Tending a garden is a cyclical process. A series of loops that are mostly without a break so that, as the seasons roll one into the next, you return to where you started. A place that is familiar and every year more so, for the knowledge of the last revolution and the ones that came before. With every cycle our relationship with the garden deepens, we become wiser and better able to predict the next move, but every season is different and we must remain open to change. The impact of a cold winter, for instance, and the repair of unexpected damage, or simply the inevitable change that comes with evolution.

The garden here has grown by about a third in the last two years, with the extension of the Sand Garden and the bank above it, beyond the barns. Last summer was their first full growing season and the first revolution of getting to know the new ground. To stay on track with the maintenance of the additional garden we took on one extra day of help a week, so that between them John and Johnnie do four days a week. Now that the days are once again getting longer, Huw and I make up the difference at the weekends and in any time we can find. It is a carefully calculated operation and, with the knowledge that we need to start the big cutback in the main garden in the last two weeks of February, the Sand Garden areas had been cleared of spent growth and weeded by mid-February. Bar a final prune of any winter damage to tender sages and phlomis, once we feel the worst of the winter is over, we are done there until things start growing.