HIGHER MORWELL GARDEN
The map shows the property is aligned roughly north-west to south east and is 1.02 acres in size. The
buildings in the south-west corner are the garage, workshop and old gunpowder store, which dates back to
the 1870s as far as we can tell. The northern boundary is a Devon bank and beyond it is the Morwelldown
Plantation, mainly dense conifers. To the west of the B3257 road is an old mine dump which is mainly
unworkable arsenic-rich ore from East Wheal Russell mine, and is covered in trees which protect Higher
Morwell from the prevailing westerly wind.
The active parts of the garden are the north-east, north-west, south-east and the part to the west of the
main building, which is our equivalent of a ‘front garden’. The south-west area occupied by the buildings
is all gravelled, and additional to the map there is also a small greenhouse and a potting shed. Our
polytunnel is in the south-east of the garden, almost in the corner.
FRONT GARDEN
At one time there
was a path crossing
the grass, starting
from a gate to the
road on the left
then towards the
front door of the
house, which was
halfway along the
wall facing the
road. There are
also buried
concrete steps
leading down to
the path from the
house.
The orange azalea
is one of the
garden highlights
when in flower in
May and we are
trying to produce
clones from
cuttings.
Gaps in the
flowering shrubs
against the Devon
bank at the front
have been filled
with transplants
from other parts of
the garden. Apart
from the attractive
flowers the shrubs
act as a deterrent
to deer jumping
the bank.
SOUTH EAST
Left is how this part looked when we moved in.
There is a mass of overplanted trees and shrubs,
overshadowed by a dense leylandii hedge on the
south fence border. The soil is very fertile, once
the myriad of stones are removed. This corner was
cultivated as a market garden many years ago.
2016 saw the erection of the polytunnel, right, and a
start on clearing some of the overcrowding. Two beds
for vegetable growing were cleared too.
2017 and all the leylandii have gone, the trees
thinned down to a willow and a field maple, and
the growing beds expanded, fenced to keep out
rabbits, and a path laid between them. This area
has seen most of the work so far, and it is
planned to add three more growing beds and a
fruit cage. At some time the whole area has to
be walled off too to protect the plants.
NORTH EAST
This part of the garden was just grass with one
large squat yellow cypress and a dying plum tree.
Our initial efforts with it have been to create a
wildflower patch which is seeded then left all
summer to reward us with meadow flowers.
Between the wildflower patch and the cypress we
have removed the dying plum and replaced it with
two pear trees, a new plum and a ‘patio’ apple
that came from Warwick with us.
The wildflower patch, for one reason or
another, has failed both in 2016 and
2017. We will try again in 2018.
The yellow cypress will be removed
sometime and a hedge put in place to
mark a boundary between the fruit trees
and the planned wooden gazebo in the
space next to the big cypress trees. In
front of that we are thinking of planting
a bed of ornamental grasses suitably
fenced from the rabbits.
The east border here is a problem
inasmuch as the neighbouring field is
overrun with brambles which can’t wait
to get into our garden. The fence has
partly blown down in 2016 and the rest
is rather past its best but it does at
present keep the brambles out most of
the time.
The trees in the Devon bank to the north
are mainly oak and beech and have
overgrown the garden, we are in the
process of cutting them back to let
more light in and less leaf-fall in
autumn.
NORTH WEST
In the 1980s this
was an award-
winning area of the
garden. The
surrounding trees
have grown and cut
out the light that
kept the beds
growing. The result
is stunted trees and
shrubs that never
flower.
Our water main
inlet pipe had to be
replaced in January
2016, straight
through here.
The bluebells (English not Spanish!) are a delight in Spring, and the Hydrangea produces its lavender
flowers very late and keeps going almost to Christmas. But there is a lot to do in this area to restore what
we can only imagine as former glories, and it will mean cutting down most of the trees that are next to
the road to let in more light. We have planted laurel alongside the Devon bank, again to deter the deer
from jumping over, and it is growing well. There is a massive rhododendron there too that seemed to do
nothing but this year had three small bunches of purple flowers. The five trees in the bed seen at the top
(the shrub in the middle has been removed) are not in the best of health either. At least two are
earmarked for removal.
The scars from the water pipe replacement have now largely healed and we will be bringing the
professional tree loppers back to remove the hazel trees next to the road in stages over the next few
years. More light regenerating past glories is our hope.