The Wattle Woods - Early Days
Like other areas in my garden, my initial plantings in the Wattle Woods became less and less suitable, as the trees I'd planted in the lawns and borders grew. The edges of the Wattle Woods were initially quite sunny, and I successfully grew irises and roses therein. Alas, the increasing shade from spring on began to affect things. Plants started sulking and losing their oomph.
cotinus and miscanthus
The top of the Wattle Woods had a special history. In the Christmas of 1997, midsummer, my friend Judith Anne decided to shift to England, and I moved her whole garden out here. I chopped out unnamed heritage roses, dragged out rhododendrons, hostas, and bergenias. No-one believed that her plants would survive their summer shift. Ha! They were wrong - at first. But over the years the roses suffered, the rhododendrons died, and the Hostas were moved. Now only the Ajuga lives on.
Breaking news!
Breaking news in the winter of 2006! We had a serious snow storm and whole Wattles broke under the weight of the wet snow. So a huge area of the Wattle Woods had to be replanted, But this was a great excuse for new paths and new shrubs and trees - a beautiful golden Pseudopanax, a red Maple, a lacy leafed Gleditsia, a purple leafed Prunus, some Hebes and roses.
Working in the Wattle Woods
Then the old plum tree which had provided such beautiful white spring blossom died very slowly - possibly because someone (me) planted the tenacious rambling rose Alberic Barbier to grow through it. Not one of my successes. The large shrub roses struggled for sunlight, and even the supposedly tough Rugosas started sulking.
The Wattle Woods
One of the saddest demises in the Wattle Woods has been that of the wriggling little stream and small ponds lower down behind Pond Cottage. The water course is still there, complete with little footbridges, but the water supply has not been running for a while now. Originally it was provided by a water wheel, then later by two beautiful orange river pumps. Maybe someday they'll be fixed and the water can flow again. I really loved it.
Escher in the Wattle Woods
Be careful wandering on the paths - some will have been reshaped since your last visit, and one main path had to be decommissioned, due to excessive shrub growth. You wouldn't want to wander off into the greenery and get lost...