Gardening with ME: take a picture

A photo from the ME Essential magazine of the article below.
The article printed in the 2025 Autumn-Winter edition of ME Essential.

Whenever I’m asked what’s the first thing to do in the garden, my response is: take a picture. Why? Because gardening is work, and gardeners have a tendency towards focussing on all those ‘just jobs‘ that need doing, and they forget to step back and admire their achievements. Yes, it’s ok to allow yourself to feel good about what you have created.

The following before and after photos are from an allotment I had before I was diagnosed with ME, and then the different gardens I’ve created in the last 17 years.

The allotment when I first took it on. All brambles and weeds, a mess.

Before (above) and after (below) allotment: It’s good to see the before and after photos, because by the time I had to give up the allotment, I was really struggling, yet it still was a remarkable transformation.

The allotment after 4 years. It has clear raised beds with a mix of fruit and vegetables growing. It looks neat and productive.

Garden one: my first attempt at gardening with ME. I had raised beds for vegetables, surrounded by ornamental borders.

Garden one when we first moved in. Just grass and leylandii at the back.

Before and after garden 1: A mostly blank slate. I had landscapers removed the leylandii then build the raised beds and pergola at the back. At this point I had mild ME, and it was a bit of a struggle, but with the help of a gardener I was managing well.

Garden one several years later with a mix of ornamental borders and raised beds for growing vegetables. There is a pergola at the back with a grape vine, having replaced the laylandii.

Garden two: the back. Again, I had landscapers remove leylandii then build raised beds for both vegetables and ornamentals. This was a great garden, but it was too much and even with help it was a struggle. By the time we moved on, my ME had become more moderate, some periods close to the severe end of moderate.

Garden two at the back. Mostly grass with a path down the middle, and again, leylandii at the back
The back garden several years later. Wooden raised beds for ornamentals and vegetables. It's a big garden, with some small trees too, and it's too much to manage.
Just looking at a section of the back garden. This is the kitchen garden area with mostly fruit and vegetables growing here now. You can see a blue flower in the foreground.

Above, garden 2, back: the kitchen garden area in summer, which included garlic, four fruit trees and a range of other vegetables through the year. Wonderful, but too much.

Garden two: the front. Possibly the transformation of which I’m most proud, the colour throughout the year was also enjoyed, I’m told, by neighbours and delivery people.

The front garden (garden 2) with just hedging three quarters around it, and grass.

Later summer, with a quince tree in the middle surrounded by mixed borders of evergreens and hardy perennials.

Front garden 2, several years later. Mixed borders with a quince tree in the middle. Lots of flowers of orange and yellow. It is brimming with pretty plants.

Garden three: the back. Having decided that most vegetable growing was too much for me, apart from a couple of smaller beds to grow garlic and salads (not pictured), my focus now is on plants that need less attention, along with a greenhouse to play in. My ME remains moderate, and I have a gardener who helps, but this smaller garden still presents challenges at times.

Back garden 3: Just lawn, brown fencing and a decking area with small pergola. The only plants are plastic.

Garden 3, the back: from plastic plants to a haven for bees and other insects, the back garden in late summer. Still more landscaping work to be done, but I’m giving myself more time to manage what I have, before completing the final borders.

Back garden 3: three years later and filled with brick raised beds and a greenhouse. There is one area of lawn, which will eventually become more raised beds.

Garden three: the front. This is a work in progress, and if ME allows, I plan to have all borders and no grass. For now, the change from grass and plastic plants, to a couple of trees and a long border, is a good start.

Front garden 3: Just driveway and lawn, with some plastic plants.
Front garden 3: c. three years later with a couple of trees in the middle of the lawn, and a long 19m border going around the outside with a mix of perennials and shrubs. There is a small table and chair on the edge next to the house.

Even if all the plans for your garden haven’t yet been realised, having those original photos to compare then and now will lift your heart and motivate you. The best time to take a picture is when you first moved in. The next best time is now.

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