Clare’s Clutter Clearing Story

I recently had to chop down and let go of a particular type of plant in my garden that forms part of the hedge planting.

It sounds silly, but I loved that hedging, and it held lots of sentimental memories for me that were triggered every time I walked through the garden to my office, or sat on my decking, looking at my garden.

The hedge died due to a common disease – box blight – which is a fungus that causes the leaves to turn brown and die. I was aware of this disease when I put the plants in, deciding that it was worth the risk, and we’ve been lucky enough to enjoy them for 8 years without any trouble.

To my surprise, being forced to take out these plants has given me an opportunity for valuable reflection. It was sad to have to cut down all the hedging that provided important cover for our hedgehogs, a source of caterpillars for the birds, and scent markers for the foxes and fox cubs. However, my reaction to having to let go of the hedging that had become part of my comfort zone in my happy place has helped me reflect on how much personal growth I’ve had since they were planted 8 years ago.

We lived with a barren wasteland of a garden for 10 years before we were able to create my dream garden. 10 years of designing, planning, researching and building my Worksheet 7. As a result of watching many gardening programmes, visiting flower shows and window shopping in garden centres I knew exactly what I wanted.

However, to my surprise, when we were able to get started, I didn’t rush out and buy everything in one go, which was a reminder to me of how far I had come since I had my clutter challenge, when I would buy everything I needed for a project and more in an impulsive spending spree. Instead, my husband Keith and I worked on our garden together, bite-by-bite.

First, we (or rather my husband Keith!) put in the rose arches that would become the climbing frames for plants and homes for wildlife. Over time many plants and wildlife would make those frames their home. We also attached bird boxes to them which have become popular every year.

I originally intended to have a small vegetable section in the garden, but I soon realised I was very in-time when it came to gardening, evident by my preference for ’pottering’ in the garden when I felt like it rather than feeling I ‘had’ to weed and sew on a schedule.

The second thing to go in was a new tree in memory of our neighbour’s cat Hudson who moved in with us when his owners had their first child. Hudson couldn’t deal with the constant crying, so he went looking for a quieter, calmer home, and found us a few doors away. He became a time-share cat; we fed and housed him, while his owner took him to the vet. We all loved him.

Hudson was put down at the age of 18 ½, and because he lived with us his owner gave us his ashes. We chose – as we have done with all our late cats – to plant a tree in his memory,   putting his ashes in the hole before planting. We invited his owner and his two sons to the planting ceremony, and together we made Hudson a permanent feature in our garden.

Next came the pond, a garden essential for me as a haven for wildlife. When you add a waterfall, it provides calming background sounds too. We already had a poor excuse for a pond that the frogs seemed to return to quite happily each year along with the birds, but now it was time to do it properly.

After that, we needed to replace the old decking next to the pond and in front of my office, I made sure it didn’t have enclosed sides so that the frogs and wildlife could easily access the space underneath and had a home in our garden. It also has a hidden stream underneath that pumps water from one end of the pond to the other. One of our cats – Gatsby – who is a fabulous hunter ensures that the number of rats that call our decking home are kept to a minimum!    

When the decking was finished another tree needed to be planted in memory of Frank, my father-in-law. We put it in line with the spot where he loved to sit on the old decking overlooking our barren garden, doing his sudoku. Keith made a simple sleeper bench to go next to Franks’ tree where we knew he would have loved to have sat and enjoyed the garden.

A path was important to go from the house to the Clutter Clearing office at the far end of the garden. It had to be a gravel path to ensure it was didn’t get slippery in the winter, so stone pebbles were chosen.

Although not ideal for the cats to walk on, they soon learnt where to put their paws, and they happily follow me up and down the garden every day like 3 blind mice.

I knew I didn’t want a grass lawn, partly because of the effort required to maintain it, more-so because lawns aren’t wildlife friendly. Plants and shade are essential for nature to survive and thrive as our climate changes.

The plants were the last thing to go in. Having lived with the evolving garden for several months and having got a sense of the flow of the nature and wildlife with the trees, path, arches, pond and decking in place, I decided to be more relaxed about what plants I would have where than I had planned.

I decided to be more spontaneous, so I committed to making a monthly daytrip to a good quality garden centre to see what was in flower or full bloom, what attracted wildlife, and listen to my gut feeling. I took an updated version of my worksheet 7 plan which had light levels marked on it so that when I saw something I liked, I could decide where it might live before buying. This approach satisfied my natural in-time characteristics and enabled me to be more through time and realistic, ensuring I didn’t buy all full-sun plants and end up with bare patches in the shade.

I enjoyed the winter months of my monthly garden centre visits, choosing plants that would provide some colour or cover throughout the winter months, and coming back in the spring to purchase and plant them.

It was a year before the garden started to really come to life. The plants grew and the wildlife came, making our garden their new permanent home. The birds seemed to love having a garden that wasn’t just a strip of grass with fencing for boarders, and where they knew that my morning routine included putting fresh food and water out for them before I started work. The birds didn’t even seem to care that we had 3 very curious kittens who had worked out how to get onto the rose arches!

The hedging was the final plant to go in, and within a couple of years had grown to create the perfect boarders. Our garden matured, became a haven for wildlife, and quickly became my calm, ‘happy place’ where I could rest, read, reward and recharge.

Things have been moved and added over the years. The apple tree we planted to mark our wedding had to be moved, and after thinking the move had killed it, it now produces a bounty of apples every year.

In memory of my brother, we’ve added a small garden gnome statue that sits on our waterfall in memory of him. We also planted a conference pear tree for him.

We’ve added a grape vine fence and a child size garden bench on the decking for the cats to recline on in the afternoon sun. There are 4 hidden hedgehog houses behind my office, and one on the decking that I put hedgehog food in every evening when I finish work. It serves as a ‘café’ for the hedgehogs during the night. There are bird tables, feeders and baths everywhere. We even have a ‘heron’ rail to stop them having our fish for breakfast or dinner.

A huge amount of love and patience have gone into creating and evolving our garden – my happy place- that I, the cats, the wildlife and my husband all share.

It’s a garden that is all about the wildlife. If the birds, bees, butterflies, frogs, fish, tadpoles, newts, dragonflies, hedgehogs, squirrels, cats, foxes, cubs and yes, even the rats that provide entertainment for Gatsby the cat are happy, then I’m happy. I leave the weeds because I know that they’re perfect for bugs and provide shade and safety for the baby frogs. Our garden – my happy place – has required time, energy, effort and love to curate and create over 8 years, so to see the box blight appear literally overnight could easily have triggered feelings of anger and frustration.

Yet I surprised even myself with the speed at which I accepted it and focused on the happy memories.

I recognise that having to let go of the hedging is nature’s way of reminding me who’s really in control. I am simply a caretaker. The wildlife still comes, most of the garden is unaffected, the pond continues to attract a range of animals and creatures. Is it frustrating? Absolutely. Yet the speed at which I was able to accept, adapt and start to get excited about the opportunities this has given me was surprising.

At a practical level, having to let go of the hedges is a reminder that change is constant, and that patience and persistence is a valuable life skill.

When I compare the photos of the garden before we started creating it, and even at the start of the pandemic, everything has thrived and evolved.

Yes, the hedging has now gone, but the core design remains the same. It’s created new space for new opportunities and once again I can visit garden centres once a month with a clear purpose, safe in the knowledge I won’t impulse buy.

I’m already clear that I want to take this opportunity to add plants in pots into the garden so that when we eventually move, we’ll be able to take those pots and plants with us to create an instant garden on day one, a happy place with familiar plants.

Having to let go of the hedges has also reminded me of how much I have grown in the last 8 years, indeed since I cleared my clutter.

Letting go of the hedging wasn’t a choice because it wasn’t in my circle of control or even my circle of influence. There was nothing I could have done to prevent it happening, but I am grateful that the hedging brought so much joy to me and the wildlife in our garden for 8 years.

The learning or feedback from the experience is that you always have more than one solution. The wildlife didn’t come to our garden because we had the hedging, a fact I know because they’re still coming now it’s gone. They come because we’re friendly, inviting, and provide everything they need to survive and thrive – food, water, shelter. I’m sure they don’t mind that in return we spy on them with our wildlife cameras!

Experiences like the one I have had with my garden are a reminder that you can’t control everything, however much you might want to. Yet when you embrace change it can provide opportunities to learn, grow and change that you never imagined possible.

Now it’s time to focus on my circle of control, decide what will replace the hedging, and take the opportunity to learn what might better serve the wildlife or encourage even more wildlife into our garden so I can create ‘The Baker Garden 2.0’!

As a result of my childhood, Perfectionist Clare B.C.C. (Before Clutter Clearing) believed that when you made a decision you had to justify it, explain it, and it was set in stone until it was complete. Deviation = disaster.

I have been reminded that when events force you to change, you have to trust that you can still achieve the same results as before, it will just be in a different way.

Our garden has been – and continues to be a great example that you can create something amazing and enjoy it for however long it lasts. It’s the Journey that’s fulfilling, and it’s the memories that last long after you’ve let go of the physical things. All you need is that first step and an outline of where you’re headed.

Our garden is a place I know Frank would have loved just as much as we do.  It’s what I know I’ll miss the most when we eventually move. But having created an amazing garden, I know I’ll be able to do it again.

When you allow yourself to listen to your gut feeling as you work towards a goal, and you give yourself permission to be flexible in how you get there, you’ll get signs and a sense that you’re on the right track. For me, nature reminds me every day that I’m not only on the right track but succeeding and hey – by forcing me to let go of the hedging in my garden, nature is even providing me the opportunity to keep on doing it!

When you stop trying to control or fight everything and everyone to maintain your comfort zone and instead you embrace change, you’ll create an open mind, inner calm, peace of mind, and you’ll be sent signs that you’re living your Best Life.

You can clear your clutter FAST, or you can clear your clutter FOREVER, but you can’t clear your clutter FOREVER FAST.

To find out how Clare can help you clear your clutter Forever, without the need for an expensive home visit, click here now: https://www.clutterclearing.net/clares-help-centre/