A garden can not escape its place.The geography, geology and climate are givens. Even if (as we shall see later) you cheat the place - you are only cheating because of the place and the gardener's understanding of the place. This blog post is by way of some detail so that you can understand the rest of the story that follows.
Design is enabled by constraint. This may sound contrary. However the imagination is often triggered by overcoming problems, providing for what HAS to be done and the inner glow of finding a neat solution. I am willing to make some mistakes in this process- trying things that may be on-the-edge of possible(as long as my pocket can take it). This is part of the cynefin process.
Climate and Location
Bronceris, in the village of Menai Bridge, is on a spur, with an elevation of 40m above sea level. The sea, albeit a 150m strait, is only 300m away. The ground slopes downward on three sides.The larger part of the garden is due South of the house - a southern slope. The bottom of the garden is about 5m below the house. There is a slight slope from West to East. There are, as I will show, some points of man-made alterations at geology’s changes of level - constructed for horticultural and aesthetic interest. Thus although the garden is downhill - much of it is seems quite flat.
Bronceris is 53°N - which coupled with its maritime location means a cool temperate garden- Zone 9 - which allows a lot of plants to grow outside that can not survive elsewhere in the UK. Rainfall is a satisfactory 1020-1050mm a year. We have mild wet winters - with only a few nights below 0°, and mild wet summers with only a few days above 25°. It is windy though. The prevailing wind is from the wet southwest - gusts of 80kph are not uncommon - but the worst is when we get winter winds from the east which are dry, depressing and sometimes destructive.
Geology and Soil
The geological map of Anglesey is like a 1960‘s psychedelic poster. Bron Ceris is at a point where two types of bedrock border. Both are very old, pre-cambrian rock. These are named Gwna, and the rock that is found in the garden- Anglesey Blue Schist. Anglesey blue schists are “rocks that include metabasites containing a metamorphic mineral assemblage that shows that they have been subjected to unusually high pressures, such as those found deep within a subduction zone.” (GeoMon). In practice schist boulders are brittle, shapeless, and hard to form into useful bits of stone - far from the ideal garden stone. Therefore, as you will find, I have had to introduce some alien stones into the garden for a variety of purposes. However Schist is what I have - and it is very, very close to the surface - with many natural outcrops around the property.
Consequently the soil is very stony. We have a good organic layer - which I intend to sustain with annual mulching, and in most places another 200-300mm of good topsoils leading to a very variable depth of subsoil (0-500mm) before hitting bedrock. The soil is the acid side on neutral.
The geology provides wonderful opportunity and constraint. The garden is bound by its place. You dig and you find stones. The garden’s beds are raised and edged by this native stone. it doesn’t make for clean lines and straight edges -an inescapable factor in the design.
