Why we draw the garden for its seventh year, as well as its first.
A newly planted garden can feel surprisingly empty. That space is deliberate. Plants need room to reach their useful size, and the relationships between them take more than one season to appear.
Draw the future, too.
We think about year one and year seven at the same time. Where will shade fall? Which grasses will meet? What can be divided and moved as the garden changes?
Patience is part of the plan.
Time does not remove the need for care. Establishment watering, observation and timely editing help the garden become what the drawing suggests. A plant that struggles is information, not a failure to hide.
Keep coming back
We like a simple record: the same photograph, from the same place, a few times each year. It makes change visible and gives the next conversation a useful starting point.