A Garden That Tells a Story

“Our garden is a fusion of Japanese design principles, British heritage planting with some Ukrainian influence and Doodle Art. Every feature, plant and pathway reflects our journey as a family and our belief in the beauty of connections, creativity and nature.”
— Alena

Key features:

  • The Tea House:

    A centrepiece of the garden, and the starting point of the whole design. Combining traditional Japanese tea house idea with Sam’s doodle art and my vision, making it a joyful and serene space.

  • The Art Studio:

    Nestled within the garden, this studio is where Sam creates his art, blending imagination and nature.

  • The Kitchen Garden:

    Around the House, vegetable patches thrive alongside rows of heritage fruit trees, such as Egremont Russet Apples, Conference Pears, and the ancient Medlar tree.

  • Mindfulness Space:

    A Zen-inspired rock garden surrounded by lavender, and calming sculptures, designed for reflection and peace.

  • Heritage Woodland

    Featuring old Oak Trees and Blue Bells, with new planted Bluebells, Foxgloves, Primroses, the unique Snake’s Head Fritillary, together with some Hawthorn and Guelder-Rose

  • Pathways with Stories:

    Each path represents a river that reflects us. are patterned with Ukrainian embroidery motifs, guiding visitors through the cultural narrative of the garden.

History

Sam always had a dream to doodle over a big white mansion, I always had a dream about a garden. When we got our house in December 2019, Sam got his dream property, and I got this garden. Almost 4 acre land with 2 alpacas, lots of geese and my dream to have a garden… For someone who never had a garden or did any gardening except in my own head, it was beyond overwhelming. I just didn’t know what to do or where to start.

Lots of the parts were very neglected: half dying fruit trees, fields of stinging nettles, pieces of old pots scattered everywhere, huge stacks of rotten tree cuts, overgrown greenery flat covered the pond completely. Other part was proper wild serving as a home for 2 alpacas that loved to spit on you and give you a stare that made you feel unwelcome, and geese that would wake the whole neighbourhood at 5 o’clock in the morning because they needed feeding. So each morning we would put on the wellies and drag ourselves outside to go out to feed them. I was thinking to myself, is this what my life would be now? Farm life was definitely not on my or Sam’s dream list, so very soon we decided that alpacas will be much happier if they lived in the bigger family of their species and the same with geese. We went to visit them a few times and I think we’ve made the right decision.

Soon Covid happened and with a huge list of restrictions, being outside and keeping distance was the only way to see other people. This is how we started our “Wednesday Club” gardening group with Sam’s Grandparents and Parents. Each Wednesday we would meet and do gardening and spend time together. All 2020 we were tidying up the garden and mowing the grass. And I kept thinking and dreaming what this garden could look like and how I can do it. I was watching the seasons go past, observing what’s growing and how things change. My favourite thing to do was to sit next to the wind chime and listen how the wind is playing with it.

And then the same in 2021. I was making plans and maintaining the garden together with “Wednesday Club”.

Only in 2022 I came up with the idea of having a Japanese Garden and all the puzzle pieces started coming together.