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Ashley Ball visits the first contender in our Barnsley’s best garden competition and it’s a young gardener with a real passion for perennials...
JACK Cooke had a blank canvas to work with when he moved into his Kingstone home six years ago.
What he has created in that time is testament to his hard work, creativity and youthful exuberance.
At just 26 he has skills well beyond his years and he is prepared to do the hard yards.
“I’m out in rain or shine,” he laughs.
“I think from April to the end of September, every day I have off I am in the garden because there’s always something to do.
“There wasn’t a plant in the garden when I moved in – it was just grass.”
It’s been some turnaround.
Just while we chat birds are whizzing above us and butterflies and bats are frequent visitors.
For Jack, a mental health nurse at Kendray Hospital, it’s also an oasis.
He added: “Gardening has always been something I did at home with my parents. When I got my own place it took off from there.
“The biggest thing for me when you work full-time is that you appreciate having a nice garden and somewhere to wind down.
“It’s like a sanctuary for me. I like flowers that are perennial to fill a border out but I also like growing plants from tubers like dahlias and canna lilies which take a bit of looking after like being stored over winter.
“Seeing them come back after winter, from nothing, is something I really enjoy.
“Perennials are easy to dig up at the end of the year and divide and it creates more plants for you. I would like to say it’s just a maintenance job but I change the look every year and I like moving things.
“That’s the thing with gardening too – it’s an ongoing project.”
Jack’s garden is cleverly softened around the edges with ivy and his many pots and planters are filled with plants of different shapes, sizes and textures.
He has a ready supply of strawberries growing in a planter and he is fortunate enough to have a low slug population meaning his hostas are at their very best.
He also has a tidy front garden but an interesting overspill on a walkway behind his house.
Not content with working on his own garden, Jack’s gone over the fence to tidy up there and has planted more wildflower seeds after tackling overgrown brambles.
The vote for Barnsley’s Best Garden will open on our website once all the contenders have been featured.
Barnsley’s Best Garden is kindly sponsored by Sunflowers From The Hills.
