Back in 1982, Marie Newton decided to take up gardening as a hobby.
Now 37 years later, Marie and her husband Tony, both 71, had transformed the small patch of land around their home in the industrial heartlands of the Black Country into a stunning oasis that is filled with different colours as the seasons change.
Over the years, the couple has spent over £15,000 adding over 3,000 plants, including 450 azaleas, 120 Japanese maples and 15 juniper blue stars.
As spring changes to summer, summer to autumn and autumn to winter, the garden, in Walsall, West Mids., remains filled with different colours and it is nicknamed ‘four seasons’ on account of its year-round appeal.
Now, the space has previously won awards, including Britain’s Best Garden and it even attracts tourists from all over the world.
The couple, who have four grown-up children and four grandchildren, spend two hours a day lovingly maintaining the plants and bushes.
Marie said: ‘There are over 3,000 plants in our garden, so many I can’t even count.
‘It’s an all-season garden so in autumn you see brilliant reds, oranges and yellows and in the spring the colours are equally as vivid and vibrant.
‘Autumn is my most favourite seasons for the garden.
‘There will be azalea and Acer leaves along with the evergreen conifers.
‘It has been very satisfying to use so many skills and to have done every task ourselves.
‘All but two of all the plants in our garden have been planted by us.
‘What is rather pleasing is an aerial photograph appears to show the face of an owl in the garden. This was never intended but a very lovely accident.’
Old pictures from the 1980s show just how much work the couple have done to transform their muddy lawn and broken rockery into the wondrous creation it is today.
As the garden has grown, it’s even featured on several unofficial tourist trails in the Black Country and they estimate about 14,000 people from 48 different countries have come to visit it.
Marie added: ‘Some Chinese students came to visit our garden and told us that it was used as an example in one of their lectures.
‘We spend around two hours a day in the garden but it can be more or less depending on the weather.
‘There is always something to do or a flower or shrub to tend. It has become quite an obsession.
‘We have grown some of the flowers ourselves from the seeds that have dropped from the other flowers.’
Retired GP Tony added: ‘First we made it child-friendly for our kids but as the years went by we moved on to planting and growing our own flowers and plants.
‘There has been a lot of trial and error to get the garden way it is now.
‘A lot of our plants are now 30 years old or more.
‘We’ve got a vast amount of colour and plants all year around. We try and add to the garden every year but at this time of year it is simply glorious.’
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source https://metro.co.uk/2019/10/17/couple-spends-37-years-15000-transforming-beautiful-garden-now-attracts-thousands-tourists-10934781/
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