A hidden Hartley Crescent paradise

Sandra and Keith Birks-photo by Sue Blaney

Now this Hartley Crescent garden takes your breath away. Sandra and Keith have spent years developing this little paradise in Birkdale. It is on a larger scale than some of the other gardens.

why can't I get a wisteria to grow over an arch like this?

I knew I had been here before and realised that my friends Andy and Cheryl Dean purchased the Birks original house which stands next door but Andy, being no gardener, only took a small portion of the garden leaving Sandra and Keith a large L shaped plot which they have developed magnificently.

I came across Sue Blaney and a couple of her friends who stalked me for the rest of the afternoon having planned the same route around the open gardens. I pressed Sue into action as a photographer and she did a very good job.

One highlight of a visit to Hartley Crescent today was the bacon butties in which Sandra and Keith were doing a roaring trade. Sandra, shaded from the full sun by a gazebo bearing the familiar Pimms logo, was staffing up the plant store. I was amazed by the encyclopaedic knowledge the pair possessed about the vast number of plants in their garden. They knowledgably traded information with other garden aficionados. They really should consider entering Mastermind or taking on The Eggheads

This lovely garden can be visited by arrangement during June through till August contact the Birks family at sandie.b@talktalk.net.