Aberlady Garden
Garden Coaching
I’ve been working in the Aberlady garden for around 4 years. When I first went to see this garden it was with a view to doing garden coaching with the couple who owned it. Having lived in their house for 25yrs the garden was, like many gardens, a little sparse in places, a lot overgrown in other places, not a lot of colour and very little seasonal changes. They’d inherited an uninspiring garden which didn’t compliment their lovely home or its fabulous setting. With a young family and both working, they had little time to do more than mow the lawn and battle the weeds. When the children grew up they had time to take stock and called me. The original brief was to reduce maintenance, making it easier to manage as they “matured”. We started with some clearing out and replanting. One focal point was dominated by huge Hebes growing up into a Rowan and a crab apple. It was a giant cottage-sized mush of mid-green! Three years later a fabulous wildlife pond, surrounded by subtly colourful planting adds a true focal area to the garden, extending views and vistas down the garden.
Many other areas have been developed over the years, often led by the owners’ desire to improve things that had always bothered them. Surprisingly they changed their minds on low maintenance, finding they wanted to spend more time gardening the garden, now that I’d helped them overcome their fears of doing the wrong thing and armed them with knowledge and skills to be better gardeners. B&B visitors to the house all comment on the fabulous garden!
I am a novice gardener. Sarah has been a great asset to me and to the garden. She has gently taught (never making me feel bad about my lack of knowledge or a job not done!). She has a lovely presence in the garden and interesting ideas. Sarah has helped me to wake up and feel inspired again by the garden. Her knowledge and hard work are always evident. I can't thank her enough. During this Covid Lockdown, I think of Sarah often with enormous gratitude for all that has been achieved. We are just loving the garden.
