No –  the campsite isn’t 21 – or even 18 – but we’ve noticed this year that the garden has reached a stage of maturity.

For years we’ve been planting screening and nursing young plants. The area around the tipi has been a particular challenge because of the poor soil in that spot. We planted a young hedge in winter 2011/12 to screen the tipi’s outdoor space and have been adding compost and mulch to encourage growth. In 2013, however, we noticed that this hedge was growing nicely and providing the screening we wanted for tipi guests.

Trees and shrubs which had been left unpruned for years needed to be treated carefully when we first began turning the garden into a campsite. Most of these have now been pruned to a level where they just need maintenance each year.

When we first got here, the building which was to be Badger Cottage had a beautiful Virginia Creeper growing all over it. Unfortunately we had to replace the roof and all the barge boards, so the creeper was removed. We’ve been encouraging regrowth, and also planting added cuttings of the same creeper – and now finally the cottage is once again covered in this stunning plant. Virtually invisible in winter, the new leaves arrive in spring and cover the building in green – which turns bright red in the autumn.