When Ann Gaynor and her publisher husband Bill moved to their new Wilton property in 2015, there was little sign of a garden and not a tree to be seen. A clay base and rocky fill meant it was difficult to create garden beds. "There was just a lawn and steep banks," Gaynor recalls. "On the plus side, the site was north facing, had some shelter and some very sunny areas."
The vision was to create a food forest, so Bill set to work making retaining walls, a couple of gardens, and a terrace or two.
Fruit trees came next: quinces, crabapples, lemons, lime, apple, peach, pear, and fig. Gaynor comments: "They've mostly done well, but the pear, quince, and crabapple have all been fantastic."
The plan changed when an extended spell of illness forced Gaynor to take six months off her nursing job. Whilst convalescing, she happened upon Cut Flower Garden – Grow, Harvest and Arrange Stunning Seasonal Blooms by Erin Benzakein. "I loved that book so much that I followed up with a six-week online course."
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