The Ark is surrounded by gardens, which bring joy with their various ‘rooms’ which wrap around the church from the east to west. Essentially a cottage garden, best suited to the church’s architecture and materials.
As with all gardens, they are founded on trial and error, with constant maintenance dilligence and experiment, one reaps the never ending rewards and pleasure.
The seasons, though ‘blurred’ at the edges these days, bring distinct states of mind to the gardener. Summer is about survival, autumn is about discovering the bones of the garden as foliage rapidly changes colours before dropping to create the carpet of ground cover, insulating and enriching the soil through decay. Winter brings dormancy and a lull, before the burst of Spring with its renewal, excitement and riot of colour.
AUTUMN brings a flurry of activity pruning the last of summer’s flora, composting, mulching, finding spaces for more perennials to delight the following summer. A multitude of seeds are planted and eagerly watched over as the process of germination begins. Which bulbs to order, and how many of each variety, a laborious task requiring patience and dedication, however it is a pursuit that is entirely a labour of love and enhances well being.
