Some pictures from a garden near Stow on the Wold, Gloucestershire. We have been working on this site for about six years. 

A quincunx of Betula jacquemontii in front of the house. These are tricky to establish but well worth it.

Winter 2007 in the fountain garden. 

The lake looks perfect in this picture. In fact it was almost a marsh with over 1.2m of silt and no depth of water to support any type of flora or fauna.

We decided to dredge it. The dirty undertaking released tons of liquid silt that was removed from the lake and stored in the nearby field to dry. The planning process was detailed and long winded but the finished result is a lake with deep clear water stocked with brown trout, roach, bream and other fish and native plants. It was a wonderful sight to see the fish jumping in the summer. The swans came back in October.

The vegetable garden was constructed before we started work on the lake.

John, Head Gardener, produces a fine crop of Dahlias.