When she was in her 40s, Pam Gray went through a period of depression so bad that she didn’t leave the house for six months. Then she plucked up the courage to do a floristry course, which led to a job in a florist’s shop.
‘To get there I had to go on a bus again and my life started getting back to normal, and the depression began to lift,’ Pam says. ‘And it’s all thanks to flowers.’
Gardening is now so important to Pam, 74, and her husband Barry, 78, a retired plumber, that they rarely venture far from their own patch.
‘We don’t own a car, we don’t eat out, we don’t go on holidays… plants are our treat, our hobby and our passion and this is where we’re happiest,’ Pam says. ‘We love it when people tell us it has inspired them and made them happy.’
Pam, 74, and Barry, 78, (pictured) won the Daily Mail National Garden Competition with their garden in Woking. Pictured: Barry and Pam in their garden, with their blue winner’s plaque
Their garden in Woking in Surrey certainly delighted the judges of the Daily Mail National Garden Competition. ‘Pam and Barry’s garden is an absolute gem that could have been a winner any year,’ says landscape designer Tim Sharples, one of the judges.
‘They have shown so many skills in a small space. They were our unanimous choice as the 2020 winners.’
This isn’t the first competition the Grays have won. They regularly scoop top spot in Woking In Bloom and have won garden equipment and a greenhouse in other contests, but their success in the Mail’s National Garden Competition trumps all that.
‘When we were told we’d won we were absolutely over the moon,’ says Pam. ‘It still hasn’t sunk in properly. We only entered on the spur of the moment – we got our form in with four days to spare.’
Their garden is a tale of two halves. The front garden, measuring 39ft by 27ft, is all about colour from spring through to late autumn.
The season starts with bulbs, pansies, primroses and wallflowers, followed by Pam’s astonishing display of bedding plants, which has been known to stop passers-by in their tracks.
She has a magic touch when it comes to propagating, and from February onwards she takes over a thousand cuttings. ‘I couldn’t possibly afford to buy so many plants, so the answer is to have a few healthy plants and take lots of cuttings from them.
‘I use a mixture of 50/50 compost and vermiculite, and take cuttings of scented-leaf pelargoniums, fuchsias, felicia, plectranthus and marguerites, 30 cuttings to a tray.
Pam said Barry does the pruning and landscaping, while she does the planning, propagation and watering. Pictured: Even the patio is packed with plants in Pam and Barry’s garden
‘I also grow lots from seed, like busy lizzies, and different vegetables – we grow peppers and aubergines on the kitchen table!’
The back garden, measuring 80ft by 35ft, is more restrained than the front, but just as packed with plants. There is a small pond, surrounded by trees, shrubs and perennials, and a winding path which is lined on either side with ferns.
Further on is the hidden ‘secret garden’, planted with grasses, and beyond that is Barry’s beloved veg garden. ‘Growing vegetables is his real passion,’ says Pam.
Their three all-important greenhouses are at the bottom of the garden, and in summer they are packed with tomatoes, chillies, basil and flowering pot plants.
Once the weather turns cold, they are crammed with tender plants that need winter protection.
Pam believes their garden works because it is a joint enterprise. ‘We make a good team. Barry chooses the veg – I wouldn’t dare interfere with that – and he also does the pruning and the landscaping, while I do the planning, the propagation and the watering.
‘We have the odd disagreement about pruning, but our main bone of contention is that he wants straight lines everywhere and I want curvy lines. I usually win because I design the planting.’
Pam revealed the £2,000 they won will be shared with their children and invested in their garden. Pictured: Pam and Barry’s lawn
As well as the blue winner’s plaque, Pam and Barry have received the winner’s cheque for £2,000 – and have already decided how to spend the money. Some is being shared with their three children but the rest will go – of course – on the garden, with a new arbour and bird table, and some more ferns.
‘And we always need more compost!’ Pam says. ‘My children know that – that’s what they usually get me for my birthday.’
She is already planning next year’s garden and choosing the new plants she wants to grow in amongst her old favourites. ‘I’ve seen a new kind of nicotiana I want to try.’
October to December is a busy period, as she and Barry tidy the garden and start moving tender plants into the greenhouses. After Christmas she has six weeks off from the garden, to spring clean the house, but by February it’s all systems go.
‘I love that moment in late winter when you first put your hands in compost and you know that the gardening season is starting again,’ Pam says. ‘It’s the most wonderful feeling. It makes your heart sing.’