On the edge of Girvan sits a cottage that in summer is covered in climbing roses and surrounded by delphiniums and sweet peas. Dahlias and zinnias grow in cheerful profusion in pots at the front door and water lilies open their petals in a raised pond.

Lilies and lavender perfume the air and strawberries, currants of all hues and vegetables including leeks and broccoli, thrive in raised beds.

Sitting on a bench in the sunny front garden, surrounded by scented pinks and pots where the pretty flowers of rhodohypoxis bloom, its hard to believe that just five years ago this whole garden was covered in brambles and nettles and that the cottage itself was almost derelict.

In a remarkably short time, Ann and John McGinnis have worked their magic on the place, transforming the cottage into a beautiful home and taming the garden.

Scottish Gardener:

“We had to bring in a JCB to skim off the brambles and of course it took the top soil with it,” says Ann.

What was left was almost pure sand, a free-draining layer that they have enriched with home made compost and manure from local stables and farms and which now supports a surprisingly wide range of plants.

Trilliums and erythroniums, both woodland plants, thrive in spring and roses, another species that prefers heavy soil, grow in profusion.

The secret lies in what the plants are fed, a liquid made from comfrey, gathered from the lane outside the cottage, and soaked in a bucket.

“It is very smelly but it is really effective,” says Ann.

“In fact we’ve had so much growth that I’ve cut back from a 1:20 dilution to 1:40.”

When they moved to Girvan from the village of Barr, Ann brought with her a few campanulas from her old garden. Those few have now multiplied, seeding themselves into almost every bed and border where they are mostly allowed to grow unchecked.

“I never use a hoe, otherwise I would lose these self-seeded plants and in fact the whole garden is ‘no dig’ and it seems to work.”

Scottish Gardener:

Sea Breezes
Here in south west Scotland, with only a wheat field between the cottage and the beach, frosts are usually rare, although last winter proved to be the exception. Wind however is ever-present and salt-laden blasts not only flatten plants in the borders but they burn young foliage, checking growth and blasting blossom before it has a chance to open.

Into the most sheltered corner of the garden, Ann and John have squeezed apple and cherry trees along with rhododendrons and hydrangeas, where they have romped away, producing dense and luxuriant growth. Clematis armandii and Clematis montana scramble over a shed, clothing it in flowers early in the year and blackthorn and crinodendron also grow here, along with several larger forms of campanula, which reach an astonishing 2.5m.

This area is screened from the rest of the garden by a trellis covered in fragrant sweet peas. Ann starts these off in the greenhouse in October and plants them out in early spring when they are already almost one metre tall.

“I grow them this way so that they start flowering as early as possible,” she says.

One bed in front of the house is devoted to hot colours and here scarlet Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’ rises from amidst tangerine geums and small orange-coloured poppies. Lupins are a favourite and they grow throughout the garden, mostly in blues and purples. There are also many varieties of hardy geranium and of salvias, including the pink and white-flowered Salvia ‘Hot Lips.’ John takes cuttings of these and of many other plants in the garden, while Ann saves seed from her favourite perennials.

Other plants arrived along with the landscapers who came to work on the house and lay the paths. “They’d turn up with stone troughs and sinks, that I’ve filled with alpines, and with flowers that they’d found in other gardens and I’m still trying to identify some of these ‘mystery’ plants,” says Ann.

The cottage sits at the heart of the plot and the garden flows around it on all sides. Seating areas have been placed to catch the sun, from the first rays of the morning until the sky turns orange as the sun sinks in the evening.

A huge ‘Kiftsgate’ rose grows alongs the full length of the back garden and it has proved to be indestructible..

“For a while there were cows in the field and they ate everything except the rose.”

The entire garden is netted against rabbits and further netting around the raised beds provides protection from carrot fly and cabbage white butterflies.

“The netting also provides protection from the wind. I don’t think the broccoli would have made it through Storm Hector without it,” says Ann.

This yer has covered the top of the netted cage around the strawberries with a layer of clear polythene.

“Last year heavy rain turned the strawberries to mush. The polythene should protect them and help them to ripen earlier too.”

Scottish Gardener:

Comfrey Feed
​Comfrey makes a potassium-rich liquid feed for use around the garden. It is particularly good for tomatoes.

To make it collect comfrey leaves. Remove the stems and flowers then chop up the leaves, packing them into a bucket. Weigh them down with a brick then fill the container with water and seal with a tightly-fitting lid.

After three or four weeks the leaves will have produced a dark brown liquid. Strain this off and dilute by at least 1:10 - more if the liquid is very dark - and use as a weekly feed on flowers, containers and in the vegetable garden.

 

GARDEN PROFILE
Owners: Ann and John McGinnis
Where: Girvan
Style: Colourful and productive cottage garden.
Features: Flower beds, fruit trees, pond and raised veg beds.