Scrap-heap challenge

After

After

Before

Before

I bought my house, which was very run down, in 2001 and have been doing it up over the years. During the summer, about three or four years ago, I took a break from working on the house to make a start on the garden. It was a complete mess – there was ivy growing in the old stone walls that form the boundary, which took quite some getting rid of, a broken-down fence at the bottom and the rest of it was completely overgrown. The first time I cut the grass, it was so high that I didn't see an old barbecue that had been left there by the previous owners and ran over it!

The garden slopes upwards away from the house. My dad, who sadly passed away last year, was a builder and he built the patio for me as well as steps up to it, a circle of bricks for the central water feature, and walls.

The garden has to be easy to maintain as I work during the day and some weekends. I really like roses so I planted about 20 different types, including standards, bush, climbers and patio roses. I admit I'm not a good gardener, but I do enjoy the challenge every year of trying to make my plot look nice and maintaining it.

I still have a small area at the top of the garden to clear, which is elevated and needs something to make it more private, as at the moment it looks directly into my neighbours' gardens on either side. I'm thinking of a peaceful Chinese-style area with a pond or water feature where I can sit and relax and enjoy looking at the rest of my garden. The area measures 8 x 8m (26 x 26ft), and is banked. I would be very grateful if anyone could offer any advice about how to create an oriental garden.
Jonathan Hanger, Pembroke Dock, West Wales

Garden plan