Town garden design, planting and upkeep since 2011

Gardens made, kept on file.

Loam & Ledger is Ruth Pellow and Idris Kamal. We design and plant town gardens, then keep a file on each one for as long as it grows.

Arrange a site walkRead the file

Two places left for spring 2027

The walk round

File 041 · walked 3 March 2023

On foot, first.

Nothing is drawn until we have walked the plot with its owner and a tape. Twelve readings went into this file that morning, and none of them is a guess.

  • Readings12
  • Pits3
  • Photographs2

Soil pits A and B

Section at 1:10

Sections through soil pits A and B at 1:10Pit A, dug 600 mm by the shed: 280 mm of dark loam topsoil over sandy clay, pH 6.8. Pit B, mid-lawn: filled with water to 300 mm, the level fell 22 mm in one hour.0280600 mmStart, 300After one hour040506Pit A, by the shedPit B, mid-lawn
  • Topsoil, dark loam
  • Subsoil, sandy clay
  • Water, the drainage test

Circled numbers are the readings in the table

Site readings

3 March 2023 · 8.40 to 11.10 am

No.ReadingFigure
01Plot, wall to wallalong the line of the path18.4 × 7.2 m
02Fall towards the houseback wall to door sill310 mm
03Side passage, clear widthfor barrows and bags860 mm
04Topsoil depthpit A, by the shed280 mm
05Soil pHaverage of three pits6.8
06Drainage in one hourpit B, filled to 300 mm22 mm
07Sun in Junenorth border, against the wall7.5 h
08Sun in Decemberthe bed by the house0 h
09East wall heightbrick, sound, lime mortar2.1 m
10Old slabs to keepstacked by the shed14
11Rose on the north wallkept and pruned hard1
12Shed and bramblesout before planting2 loads

Taken by Ruth Pellow and Idris Kamal

The finished walled garden in early summer: a gravel path curving between deep beds of white umbellifers, yarrow and heleniums, clipped yew domes and an oak bench against the far brick wall.
The same walled plot before the work, in flat grey light: rough lawn, a leaning shed and brambles on the wall.
Top · June 2025
The view from the back door, two summers on.
Below · 3 March 2023
The same view on the morning of the walk.

The plan

Drawn 14 April 2023 · revision C

Ink on tracing paper, at 1:50.

Ruth draws on tracing paper laid over the survey. Idris checks every bed against the readings, and the plan in the file is the one the garden was built from.

Project
Walled town garden, 18.4 × 7.2 m
Drawing scale
1:50 on an A2 sheet
What the plan holds
22 plantings in five beds, with the levels
Outcome
Built from revision C in October 2023
Planting plan of 9 Tanner’s Walk at 1:50A walled plot 18.4 metres long and 7.2 metres wide. A gravel path curves from the back door to a terrace of old slabs and a bench at the far wall. Five clipped yew domes, a multi-stem tree in the far corner and sixteen plant groups sit in five beds, A to E.Ros m 1, on the wallABCDEGer m 15Epi s 7Hak m 8Hyd a 3Ane h 6Dig l 9Sel w 7Ech v 7Des g 11Ach f 7Cro g 10Eup c 3Hel s 12Ach f 8Rud f 9Hem b 5Cal k 9Ame l 118.407.20±0.00 sill+0.310125 mN
  • A House bed, shade
  • B North border
  • C South border
  • D Back bed
  • E Path edges: Pen a, Nas t, Alc m
  • Nar t and Tul b under every bed
Loam & LedgerThe soil and the file of every garden we make
File
041
Drawing
Planting plan, 9 Tanner’s Walk
Client
Leonard Ashby
Scale
1:50 at A2
Revision
C, 14 April 2023
Drawn · checked
Ruth Pellow · Idris Kamal
Two garden designers, seen from behind, measuring a rough plot with a tape beside its brick wall.
Overhead view of a hand-drawn planting plan on tracing paper with ink linework, soft green and ochre washes, a scale rule and two pencils.

Planting list

Planting list · 9 Tanner’s Walk

Revision C · 24 kinds

CodePlantBedNo.JFMAMJJASONDHeight, m
Tax bTaxus baccataYew, clipped to domesA B C D51.20
Ros mRosa ‘Madame Alfred Carrière’Climbing rose, creamB14.50
Sel wSelinum wallichianumMilk parsleyB71.20
Ach fAchillea filipendulina ‘Parker’s Variety’Yarrow, ochreB C151.00
Hel sHelenium ‘Sahin’s Early Flowerer’Sneezeweed, rustC120.90
Pen aPennisetum alopecuroides ‘Hameln’Fountain grassE180.60
Cal kCalamagrostis × acutiflora ‘Karl Foerster’Feather reed grassD91.50
Nas tNassella tenuissimaPony-tail grassE200.50
Des gDeschampsia cespitosa ‘Goldtau’Tufted hair grassB110.70
Hak mHakonechloa macraJapanese forest grassA80.35
Rud fRudbeckia fulgida ‘Goldsturm’Coneflower, goldC90.60
Ech vEchinacea ‘Virgin’Coneflower, whiteB70.60
Ane hAnemone × hybrida ‘Honorine Jobert’Japanese anemone, whiteA61.20
Hyd aHydrangea arborescens ‘Annabelle’Hydrangea, creamA31.20
Dig lDigitalis luteaSmall yellow foxgloveA90.60
Hem bHemerocallis ‘Burning Daylight’Day lily, orangeC50.80
Cro gCrocosmia ‘George Davison’Montbretia, yellowC100.70
Eup cEuphorbia characias subsp. wulfeniiSpurge, lime greenC31.20
Alc mAlchemilla mollisLady’s mantleE140.40
Ger mGeranium macrorrhizum ‘White-Ness’Cranesbill, whiteA150.30
All 24 kinds, planted 10 to 12 October 2023375

Showing 1–20 of 24 kinds

Planted 10–12 October 2023

Every plant, and where it went.

Each kind with its bed, its count and the months it earns its place. The six the garden leans on are photographed; the rest carry their symbol from the plan.

  • Kinds24
  • Plants375
  • Photographed6
A clipped yew dome, close
A cream climbing rose in flower
A white umbellifer flower head
An ochre yarrow flower plate
A rust-coloured helenium flower
A soft buff fountain-grass seed head

The year

The seasons calendar · kept by the owner from 2024

A year of small jobs.

Written for this garden and no other. Jobs with a filled marker are the ones we came to do ourselves in the first year.

  • Months12
  • Jobs37
  • On our visits11

Seasons chart · 9 Tanner’s Walk

One tick for each kind: a bar at its best, a dot at rest

January

  • 1Check the tree ties
  • 2Note gaps and losses
  • 3Take the frost frame

February

  • 4Cut grasses to a hand’s height
  • 5Clear last year’s stems
  • 6Tie in the rose

March

  • 7Mulch the beds
  • 8First feed
  • 9Take the spring frame
  • 10Split the heleniums, every third year

April

  • 11Weed while it’s easy
  • 12Stake the milk parsley
  • 13Watch the tulips go over

May

  • 14Chop the heleniums by a third
  • 15Stake the tall ones
  • 16Water the young plugs

June

  • 17Deadhead the rose
  • 18Take the summer frame
  • 19Water in dry spells

July

  • 20Deadhead the yarrow
  • 21Water in dry spells
  • 22Leave the grasses be

August

  • 23Clip the yews
  • 24Check the watering
  • 25Take the late-summer frame

September

  • 26Collect milk-parsley seed
  • 27Plant narcissi in the gaps
  • 28Note what flopped

October

  • 29Fill the gaps
  • 30Leave the seed heads standing
  • 31Hand over the file

November

  • 32Rake leaves off the crowns
  • 33Clean and oil the shears
  • 34Lift the tulips if they sulk

December

  • 35Leave it alone
  • 36Walk round for the bones
  • 37Write up the year

Done on one of our visits, first year onlyThe owner’s job

Six visits, then it was his.

We came back through the first year to chop, stake, clip and fill, then handed the file over with the keys to the shed.

DateWorkWhoHours
12 Oct 2023Planting, third day; watering inRuth, Idris7
9 Jan 2024Winter walk: ties, gaps, the drainRuth2
26 Mar 2024Mulch, first feed, the first frameIdris4
21 May 2024Chop the heleniums, stake the tall onesRuth3
13 Aug 2024Clip the yews, check the wateringIdris3
8 Oct 2024Fill eleven gaps, hand over the fileRuth, Idris5
First year on site24

First year

“I’d never kept a garden before, and every March the file tells me what this one wants next.”

Leonard Ashby9 Tanner’s Walk, Hollowmere · garden made 2023
An older man in a wool jumper sitting on his garden bench with a mug, looking to one side.

Example portrait and words

  • Six visits in the first yearThen the garden and its file were his to keep.
  • Ruth rings each MarchTo go through the year’s first jobs before they start.
  • Still on our August roundWe clip his five yews on a dry day every summer.
The garden from its far end in late summer: grasses in seed, rust and ochre flowers, clipped yew domes, an oak bench and a lit kitchen window in the brick house.
9 Tanner’s Walk from the far end, 26 August 2025, 7.40 pm. The lit window is the kitchen.From the file, taken by Idris Kamal

Photographs

One tripod mark · four frames a year

Same spot, every season.

A brass pin by the bench marks where the tripod stands. Four times a year Leonard takes one frame from it and posts it to us for the file, and each season comes with its own short list of jobs.

  1. The garden corner in early spring: cream narcissi, cut-back beds, a yew dome and the oak bench.

    Spring

    March to May

    Taken on 24 March 2025, with the narcissi out and the beds cut back.

    • Mulch the beds
    • Stake the milk parsley
    • Chop the heleniums by a third
  2. The same corner in early summer: fresh green mounds and the first white umbellifers.

    Early summer

    June to July

    Taken on 17 June 2025, the week the first umbellifers opened.

    • Deadhead the rose
    • Water in dry spells
    • Deadhead the yarrow
  3. The same corner in late summer: grasses in seed with rust and ochre flowers.

    Late summer

    August to October

    Taken on 26 August 2025, the grasses in seed and the heleniums at their best.

    • Clip the yews
    • Collect milk-parsley seed
    • Plant narcissi in the gaps
  4. The same corner in winter: frost on dry seed heads and the clipped yew.

    Winter

    November to February

    Taken on 13 January 2026, frost on the seed heads we left standing.

    • Rake leaves off the crowns
    • Check the tree ties
    • Cut grasses to a hand’s height

The practice in figures

  • 63gardens made since 2011
  • 58still visited once a year
  • 4,212plants set in the ground in 2025
  • 14years the oldest file has run

Example figures for this study, counted from 2011 to 2025: two or three gardens a year until 2021, and eight a year since. The growers, makers and prizes below are example marks.

  • TansymoorPerennials
  • LarchcoteTrees
  • HollowmereGarden prize 2024
  • SallowmillJoinery
  • TallowbyStone since 1898
  • FallowcombeNursery
  • Plot & PaleQuarterly

Keeper’s notes

Written October 2024 · for whoever keeps it next

For the next pair of hands.

One designer kneels to set plug plants into fresh soil while the other stands on the gravel path reading from a clipboard.

Gardens outlast owners and designers. The last pages of every file are plain notes for whoever kneels here after us.

Written
October 2024, at the handover
Kept
In the back of the file, with a copy at the workroom
Signed
Ruth Pellow and Idris Kamal

Keeper’s notes

6 notes, each signed

  1. 01Feb

    Cut the grasses to a hand’s height, never lower. The fountain grass sulks if it is scalped.

    Idris
  2. 02Mar

    The drain by the back door floods after heavy rain. The anemones there like it; nothing else will.

    Ruth
  3. 03May

    Chop the heleniums by a third in the last week of May, or they lie across the path by August.

    Ruth
  4. 04Aug

    Clip the yews once, on a dry day, and leave them a little fuller at the base than the top.

    Idris
  5. 05Oct

    Leave the seed heads standing. The wrens use them, and they look their best with frost on.

    Ruth
  6. 06Always

    The tripod mark is the brass pin by the bench’s left foot. Stand there, lens at 1.4 m, and keep the wall level.

    Idris

Pictured: Ruth setting the plugs, Idris reading the list, 11 October 2023.

Your garden

File 064 · opened when you write

Every file starts with a letter.

Tell us where the garden is and what you would like from it. We will ring you to fix a morning for the site walk.

A rough size helps us plan the morning.

Ruth or Idris reads every letter and replies within two working days.

The two designers leaning over a tracing-paper plan at a workroom table, one pointing with a pencil, one holding a scale rule.

What happens next

  1. A callWe ring to ask about the plot and fix a morning for the walk.
  2. The site walkA morning on the plot with you and a tape. It costs nothing.
  3. A written quoteWithin a fortnight, with the walk’s readings already in your file.

Pictured: Ruth and Idris at the workroom table in Mill Yard, where every file is kept.

The walk round
The plan
Planting list
The year
First year
Photographs
Keeper’s notes
Your garden

Two places left for next spring.

Loam & Ledger makes eight gardens a year. Write or ring, and the first page of your file is written on the morning of the site walk.

Arrange a site walk
The site walk
A morning on your plot, on a day that suits you.
A reply
Within two working days, from Ruth or Idris.
Ring
01632 960 417, Mondays and Thursdays