Ageing PROCESS

When Penny and Andy Pritchard and their three children moved to Cleave Hill, on a hillside near Membury in south Devon, in 1998, the handsome 17th century thatched farmhouse stood in a small, empty garden. “It felt very bare and exposed,” recalls Penny, “but the idea of making a garden here really appealed to me, particularly because of the old stone farm buildings. We loved the way you could look straight through the barn. And it came with a couple of acres of land which was perfect for my two horses.”

Gardening is in Penny’s blood: – although I made the mistake of scattering bluebell seeds that did so well the cyclamen were crowded out.” It was Mary who encouraged Penny to design the garden around her first home where she devised a yellow and blue border; since then Penny hasn’t looked back, and nowadays designs gardens professionally for her brother’s landscaping business.