WHEN Sheila and Ashley Powell moved into their Titchfield home 35 years ago the garden was a wilderness of humps and bumps of grass and rubbish.

Their first task was to clear the ground that was laid out with grass and borders while the children were growing up.

Once the youngsters left home Mrs Powell realised her dream and created the garden she had always wanted.

A pond was her first priority and after that was established at the end of the 180ft plot she began to develop the rest of the garden in an imaginative way.

Interesting features began to appear as the small area was divided into sections giving the impression of being much larger.

Mrs Powell said she spent Saturdays "nursery shopping" to buy plants and learned by trial and error which were best suited to her sandy soil. There are no straight edges and the curving borders throw up a number of surprises.

One of the earliest is an old work boot of her husband's which has been reincarnated as a flower pot containing geraniums.

Nearby is an oriental patch with Japanese lanterns and bowls made by Mrs Powell. An acer in a pot shelters a seated Buddha over-looking a collection of bonsai trees. This is a new venture and Mrs Powell explained that she dug up the small saplings while walking in woodland. A large conifer was taken out to provide space for green phormium and red cordyline to be planted opposite one of the smallest water gar-dens - a pot containing four plants and pebbles. Against the hedge an ivy-covered arbour seat is entwined with old-fashioned dog rose, jas-mine and honeysuckle. Poking through is a climbing hydrangea. A broken terracotta pot has been turned on its side and golden marjoram planted against it to resemble butter spilling from a tub. The garden continues through a gate where the original pond is home to several different kinds of iris, some with variegated leaves. A short distance away is a newly-created seat in memory of 11-year-old Sheba, a collie-cross owned by Mrs Powell's daughter. Clumps of thyme planted between the paving makes a scented footstool. Ivy is a favourite and can be found in all parts of the garden climbing up fences and as wig-wams in tubs. An hypericum has been trained by Mrs Powell as a standard plant and she has also has success in training forsythia the same way. An archway is bright with golden hop and there are at least 22 clematis scattered around the garden. At the base of the arch Mrs Powell has created a box basket while another box cone has been unusually cut in stripes. A drainage pipe with a ballcock perched on top has been painted black to form an obelisk while a gas boiler cowl becomes an attractive feature.

Purple wisteria scrambling over the front porch makes the house in Warsash Road easy to spot.

But it was almost taken out when it had not flowered in 12 years. Mrs Powell confessed: "About four years ago I threatened to dig it up if it did not flower. The following year the plant was covered with blossom and it has bloomed ever since. I think I frightened it."

Grass paths meander through front garden borders of blue, pink and mauve aquilegia, irises with a tapestry of ground-hugging conifers.

Notice the experimental cloud pruning on a conifer near the path. The idea came from Bangkok, but Mrs Powell is not certain if it will work.

The garden at 319 Warsash Road, Titchfield, is open tomorrow (Sunday, May 23) for the National Gardens Scheme and on June 14 for the British Red Cross Society (Hampshire branch) 2pm-6pm. Admission £1.50.

Converted for the new archive on 25 January 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.