Tiny place plants

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 5, Issue 25, 17 November 1987, Page 10

Tiny place plants

Cont'dfrom p. 6 elder ly gentleman who lived in one of the mews in the heart of London. I believe he used to look after the horses for one of the brewery firms. He had a tiny cottage adjoining the stables and his back yard was a paved or concreted area only a few yards in each direction and the whole thing was surrounded by a high brick wall. Right in the centre of this yard stood the 'privvy' - not a tree, nor a blade of grass in sight. Hardly the setting for a beautiful garden. From old used bricks he had built a series of solid brick stands all around the walls, with an edge of bricks to form trays at

various levels. These trays were filled with earth which he must have found from somewhere and planted with a great variety of these small plants. Plants grew in abundance in the brick trays, spilling over to trail down the sides of the stands. Plants grew from gaps left between the bricks. In the walls surrounding this yard plants were growing from every little niche and cascaded from hanging baskets pegged to the walls. Even the 'privvy' as he called it was completely covered in rambling roses grown in some kind of container and the whole was a beautiful brilliant summer garden. A riot of perfume and colour. All in a back yard a few yards square.