Home

The tiny hot plot

Gillian Carson has been lucky enough to conjure up the hot plot of her dreams in her small back garden near Bath. When she arrived a couple of years ago, the plot wasn’t so pretty, but thanks to a stunning design by Katherine Roper, the walled sunken garden has become a sweet little potager where Gillian can grow fruit and veg for her family.

Gillian lives in an Arts & Crafts house, so Katherine’s brief was to create a plot which looked as though it had always been there, with large square beds housing as many different crops as Gillian could cram into the plot.

Gillian has also used a number of fun planting techniques to jazz up her potager, such as these alternating coloured-lettuces, below.

And the veg are always grown in very tight, neat lines, which matches the geometric base of the design.

There isn’t enough space in such a small garden for an orchard, so instead Gillian has trained pears as cordons, peach trees as fans and apples as espaliers.

This plot also exhibits the golden rule of alternating differnt heights and textures for interest, with these thick, fat-leaved cabbages striking a pose next to feathery pea foliage and delicate geraniums.

And Gillian has even made her own labels so her children know what each vegetable is in the garden.

Anyone reading Gillian’s blog will notice she’s a little bit obsessed with Victorian gardening, and this lovely bespoke coldframe fits beautifully in, along with a traditional clay rhubarb forcer and glass cloches.

If you’re inspired by Gillian’s garden, have a look at her site, My Tiny Plot, or if you want more information on the brains behind the garden, scamper over to Katherine Roper’s site.

Related Posts

3 Responses

  1. Lewisham Gardens

    I do love Gillian’s blog.

    She takes beautiful photos, and seems to get so much done- family, her site, her blog and a gorgeous productive garden.

    Reply
  2. Mark Willis

    That plot of hers looks like just the sort of thing I like. My own plot is an attempt to make something a little bit similar… Perhaps not as artistic or good-looking as Gillian’s though! The combination of veg and flowers works really well.

    Reply
  3. Gillian

    Thanks for the retrospective! It’s nice to look back on how the plot was designed. Best wishes, mtp.

    Reply

Leave a Reply