Dog-Path Garden in Autumn
My first Border Collie dog Rusty loved to come with me when I was photographing the garden. Each autumn we'd take lots of trips around the Dog-Path Garden, where the autumn trees and shrubs were changing colour almost daily. What a beautiful season!
The Dog-Path Garden in Autumn
The above picture was taken from the back lawn, facing the water race (which can't be seen) and the Dog-Path Garden beyond. The autumn trees had been growing for about eight years.
Back of the Dog-Path Garden
Then we would wander over the bridge and come out on the back of the border. In this early photograph you'll see a new garden development underneath the limbed-up Pittosporum - bare space for some new Camellias. A scruffy patch of Iris confusa used to grow here.
The Dog-Path Garden in Autumn
Late autumn is possibly the time when the Dog-Path Garden is at its most photogenic. The Dogwood and Cotinus trees have turned bright red by now. Fallen leaves may need raking up, but they form a beautiful carpet. See what you think!
Autumn in the Dog-Path Garden - 2009
The back of the Dog-Path Garden has always showed off in Autumn, when the different colours and textures of the shrubs and grasses form great contrasts underneath the Golden Elm. It's one of the first trees to change colour.
Autumn in the Dog-Path Garden - 2004
The character of this garden area has changed so much since it was first dug and filled with plants. Gradually perennials have been shifted out and the garden is turning into a real shrubbery - and grassery!
Invisible Tree Stumps
Self sown Pittosporums did sheltered a lot of the initial plantings, but gradually they've been limbed up or chopped down, to let more light in. The original tree stumps are still here, but you'd never guess where.