Gardening is something I got from my grandfather. I remember he used to plant african marigolds when I was a child and he'd put lots of fertilizer down too. They'd grow to have big crowns of the most vibrant yellow and orange flower heads. Seeing these plants grow and produce huge, bright pom-pom flowers fascinated me. I wanted to do the same on my own, but that's not really possible when you're only six.

Then I grew up and went to school, then to university and then another university and many years went by without me ever digging a border. The marigolds died a long time ago and a lack of personal cash, moving often and not having a garden (my dad liked paving) meant I couldn't do much to see them again.

Throughout all these years those marigolds stayed in the back of my mind. When I finished education, got  job and finally settled down, I was able to take stock of where I was and realised that I had a place, an income, a little time and most importantly, I had a small garden.

The garden was grass with several rampant shrubs and climbers and lots of weeds more than anything else. I didn't really have a plan but it was obvious what needed to be done first - create a blank canvas, and from that would come the garden.