Oh dear, I feel I may have been insensitive in describing as "extremely small" a garden of 250 sq.m. Sorry about that. I guess the perception of size is relative. I grew up in a village. The farmyard was 2 dunam (2,000 sq.m. I guess) and beyond it stretched a field of 30 dunams.

Many urban gardens in Israel now are about half the size of mine, so when I see them I feel my garden is big, but still the memory of that farmyard colours my perception more powerfully than anything else.

Besides, it's not just the size, it's the feeling that home doesn't really come to an end at a clearcut specific boundary but simply gets diluted and blends gradually with the outside world as one gets further and further from it. When we moved to the city (to my horror) one of the things I couldn't get used to for years was how home brutally comes to an abrupt end at one's doorstep.

Our lot is about 1/3rd of an acre, still the measurement of land here. Digression - I love, love the fact that the US public rejected the metric system when the US Govt announced that the country would convert to it in the 1960s. SOMEONE has to uphold British traditions! (An acre was originally the amount of land one man could plow with one ox in one day). I know why it was rejected, too - I was in grammar school, and all they did was relentlessly drill us on memorizing the awful conversion formulas from the British system to the metric - the measurements were bad enough, but have you ever looked up the formula to convert F to C temperatures? So stupid - if they had just started using the metric system, instead of making everyone hate it because of the conversion math, I think it would have been accepted. (Also, less emphasis on Napoleon would have helped...).

Anyway, the internet tells me that 1/3rd of an acre is about 1,350 square meters. That, of course, includes the house, the detached garage, the long driveway, the brick patio, the paths, etc. I would guess that about half of the land is actually plantable. I also garden on land which belongs to the City right in front of our property, between the sidewalk and the street, and also a 10' wide strip between the sidewalk and our front wall which was expropriated by the CIty in 1900 when they thought they were going to use it to widen the street.... Anyway, call it 700 square meters of garden in total. In our neighborhood, which was laid out in 1900 and is very close to downtown, this is considered large - most lots are 1/4 acre nearby. Also, our lot is pie shaped. At the street it is very wide, and then it diminishes in width as you go away from the street. It is probably about 90 feet wide at the street, and only 35 feet wide at the very back. This gives it the look of a much larger property when seen from the street. I would say that the actual cared for garden beds take up only about 60% of the available land - there is a wild part in the back that is sort of a forest of old fruit & other trees, huge ancient overgrown garden shrubs, what we call the "debris pile" of large prunings (from trees, etc) waiting to go to the dump, the ancient 4 ft cube cement incinerator that has been turned into a composting container, etc.

I like it that way - we have lots of wild animals that visit - deer, possums, raccoons, zillions of birds (including hawks), the occasional skunk, and once I saw a fox, even this close to downtown. So, the actual area I actually work on regularly is probably closer to 350 square meters, which suits me fine.

Here is a pic of about one half of our street frontage.

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Jackie

Jackie, your photos always make me drool.

Our home is on 25 acres, but most of it is in pasture. I guess I actually cultivate a half acre, just as a WAG. Part of this is in lawn, which gets smaller and smaller as I keep widening and adding flower beds. There is a creek that runs behind the house, and another 1/4 acre on the other side which we have allowed to go wild. It acts as a buffer between us and all the spraying equipment, etc they use in the orange grove that butts up to our property.

oh no wintercat - not being censorious in ANY way, just curious. Although my garden is tiny, it is a little gem and does force me to be rather more circumspect about what to grow, what to keep and what to give away. I feel quite fortunate having any garden since more and more develiopements are simply not bothering with individual gardens and creating a central communal area (which has its pros and cons) - if you only read the gardening mags, you could be forgiven for thinking the entire population of the UK had acres of rolling hills and swathes of lawn. Reuben and I have made tiny gardens something of a speciality as they do require some careful thought to get the most out of them. Before we re-did our garden last year, there was no room for anyone to sit and only half as much planting space as I have now....and I didn't have a greenhouse, just a ramshackle garden shed. A masterful design (one of mine) is a revelation in how space can be well utilised while very big gardens can be even more problematic.
J - your garden is truly inspirational.

Campanula- I really loved seeing the pictures of your re-done garden. It really is a gem, and I was amazed at how much you fit into it, including a greenhouse! Also, the way you have the beds and the seating arranged, you can see the plants & flowers from all over - it really looks lovely.

I am hoping that you will be posting more pictures!

Jackie

The property is 38 acres. We're not wealthy. Michael bought it in 1989 for 36,000 dollars. We had to build our own road, water system, house, and power. The garden is three acres begun in 1995. I still think size isn't everything. This is just the way I did it.

My lot is almost a perfect square at about 100 feet per side. It's the largest single lot in my subdivision and for most suburban lots would be considered quite large. The average lot in my city would probably be about 50 feet wide and 70 feet deep. And in some of the older suburban cities they can be even smaller. Acreage us something I only dream about, lol!

Mine is .17 acre. 60' x 125' with the house leaving 8' on each side, 30' in the back and about 25' in the front. Yeah, that sounds right because the house in 70' deep, but I do spill over into the back retention area. Subtract the driveway, back patio, quite a bit of gravel, 6x8 shed, an similar-sized pot area and what's left is my garden, jam-packed with 83 roses and various other growing things. I can't do the math at this late hour and certainly can't tell you how many square meters it is at any time of day. Maybe tomorrow I'll try just for curiosity.

Jackie, your neighbors must dearly love you!!

Sherry

Here is a link that might be useful: If only sweat were irrigation...

Ours is a little over a half acre, about 100' wide by about 200' deep. I hope the math works out. I'm too sleepy to check. The challenge though is the slope. Front to back it drops about 2 stories with the largest flat part along the back in the woods. The whole property was wooded but the original landowner did a lot of earth moving and lost a lot of trees in the process. On the positive side, it does not flood. The land rises about 6' going from the street toward the house for a distance of about 12'. Then it is flat for about 30'. This is grass with beds along the sides and in front of the house. The house has a walkout basement in back and so the side gardens slope one story and the side garden on the south also slopes away from the house. In back of the house it is level for about 20' and then it drops another story. All this makes shearing 6-7' hedges quite an experience, one which I have delegated the past three years. The part where I want a rose garden is a two story slope behind the house and along the north edge of the property. Because the original landowner radically changed the lay of the land, the sunny parts are subsoil, including this slope. Only a few skinny beds had topsoil brought in. We double dug the driveway bed many years ago and the top 6-12" is OK. Still this is home. And better yet a garden to play with to my heart's content.

Cath

Jackie your garden is sumptuous. So lovely!

Sherry, I remember working out that I had around .16 acre on my plots and I find that I am actually at my limit with what I can maintain. The council offered me another half a plot and for a few moments, I was sorely tempted but I can barely manage to keep everything going as it is....and as for acres and acres - well that is a whole different ballgame. Lately, we having been looking at buying a few acres of woodland, as a family, and clearing and building on it. Still possible to buy land for small amounts because the planning laws are (rightly) draconian in the UK but, as always, there are ways around it (low impact dwellings such as A-frame timber cabins, haybale builds, even trailors). None of my children have the remotest hope of buying a home in Cambridge (or indeed, anywhere within 30miles) and if you are capable and handy (we are) it would be doable. I would fancy one last big adventure....also, although I moan, I do like my children (children!) to be close - we do all live on top of each other anyway so having a woodland glade would be rather splendid.

I have 40 acres here (+/- 15 acres of it is hardwoods) but it really is an area where I rarely do anything but mow some walking paths. The real garden zone is only close up around the house, maybe 100 x 200 ft. I do mow more grass than that, perhaps an acre and a half, but I do not "garden" down to the road. Partly it is that deer are harder on plantings further away from the house and second I don't have the time or energy for more. There are ancient apple trees on the property that I have been saying for 20 years need a good rejuvenating pruning spread over several years, but I know now that it will not happen - at least not with me as steward of this land. Time and energy, that is the real limiter, not how much space one owns. I could easily transplant my garden to an average city lot, but oh, the view I would miss! As WinterCat says: "it's not just the size, it's the feeling that home doesn't really come to an end at a clearcut specific boundary but simply gets diluted and blends gradually with the outside world as one gets further and further from it." With state land abutting mine in the back, that is much how I feel as well.

Campanula, that opportunity does sound rather splendid. I do hope you do it.
Annececelia, I get what you and Wintercat are saying about a non-specific boundary. Just the other day I "noticed" how dense the woods are beyond the mowed grassy, undulating water retention area behind our property. It's a wide open 3.5-acre space where no one goes so we have privacy and a broad vista of green that belies the tiny lot we live on.

Sherry

Here is a link that might be useful: If only sweat were irrigation...

Cath, are your drop offs such that you could have hanging gardens? Where ny house sits is very flat, and I've always lusted after a variation in levels so I could have roses hanging down over embankments. In a nearby town there was a house with a huge unfinished swimming pool. Every time I saw it I thought what a gorgeous sunken garden that would be with roses cascading over the sides, with lawn furniture down in the bottom for relaxing in. My husband thought that was such an odd thing to contemplate.

My garden is 1920 square metres, a little less than a half acre. A small part of it is unimproved natural woodland of pines, oaks, birches and junipers. I consider all of it a garden because I grow rhododendrons, pieris, kalmias, clematis and wild roses in this little see-through wood.

My garden is the largest on the block and I have five neighbouring gardens bordering mine. Four houses are built on divided larger lots. The standard size of new lots is usually 800 sq metres with enormous houses on them and a strip of land around the house. My house is tiny by comparison, only 80 sq metres + basement, but big enough for two people. The garden is almost too big, or feels extra big now with all the spring work. I spent all day outside today and didn't achieve much.

floridarosez,

If I ever complete my house renovation, I could possibly terrace the hill if the cash holds out. Time or exhaustion will tell.

Cath

Oh, I will cross my fingers for you, Cath. That will be beautiful if you can pull it off.

My husband and I once bought 10 wooded acres with an old sinkhole that I planned to turn into a sunken garden. Unfortunately, his job transferred him before I could follow through. We eventually sold it.

My lot is 5 acres. The house is situated on one corner and the barn on the opposite corner. The barn is surrounded by 5 pastures. 2 are rather small.
The house is elevated about 50-60 feet higher than the barn and overlooks Arcadia Valley. This is pretty but rather windy which can cause headaches for the roses.
Surrounding the house is about 1/2 and acre of gardens and lawns.

Due to Glacial Rock, we have had to import topsoil and build raised gardens. We're almost done. We only have one tree near the house so most of the gardens are in full sun. I think that's why eventhough we live in the Pacific North Wet we dont have much black-spot pressure.

The gardening style is quirkey at best. Many of my roses and flowers were gifts from friends and many church members. I adore Sunflowers so they are planted helter skelter along the rear border of the cutting garden.
Well that's it over here. Some day will learn to post pics and you'll laugh with me at the kittiwumpus affect of the garden.
Jeannie

There is a half acre here is somewhere near 7500 sq. meters. Only 30 roses now but lots of other lower maintenance plants.