I am an artist designer and have spent 28 years running a cottage industry which manufactured my design products. This left me little time to really enjoy something which gives me deep satisfaction - growing plants. In 2002 I decided to take a sabbatical, one which my husband nominated 'The Year of the Garden', and I believe it has been one of the most tranquil and satisfying years of my life.

I have been motivated to make some inroads on improving my clay soil with added spent mushroom compost and garden compost, and I am trying to see the garden in broad sweeps rather than homing in on individual delights. However growing things is my true joy. To watch seeds which I have harvested from my own plants germinating or to raise a multitude of new ones from cuttings is so satisfying. From one plug plant bought from a garden centre last February I took enough cuttings to fill two hanging baskets with tumbelina petunias. Now that is economy!

I have no special favourites among plants as I am constantly seduced by their shapes and colours to include something new. I find it difficult to be firm with self seeding plants when they produce a great swathe of foxgloves or campanulas without my permission. If plants turn up where they are not supposed to be I generally leave them to show their stuff before I make a life or death decision. One problem with my design background is that plants have to perform well for me. I constantly seek perfection and cannot tolerate the mediocre, but gardening instills patience and the need to bide my time, for so much with plants is out of my control; a good stress reducer.

During this last year along with my husband I have created a mini woodland walk along our north facing boundary by reducing the width of an old hedge by two thirds. At one point of this we built a paved pergola with seating which has given us great pleasure during the summer. We enlarged existing borders by 100% and completely replanted them including many new herbaceous specimens, bulbs and ferns. Due to the success of the first pergola we built another one around a new potting shed and planted that up with English climbing roses in the autumn. These are only three of the projects which we enjoyed last year. Roger followed me around all year with his camera and gave me a wonderful personal illustrated monthly record of our gardening year for Christmas.

I have already instituted my plans for 2003 with two new electric propagators already full of seed trays and have build a conservatory. Eagerly awaited is my allocation of seeds from the RHS and I am enjoying the gradual awakening of my constantly changing garden.