Erica James’s 25th novel A Secret Garden Affair publishes at the end of March. Read on to hear how Erica’s own garden inspired the book.
Gertrude Jekyll (1843-1932), one of the most well-known of British horticulturists and garden designers, wrote, “The love of gardening is a seed that once sown never dies, but grows to the enduring happiness that the love of gardening gives.” I couldn’t agree more with this sentiment, even when I stagger in after a day of hard digging, cutting back, weeding, planting or mulching borders with sackloads of compost. For me, the satisfaction of a day spent in the garden easily outweighs any back-aching exhaustion I might feel, or the filthy state I end up in!
I’ve lived in my current house for nearly five years and one of the first things I did after moving in was to tackle the overgrown garden. A big strong gardener – he was the muscle-power I lacked – helped me with clearing away the old dead stuff so I could then work with a blank canvas. There are those who believe you should live with a garden for a year before doing anything to it, but I’m afraid I just wanted to roll up my sleeves and make the garden my own. I’d be the first to say I’ve made mistakes when it comes to planting, but gardening is absolutely a process of trial and error. I think Elfrida from A Secret Garden Affair would be the first to agree with me on this point and I suspect she wouldn’t have had the patience to wait a year before redesigning or planting anything at Larkspur House!
When imagining Elfrida’s garden, I had in mind Wollerton Old Hall Garden in Shropshire. Years ago I featured it in my novel Gardens of Delight and, with its “roomed areas” I’ve always regarded it as one of the most perfectly structured gardens I’ve ever visited. It’s also what I aspire to in my hopelessly inadequate, but enthusiastic, way.
If you want to know more about my garden and how I transformed it, please take a look at my website – www.ericajames.com
A Secret Garden Affair by Erica James is publishing 30th March. Pre-order here.
