Let's start at the very beginning ....

When I moved in in early 2012, the garden was very small (it still is!) consisting of a small lawn which was a pain to cut due to its slope and having walls all around it and two big hedges. The front garden seemed to consist mostly of prickly shrubs which very soon got out of hand. I was working on my PhD and going walking most weekends so the garden wasn't top priority. This gradually changed and I decided that the lawn had to go - it was primarily a mud patch in the winter. I'd had a shed base put in at one corner but the shed has never actually materialised. I got a load of sleepers from the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway - 15 inch gauge ones which I can just about lift and started my garden renovations.

The first target was to get rid of the lawn and gravel the area and add a couple of borders.

Eventually the lawn was cleared and the gravel spread. There were now borders at the edge but these needed work and so I started growing tubs and a few pots. By late 2016, the basic layout was complete just in time for my 60th birthday tea!

Earlier in the summer, Eskdale held an Open Garden event which included a plant stall. At this event, I bought my first heuchera - I had no idea what it was but I liked the bronze foliage - and a Continus (smoke tree) also with bronze foliage. It wasn't until the following year I discovered that there was more than one sort of Heuchera and that Continus was also known as a smoke tree. That was where it started!

Well that was the start. Since then I've made many changes and learnt a lot. I've also collected over 100 heucheras - but more on them to follow.