. When Middle Bridge was built, I always planned to garden along the water race on both sides. I imagined marginals, waterside plants and bulky clumps of foliage.

During my first digging and clearing sessions upstream I had dog company, and I watched Taj-dog snuffling along the water's edge, poking his nose into the messy grasses and flattening all vegetation.

In such small ways are our grandest dreams remodelled! I built a modest stone retaining wall and the dog-path slowly crept along the water's edge. Eventually the first gardens were planted and special specimen trees (Dogwoods, Elms and Maples) were chosen. A batch of free, bare-root roses arrived and further expansion became necessary. As the gardens slowly grew, so did the Dog-Path itself, past a seat and a waterside flax, over a willow stump, ending eventually by the Plank.

There is a simple seat on the dog-path where you can sit and rest. Time flies by with the gently swirling water, and the air is filled with the fragrance of roses.

Gardeners are so lucky...

Copper Beech Tree... Thu 5th Mar 2009: A Copper Beech tree is growing slowly but surely in the middle of the Dog-Path Garden. Perhaps I'll still be here gardening in twenty year's time, when it will be majestically, fully mature (like me...)
Blue Lupin Flowers... Sun 25th Jan 2009: Some of the delights of late spring in the Dog-Path Garden are very, very blue! They're lupins, which grow on the top of the small stone wall near the water. Lots of self-seeding goes on - helpful when the mother lupin plants start getting too tired.
Koru Sculpture... Mon 14th Jan 2008: The Koru sculpture sits in a small area of the Dog-Path Garden surrounded by beautiful roses and Rosemary shrubs. In spring there are many yellow daffodils to enjoy. A little path runs past to the Dog-Path seat by the water.
Rhapsody in Blue Rose... Sun 11th Feb 2007: I love the music of George Gershwin, so naturally I had to have some 'Rhapsody in Blue' roses. They're planted together in the Dog-Path Garden.
Trees in the Dog-Path Garden... Fri 19th Jan 2007: Trees in the Dog-Path Garden were chosen for their contrasting leaf colour. So there are light greens, and reds, variegations, exotic and deciduous, some limbed up to give space to the flowering shrubs underneath.
Dog-Path Garden Roses... Sat 6th Jan 2007: The Dog-Path Garden is one of the rosiest gardens I've created. And when new roses arrive (like my latest joy, Rhapsody in Blue) its garden curves tend to be re-dug, just to give me a bit more space.
Flaxes in the Garden Border... Sun 10th Dec 2006: Cornflowers, roses, and assorted foliage plants might jostle for space in the Dog-Path Garden, but the spiky New Zealand flaxes dominate the look of the borders.
Cercis Forest Pansy... Thu 21st Apr 2005: Possibly the most beautiful small specimen tree in the Moosey garden is a Cercis Forest Pansy. It has wine-red heart shaped leaves which colour spectacularly at the first hint of autumn.
Dogwood Leaves... Thu 17th Feb 2005: It's too easy to be seduced by the beautiful flower colour of spring rhododendrons and summer roses. Let's give the trees in the Dog-Path garden the praise they deserve - like this slow growing Cornus (or Dogwood) with beautifully variegated foliage.
Sedums by the Dog-Path Seat... Thu 6th Jan 2005: A tough little group of sedums grow in the stone wall, just along from the Dog-Path Garden seat. Others (I think they are sedums) with longer stems flop down on the seat from above.
Yellow Rhododendron... Mon 8th Nov 2004: The Moosey Rhododendron Festival continues into late spring as more new rhododendrons start to flower. This yellow shrub is sheltered in the middle of the Dog-Path Garden, underneath some limbed-up Pittosporum trees.
Dog-Path Garden in Autumn... Thu 15th Apr 2004: The back of the Dog-Path Garden shows off in Autumn, when the different colours and textures of the shrubs and grasses form great contrasts underneath the Golden Elm.
Red Flax by the Dog-Path... Wed 24th Dec 2003: The red flax is very happy growing by the water.
Dog-Path Garden Bench... Wed 24th Dec 2003: Halfway along the Dog-Path there is a simple seat built from an old picnic table top. There are sedums planted underneath and a pink Iceberg rose behind.
Edge of the Dog-Path... Wed 10th Dec 2003: The actual Dog-Path is close to the water level in the water race, and tussocks flop over the small stone retaining wall.
Along the Water Race... Sat 11th Jan 2003: A quick look back along the Dog-Path shows the water race burbling along past plants, shrubs, and flaxes. The next upstream garden area is called Middle Garden, well worth visiting on a hot summer's day.
Dogwood Tree... Thu 26th Dec 2002: A Cornus (Dogwood) tree has a space by the Dog-Path, sheltered from the southerly winds by existing Pittosporums. This is a photograph which shows its beautiful autumn leaf colour.
Purple Cotinus Smoke Bush... Sat 14th Dec 2002: Further along the grass side of the Dog-Path Garden I've planted a Cotinus - we also call this a Smoke Bush. The leaves are a deep purply-wine colour, and are shown here in a stunning close-up photograph.
Middle Bridge... Fri 11th Jan 2002: Middle Bridge divides the area over the water race into two different gardens. The Dog-Path Garden is the area upstream from the bridge along the water race.
Nicotiana in Flower... Fri 11th Jan 2002: Middle Path is in here somewhere, just past the lower white Nicotianas, and it marks the division between the Dog-Path garden and Middle Border.
Elm Tree & Cornus... Wed 9th Jan 2002: The Golden Elm tree has been a great choice to plant here in the Dog-Path garden. I can see its bright and light green growth from the upstairs house windows.
Yellow Pansy Flowers... Tue 8th Jan 2002: When I'm developing a new area I like to plant in some pansies. These are terribly special ones, grown from a mean spirited seed packet with about ten seeds in it. I guess they must be a fancy new hybrid.
Variegated Japanese Iris... Sun 6th Jan 2002: Here are the clumps of variegated Iris Japonica which I've used to fill in some spaces between the old tree stumps in the Dog-Path Garden.
Gaura Flower... Tue 1st Jan 2002: While the Dog-Path Garden matures I'm happy to fill it up with a mixture of all sorts of plants. Two bargain bin perennials, a Gaura and a purple Verbena are doing really well here.
Pittosporum in the Grass... Tue 1st Jan 2002: Here is one of the Pittosporums which decided to grow in the grass by the Dog-Path Garden. So I've dug a small garden island around it, and put the park bench alongside.
Praying Mantis on Euphorbia Leaf... Tue 1st Jan 2002: My son - who takes the close-up pictures of the garden - is crazy about insects. I guess I'd better let him show off.
Cats in the Dog-Path Garden... Sun 30th Dec 2001: My early photographs of the Dog-Path Garden naturally contain pictures of the early Moosey cats. They helped me so much in my garden, sitting on the stumps and wandering along the paths.
Garden Sculpture... Sat 29th Dec 2001: I use river stones a lot in the garden for edges, and this sculpture is actually a set of left overs from the edge of the Dog-Path Garden. My children have joked about this stylish 'sculpture', and so it stays.
Euphorbia Martini, Flax & Tussock... Thu 27th Dec 2001: At the start of the Dog-Path I've planted a Yellow Wave flax and some tussocks, with a Euphorbia Martini in behind them. Their grouping results in this foliage picture.
Man and Dog... Thu 27th Dec 2001: The rustic garden bench which faces the Dog-Path Garden is enclosed by a Pittosporum and a Cercis Forest Pansy. Taj-dog is waiting patiently for some action. Non-Gardening Partner is more interested in no action...