This year, I’ve decided to embrace that opportunity and begin a new series, The Imperfect Gardener.

Throughout my career, I’ve designed and built gardens for other people, creating spaces that I hope their owners will love and nurture for years to come. But increasingly, I’ve realised that what I really want to create are gardens for gardeners. Not necessarily people who already consider themselves gardeners, but those who have a gardener lying dormant within them, perhaps overwhelmed by the decisions, expectations and apparent rules of gardening.

Because creating a garden shouldn’t be about getting everything right. It should be about discovering what makes a garden perfectly, imperfectly yours.

I’m 45, and I’ve been in my own forever garden for just two years. There are some established plants, but much of it remains a relatively blank canvas. I hope to be gardening here well into my dotage, so I’m thinking not just about what I want now, but about the garden I will want to tend in twenty or thirty years.

Slowly, I’m beginning to populate my plot with the plants that bring me joy. Wisteria, clematis, roses, herbs, dahlias, vegetables, cut flowers and great drifts of perennials. There will be shady corners, sunny borders and something beautiful to look at from my kitchen window in every season.

After more than twenty years working with plants, I’m looking forward to giving myself permission to experiment. In my professional life, gardens often need to be delivered as complete spaces, ready for their owners to enjoy. My own garden can be different. It can evolve, change its mind and occasionally get things wrong.

And I’d like to share that journey with you.

Winter’s imperfect gardening task: Weed, assess and mulch.

Before the winter weather really sets in, take some time to get amongst your borders. Remove the weeds that have been quietly making themselves at home and look carefully at what’s growing.

Where are the gaps? Which plants have flourished? Which have struggled? And where might you introduce something new?

Once you’ve cleared the ground, mulch around your established plants with well-rotted manure or compost. This will improve the soil, help retain moisture if we face another hot summer, and give your plants a healthier start next spring. Keep mulch away from plant crowns.

Don’t feel you have to cut everything back. Seedheads and standing stems can provide food and shelter for wildlife, and a little winter structure for you to enjoy.

Most importantly, don’t try to finish your garden by the end of the year.

A garden is never really finished, and perhaps that’s the most wonderful thing about it.

Lucie Giselle Ponsford
Creative Director & Founder/Head Garden Designer.
Landline: 01844 396 881
Mob: 07737286784
Offices: Sanderum Centre, 38, Oakley Road, Chinnor, OX39 4TW
www.mimosagardendesign.com/
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