Letters to garden makers

Dear Monty, There is much to do to restore the old band hall to somewhere near its original appearance, but at least the new slate roof helps. I'm stuck in the past. Last week we visited Somerset to see friends who were celebrating 30 years of married life. They live on the edge of the Mendip Hills and have a view looking over the levels with Glastonbury Tor in the distance. I enjoyed the garden party on their steeply sloped garden which was less about the garden and all about the stunningly beautiful view. Both Dave and Beth are professional people at the top of their tree, and therefore their friends were likewise. A deep-seated insecurity started to rise in me and at one point it almost paralysed me. I'm not at the top of my chosen profession, and have always preferred to have feet planted on the ground, but this does not equip you well in the company of the aspirational in terms of like-minded conversation, or so my insecurity told me. We were welcomed and eas...

Dear Monty, I'm not sure you really need to know this, but the bees have gone, they were successfully relocated to a new hive somewhere nearer the sea. I regard this as a victory in the bid to care for the world a bit more. This is a small gesture I know, but I was so grateful to the members of Swansea and District Beekeepers' Society. I did have to destroy the few remaining stragglers however, because they were gathered around the chimney flue, and the builders would not go near them. They honey was almost clear and beautifully sweet, the comb dropped down three feet into the old flue and it took great effort to remove it along with the colony. I had a look down the flue, and despite being surrounded by the bees and unprotected, I was not stung. I have great respect for bees, and am no longer afraid of them. I am reading 'A French Garden Journey' and enjoying it very much, as much as my most favourite book based around the subject of gardens  'The Bad Te...