Describe your garden.

I have a large garden for an urban site as the house is on a double site. So I have a front garden and a back garden plus a section that goes right through from the front boundary to the back hedge. Much of the side garden is taken up with fruit and vegetables. Gradually the fruit section is growing I added gooseberry bushes last year to the Black and Red Currants, Raspberries and Sunberries – like a loganberry but very good for flavouring stewed apple. With five apple trees and a plum tree we need a large freezer to keep all the harvest.

Like any Lake District garden on acid soil I inherited Azaleas and Rhododendrons and I have added several more. The challenging part of the garden is the herbaceous border, nearly impossible to keep it looking good throughout the year. Among the usual plants like veronicas and campanulas I have a very pretty Galega – Goats Rue - with clusters of pea like flowers. I also rely on Penstemons to give colour for a long time.

What improvements have you made?

Any garden is always being improved. I planted a wisteria about 20 years ago and it is a superb feature for the short time it is in bloom. I also created a pond and a rockery at the same time from the spoil we dug out. The pond immediately attracted frogs and newts and all the beetles and insects associated with water.

What makes your garden unique?

The unique feature of my garden is the ‘Meadow’. I had a large lawn which had been cut regularly for years but it hadn’t been fertilised or had weeds suppressed, so I decided to create an oval meadow in the middle of the lawn. It is now full of flowers, oxeye daisies, yellow rattle, red and white clover, knapweed and particularly yellow hawkbits. I had a real surprise when an orchid appeared which must have laid dormant for 20 years. I cut it once a year in autumn.

How much time do you spend in the garden?

I probably spend 5 or 6 hours a week in the garden but in addition I have a gardener who does 3 hours a week all year round. The garden looks immaculate in Spring but then the weeds begin to grow!

What's your favourite thing about gardening?

I love growing things from seed and propagating from cuttings. I have a greenhouse and a heated propagating bed which helps to get things growing. It creates a lot of work as they all have to be pricked out and potted up before being planted in the garden.

Have you got a top tip?

Don’t waste your grass cuttings, they make a very good weed suppressing mulch particularly around fruit bushes.