the smelly garden...?

It's a dilemma. What to call something.

The Scented Garden at Cambridge

Over at Cambridge University Botanic Gardens they have an area dedicated to scented plants - a scented garden.

Want one! Great to smell and great for insects.

Herbs. Roses. Magnificent buddleias. Honeysuckle. Sweet peas. Wallflowers. Gravel paths. Hot summer sun.

So, the long process of creating a garden for plants that smell began.

I started by 'lasagne gardening' with layers of cardboard, organic matter topped with chippings. But woe is me - couch grass loved it. Positively flourished. A grass garden? That's a lawn. And the hens thought they'd help by scattering all the chippings everywhere so you couldn't tell where paths were supposed to be. Some help you lot are! You may as well talk to yourself.

So, it stood moribund as I sulked in a corner.

'Lasagne Gardening'

But sulking got me nowhere so I started again.

I have to admit publicly here that I sprayed the lawn where the new garden would emerge.  Not pleased about this. But its out there now.

Rotavate.

Then onto the best bit with drill and screws and spirit level and saw and big hammer - the path edging began. Big hammer, hot day, man without t shirt. How come it wasn't the Poldark moment I thought it was going to be? If only we could see ourselves as others do.

'I've seen better muscle tone on a rice pudding'.

But undeterred I created lovely sinuous curves and interconnecting paths.

'Sinuous'

And that's how far we have got. Soil to be barrowed in; substrate to raise path levels before permeable membrane then gravel. Then another best bit - planting.

But back to my initial question.

What to call it?

It began as 'The Scented Garden'. But its not in the centre. No good.

Then 'The Fragrant Garden'. But that belongs with a gardening tradition I don't feel part of. I could imagine BBC TV presenters like Rachel De Thame floating there, ethereal, balletic with one of those open whicker baskets collecting herbs. Or Monty Don having a Fragrant Garden with Nigel lolling along behind carrying that damn ball.

Lads from Clifton don't have Fragrant Gardens do they?

It was Sally who sorted it. 'The Smelly Garden'.

Gotcha!!