Salford woman transforms abandoned swampland into oasis
Behind this unassuming front door lies a hidden urban oasis.Â
Grandmother-of-six Sally Berry has spent seven years transforming a two-acre site behind her Salford home from a swamp to a tranquil paradise.
When then 71-year-old moved in, the huge back garden was unloved, derelict and covered in dense knotweed.Â
The Walkden home was bought by her son William in 2010 and Mrs Berry, then 71, bought herself a scythe and single-handedly set to work transforming the space.
Neighbours of the grandmother of six have no idea of the two acre oasis behind this unassuming home
Sally Berry in her garden, the Secret Valley, which she has transformed into a tranquil oasis
She's dubbed it The Secret Valley.Â
It's accessible to the public over the next three Sundays under the National Garden Scheme, where private gardens open their doors for charity.
The valley has nesting swans and kingfishers. Geese and ducks from the tranquil lake and floating islands roam the sprawling gardens as a home-made waterfall trickles down a rockery. Even artists visit to paint the landscape.
There are statues, an apple orchard, a rose garden and a vast array of wildflowers and plants alongside streams and secret pathways over three distinct plateaus leading to the lake - all just a stone's throw from Mrs Berry's back door.
When her son bought the land as a project, as she had hurt her knee, it was overgrown, derelict and covered in dense knotweed
But the mother-of-three has worked tirelessly to transform the space into a peaceful retreat from the urban world
The mother-of-three, now 78, said: 'The people who come to see the valley are lovely.Â
'They are really interested in the story. Nobody thought it would work but it has.Â
'People wander around and are quite amazed. They say they never knew it was here.'
Mrs Berry, originally from London, was evacuated to Cornwall during the Second World War and believes her love of gardening and the outdoors came from her childhood in nature.
At 71, the keen traveller went on a three-week motorcycle holiday to Laos in south-east Asia, which unfortunately resulted in knee trouble.
It was then that son William, 40, bought her the land as a project. He e ven got married in the garden.Â
William, her son, bought the two-acre site after his mother sustained an injury in Laos
Mrs Berry says her love of gardening and the outdoors comes from a childhood in the countryside, in Cornwall
He said: 'Mum spent virtually every day down there, hacking balsam with a scythe, chopping brambles with a machete and digging paths with a mattock, which is a type of shovel. After seven years of hard graft, the garden is an absolute success.
'I am amazed at how the land has transformed from a swamp into a paradise. It has been achieved by mum's energy, experience and endless enthusiasm.'
The lake now even has swans living there and kingfishers have migrated to the beautiful space
The garden will be open to the public for three Sundays as part of a scheme where people open their private gardens to help raise money for charity
Like her namesake, Mrs Berry will be baking and dishing out cups of teas for those who decide to visit on the following Sundays and is helped by volunteers and neighbours.
She said: 'I have had the most pleasure in seeing it change.
'It has been fun to design and fun to take on a place that no one else wanted. It was a challenge but I have actually enjoyed it all. It kind of invented itself as it went along.'
The valley, open on Sundays up to August 13 and accessible to the public in Walkden, has raised more than £10,000 for cancer charities. For full details visit www.thesecretvalley.com and www.ngs.org.uk.
0 Response to "Salford woman transforms abandoned swampland into oasis"
Posting Komentar