renewd and changed the pictures-area

Dearest gardening-friends,
Thank you so much for your kind and enthousiastic reactions to my post somewhere else in the cottage-gardenforum. During the last few weeks I redisigned my photo-pages and uploaded quite a lot of new pictures. More than a thousand now, - my goodness. I also changed the colors and navigation, - which was quite a lot of coding, but it was worth it. So many people all over Europe already did respond so nicely, - I am flattered.
And now I think, maybe you, over there, in the States and Canada, may be interested, too. I really would like to share my garden with you, - so, if you would like to take a look, you would make me very happy. But, - please take your time, because there is so much to see.
The direct address of the photo-archive is: http://www.leylant.com/cpg148/index.php

I hope, you will enjoy the photographs, but be welcome, too, to take a closer look to the rest of my site...

Have a nice christmas,
Mike from Holland

Beautiful photos, beautiful presentation. Thanks for sharing.

WOW!!!!!!! What a fantastic garden.

Merry Christmas to you too Mike! Very lovely gardens!

Aw, Mark! That looks so great! The plants have doubled in size since your old pictures were taken. And it's so nice to see flowers since it is literally ALL brown here.

How much acreage/how many hectares do you have? It looks HUGE!

Suzy

Thanks for the compliments, - I feel flattered. The garden isn't as huge as it seems to be. Just 2500 square meters (that is ¼ hectare), but because it is divided into different 'zones', each with its own character, it looks so much bigger. For me it is more than big enough. I have to do all the work in there by myself, which consumes most of my time during the growing-season (which I don't mind, cause I really enjoy it). But even during the winter-season there is so much to do (re-planting, changing, cutting, soil-improvement...). No chances to get bored at any time. The garden is changing all the time, becomes more mature every year. And I feel very privileged that I have the opportunities to create and manage all of this with my own two hands...

Mike

Merry Christmas to you too! Fantatastic gardening & photography.
Dave

Mark,

I thought it was 4 or 5 acres and was wondering how you had time to take care of it all. The pond alone looks like 1/4 hectare! You've done such a nice job on the overall layout -- that's what a number of us on the forum are struggling with. Can we just send our pictures to you? You could just plan out how we should make our little rooms!

My problem is the big trees I have -- not that they are a problem by themselves, but if I add some eye level plantings to make my different zones, I shut out an awful lot of sunlight combined with the shade the trees already provide.

Your garden is really lovely, and the plants, in addition to being well-placed, are huge; did you grow them from seed, or do you work at a tissue culture lab? Or did you go to the Garden Center and buy big gallon pots?

I'm sowing seed this year but the resulting plants will be soooo little. It seems as if they will never bloom, much less make huge clumps such as you've got there.

Here's a broad view of my backyard. It's a little more grown up than this, but not much.

Suzy

Mike, your gardens look like the setting out of a story book; a place I would never want to leave. I love the house, the lay-out, and the wonderful plant combinations. Gorgeous!!

Thanks so much for sharing,
Neal

Mike, your garden and your home are fantastic! You have so many lovely clematis, roses and blooming shrubs. It must be a joy all year long. I especially enjoyed the winter photos.

susan

Wow. your garden is just stunning. This is how I want my yard to look.