Plant a Country Garden

Consider the headline of the text. Then read the text to find out:

- the image of a true country garden in the author’s point of view;

- the examples of rural homes;

- the best place for growing food crops;

- the author’s experience in plant growing.

In many parts of Britain there are long waiting lists for allotments, yet a great number of productive gardens have been lost as former farmhouses, cottages and buildings have been sold and the land around them put down to grass, spacious parking areas and patios with perhaps a few tubs of flowers. I long to see some of this land used as it was until 40-50 years ago, for growing vegetables and fruit with flower borders brimful of bloom and usually a few chickens and a hive or two of bees about the place. That's a true cottage garden rather than the chocolate box image created by romantic artists.

I could take you to any number of rural homes, converted into one house from two or three cottages, where the surrounding land has been made into one block, providing ample scope for a good-sized garden even after making way for a double or triple garage, roomy play area for the children and space for sitting out for al fresco meals and relaxing. After grass and rubbish has been cleared there is often very good soil that has been cultivated and nourished with farmyard manure over many years.

There is great enthusiasm at present for growing vegetables in containers and this can be very helpful if you have a small backyard or plot. However most crops will grow far more successfully when planted direct into the ground so if possible, avoid tubs other than perhaps for tomatoes placed against a warm, south-facing wall. For me the most important part of any garden is the part where food crops will be grown. Where possible this should be in an open sunny position, away from trees that can take light and whose roots will compete for nutrients in the soil. There should also be shelter from cold winds or you may need to put up a windbreak.

In a country garden I like to see wooden fences and gates, rustic frames and archways to support climbing plants and rustic benches for sitting out. Gravel and brick look good for paths, which will blend in much more quickly if low-growing plants are put in to spill over and soften the edges.

I grow a lot of plants to attract wildlife. Evergreen shrubs give colour in the garden all year, privacy for sitting outside, shelter from cold winds, nesting sites and roosting places for the birds. I made two informal ponds where frogs very soon arrived to breed, birds drink and bathe in the shallow edges and ladybirds, hoverflies and other aphid -eating insects are attracted by patches of the poached egg flower limnanthes. Tall plants of common fennel are another of their favourites, while lavender, thyme and marjoram are among herbs that also attract bees and other pollinating insects. A true country garden should not be too tidy a place, but have informal areas where flowers such as the Welsh poppy are allowed to self-seed in a random manner, small creatures can hide in climbing plants or ground cover and you can sit, cast care away, breathe in the scent of the flowers and watch bees, butterflies and birds.

(Simon Devin “Home Farmer”, April 2010)

Practice 1. Look through the text to find out who this text is intended for:

1) general readers;

2) students in agronomy;

3) professional agronomists.

Practice 2. Re-read the text and concentrate on discovering the author’s main idea. Select the statement which best expresses the author’s main idea.

1. Growing vegetables in containers can be very helpful if you have a small backyard or plot.

2. In many parts of Britain there are long waiting lists for allotments.

3. A true country garden is far from the chocolate box image created by romantic artists.