Here are some more photos of my parents' garden in England taken this summer. I have described before how they have combined the English planting methods - creating herbacious and perennial borders in which no soil is visible - with ideas inspired by Spanish courtyard gardens that they had seen when visiting that country. The back garden is a small patch of ground perhaps 25 yards square. He is divided it up into rectangular areas that are either fully planted beds, or paved with flagstones and brick and dotted with large terracotta plantpots. There is no lawn here.

It is now about four years since it was first planted. The plants are maturing and as a result the amount of work need for upkeep is minimal. The plants just grow and block out the weeds. My parents are now at a stage in life when they cannot do any heavy lifting or hours of work gardening in week. This garden is now at a level where they hire someone to come in once in the spring to romove weeds from between the flagstones and any visible in the beds and generally tidy it up . Then it just grows and looks beautiful. With perhaps the occasional afternoon of deadheading, nothing more is done until the autumn when he will come in and cut down the perennials, prune the shrubs and again remove any visible weeds. I was commandeered for a couple of deadheading sessions in my visit!

Those who might have seen past articles about this garden will see how it is matured and changed in just a short time.

Anyway, here are some photographs (some, as you will see, taken before the dead heading was complete!).