Upon my husband Andy and I moving into our first house together, we were both absolutely delighted with it because it was was almost as if our dream had come true. We had dreamed of living in a nice house with a large garden, somewhere on a mountain that overlooked the ocean and here we were in South Wales, now living on the top of a mountain, overlooking the ocean and not only did we have this absolutely wonderful view and great house to be pleased about, we had a large garden.

Living in the United Kingdom at the time, we did not hold out much hope in actually being able acquire what we really wanted, the so called logical dream house, especially being renters, but somehow,someway we managed it. The gardens are quite small in the United Kingdom when comparing them to Canadian gardens, so on a personal basis, the garden alone was something to be extremely happy about and something that made me feel more at home.

We knew the garden needed work and we were okay with that but sitting here now,shaking my head with a silly smile on my face,I can honestly say to portray a mental image of it as it was in the beginning, it was large, indeed there is no doubt about that, but it was completely out of control and in shambles. There were thistles, bramble bushes,weeds and junk just about everywhere in the garden completely covering its existence,however; at first glance I saw more then that. I saw a live canvas waiting to be painted with many different colors and textures.

As we walked outside there was a concrete stairway with two small flight of stairs based in the center. A small concrete patio block lay on one side of the stairs and on the other side, a sloped hill that looked like it had once been used for a garden. Unfortunately,in the beginning I was taking a stab in the dark,simply guessing at what we were really looking at because both areas were badly covered, densely populated with bramble bushes and weeds not to mention the junk piles that lay above them, but that is, once again where my artistic vision proved itself useful I suppose.

14 steps took us up to the lawn itself and upon reaching the top there was a large lawn and a hedge on both sides reaching about 9 feet in height. There was also a small brick tool shed completely covered in ivy, including the entrance. The whole lawn to no big surprise was also covered in bramble bushes,weeds and yet again junk piles. I was somewhat bewildered as to why it was left in such a state but the owner must have read the look on my face because that is when she told me the house had been empty for quite some time and given the fact it was in quite a remote location they felt it unnecessary to fix the lawn.

At the far end of the lawn stood a large oak tree, mistletoe tree and some white pine trees and yet again all were corrupted by the brambles that lay all over them alone with 5 old brush piles that reached roughly 3 feet in height. Looking back it was nothing more than a big,ugly mess!

Right then and there it should have scared us,the garden was nothing more then an eye sore but for some reason it became challenge. Determined, my husband and I both wanting a garden decided to make a pact with one another to go out every day for at least an hour and clean it up.

On the first day we started at the bottom where the concrete slab lay. Spending three long grueling hours in it, huffing and puffing as though it were the only laborious job we had ever done, it seemed like we had made no progress whatsoever but both too stubborn to give up we trudged on.

The second day brought a feeling of accomplishment. Having cleaned up all the brambles and thorns laying on the slab we soon came to realize our hard work had been worthy for we now stood on a lovely stamped concrete patio. My first guess about the patio had been right and the I told you so syndrome rang in Andy’s ear’s for the better part of the night.

I lay awake for quite some time that night envisioning just what I could do with the patio. Add some containers with some nice begonias and Lobelia. Set up a fountain to trickle against the back wall. That would be a start along with some patio chairs, a table and a nice barbecue. Yes that would suit me just fine I thought. But that was just getting ahead of myself, first we had to get on with the other mess,perhaps it was all too much but my stubbornness rang in, that is just silly, one job at a time girl and you will get there!

The third day we began cleaning up the 4 sides of the patio discovering a number of shrubs and roses that were being suffocated by you guessed it, the weeds and brambles.

A week of labor progressed and finally we had gotten rid of all of the frustrating and undesirable growth in that one area, so as you can imagine it was horrible mess to have to clean up!

On the second week we begrudgingly decided to clear the other side of the stairs on the bottom, the worst side. It was slopped and unreasonably covered. For all we knew it may have been nothing but mud under all that mess and being so sloped it would have been very easy to slip and fall if we weren’t careful.

Ripping and tearing out the nasty bramble bushes and thistles we got pricked and cut by the thorns a great many times, however; it was more than worth it once we realized what lay underneath. A beautifully tiered bed, each tier laid with small timber logs intricately placed together to form a small log fence and even more surprising then that were the flowers in it!

Hidden beneath I found Primroses, Heathers, Ericas, Violas, Lobelia, Lilies, Crocosmia, Shasta daisies and miniature roses which were to name but a few all struggling to survive underneath the mass amount of weeds trying to suffocate them but it was quite apparent they were all undoubtedly fighters as they had somehow found a way to exist without the light they so required. Despite everything I was completely and utterly amazed by their resilience, whereas they had been left for so long without being cared for or tended to. Plants have existed for millions of years without us so why I was amazed by this I do not know but for some reason I was,perhaps it was the grander scale of things.

By the end of the second week we had both sides of the stairs cleared and looking spectacular, bringing it to its rightful beauty as it had once been. We spent a lot of time in those two weeks enjoying one another’s company, enjoying the progress we were making together and enjoying the peace the garden was now beginning to offer to us as a couple and as separate individuals.

On the third week we began at the top of the stairs and once again we set out to remove the unwanted weeds. After tediously pulling them out one by one we finally removed all undesirable growth from just above the stairs. Amazingly it revealed the beginning of a walkway once again made of lovely stamped concrete. Digging out the walkway from the soil that had collapsed op top of it we found it went further then we had originally anticipated. It was about 20 feet in length sprawling off to the tool shed, neatly planned with its nice little curves and bends.

On each side lay a 10 by 10 foot bed now revealing new plants such as irises, daffodils, tulips, snowdrops,Scilla, crocuses and tiger lilies. A small acer tree sat on the side just above the patio severely damaged. We trimmed off the dead branches bringing it back to how it should look. It was a lovely little maple that had been cut down numerous times but this little maple refused to die just as miraculously as everything else in this seemingly enchanted garden did.

Surprise after surprise all the way to the end of the garden we found beds and borders, flowers and shrubs. The garden was coming alive, birds chirping,flowers blooming and beauty revealing itself everywhere.

2 months had passed and we finally had it done, the weeds pulled, the ground worked,the trees pruned,the flowers replanted and deadheaded, even the brush cleared. It is very easy to say that we had gotten to know the garden like an old friend who had always been there.

On that last day we stood there for along time holding hands and looking at our accomplishment. The garden that once was had been brought back once again to its full grandeur. We both imagined the amount of time and love the original owner/creator had actually put into the garden which undoubtedly gave us all the more pleasure to have it back to its original state, adding a piece of ourselves to it as well.

As the months went by its beauty flourished, growing in strength and beauty as each day passed. We couldn’t wait for the spring to see the gardens new delights, however; just before the spring came we made a serious decision to move back to Canada. Leaving our garden behind we could only hope that the next tenants would treat it with the respect and care it deserved as we had done.

There is saying in Forest Gump that life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what your going to get and in some ways this is true, however; now a days there are legends and through pure determination if you seek it out, you will find what you are looking for! I had found my caramel center in that garden.

It has now been five years since we discovered the hidden secrets of that garden, which spiritually,mentally and emotionally lead to something so much more and we still find ourselves talking about and wondering how our old friend is doing, our secret garden.

More Stories And Articles By Mystify

A Passage Through Time

The Truth About What It’s Really Like to be an Identical Twin

Save Our Planet

Alone In The Woods

A Bad Reputation

Artistic Spirit

Copyright © 2009 Tanya Kime-Wallace