Letters from the garden

The slope behind the house used to shed mud onto the patio every storm. They regraded it, built three low walls and planted the steps. It held through the whole of last winter.

The design fee felt like a lot until we saw the drawings. Every plant was named and placed, and the build price did not move once we signed.

What we wanted was a garden that looked good in February, not just June. It does. The hellebores are out under the maple as I write this.

The same two people were on site every day of the build, and the site was swept every evening. The neighbours asked for their number.

Deer had eaten everything we planted for years. The new planting has been left alone, and the fern bank by the drive has filled in.

We sat out there on New Year's Day with the fire on. I did not think we would ever say that about this house.

The test was the atmospheric river in November. Water went where the plan said it would, and the back step stayed dry.

They talked us out of the lawn. Two years on, it is the part of the house visitors ask about.

We had lived here eleven years without seeing the water from the kitchen. That is the whole review.