Pete Calderwood from West Yorkshire won our October join prize – a beehive composter
|
| Peter's garden
|
|
| Pete at home
|
'We have a patio at the top, which is my good lady's territory, then a barbecue area followed by the (lawned) area with a pond and small waterfall at the top.'
Pete says: 'Thank you for the prize of the beehive composter! I was surprised and delighted to win it. At first it was a little worrying because I didn't read your email correctly and thought I had won a beehive. Can't stand honey!
Overlooking the Aire valley
'About me. Im retired, 70 next year and live in a semi-detached in Riddlesden, West Yorkshire. I have a reasonably-sized garden on three layers, with sloping grass down to fields and overlooking part of the Aire valley.
'We have a patio at the top, which is my good lady's territory, then a barbecue area followed by the (lawned) area with a pond and small waterfall at the top. Two 8 x 6ft greenhouses are at the bottom of the garden, with a small polythene-covered standby and a 8 x 4ft glass lean-to at the back of my garage.
I've planted a fruit orchard
'I grow a lot of tomato varieties and cucumbers, but usually fail on peppers..I have just planted a small mixed fruit orchard at the bottom of the garden (six trees) and hope I live long enough to gather a few crops. This year the vegetables that I grew were done in plastic containers as an experiment, with mixed results, but we live and learn – so I will try again next season.
From conifers to fence
'One of the photographs shows what I have done with the large conifers which had outgrown the garden. I chopped them down to fence height and used the branches to make a rustic fence. No-one around here has seen it done before, so I thought it might be a good tip for anyone who, like me, had grown too long in the tooth for the regular pruning these creatures need. Thanks again, Pete.'
|
| Fence made from cut-down conifers
|
|
| Countryside view
|
*For more on Gardening.co.uk members, see Related Articles at the bottom of this page.
denotes Subscriber-only content | Thursday 20 November 2008 | Help | Glossary 
