About-muddywellies

Hi! Welcome to muddywellies – A personal Blog about Gardening, Life and Devon County in the UK.

My name is Mike Gilmore and I’m Head Gardener at Winsford Walled Gardens.

From Hobby to Profession in one day!
I roamed the globe  after obtaining my first degree, working on whatever project that caught my interest or circumstance dictated. Later, I earned a Masters, but I didn’t know any more about gardening than what I’d picked up as a child. Until 1999 that is, when my mother and I unexpectedly discovered a derelict, overgrown genuine English Walled Garden that nobody wanted – except my mother.

We moved in 4 months later (our home wasn’t for sale when we decided to buy the walled garden). It was June 29, 1999 when I became a gardener. But first we (the family) had to clear the 8ft brambles, WWII Mess hut and create the gardens from scratch.

We worked like Trojans. I read every gardening book I could lay my hands on, my ‘learning curve’ was a vertical straight line!  Back then I started a diary web site and for three years people only learned about the gardens through Garden Club slideshows. In 2003, we began advertising and and redeveloped the web site (it’s on version 7 now), the search engines rating it highly under specific searches.

As my gardening knowledge and experience improved I became increasingly disillusioned by the various ‘gardening media’ that forever ‘preached’ things that simply didn’t apply in practise in the real world outside the garden show or ‘off camera’.

Why Muddywellis?
Speaking with gardeners from around the world who visit my gardens, has opened my eyes to the fact that many are keen to learn solutions to perennial problems. This site is my response to reach a wider audience.

Muddywellies started in June, 2009 and enables me to cover more ground compared to my established garden site that focuses almost exclusively upon my garden and Victorian-related gardening.

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Buy my Books
Back in 1999 before I restored my first Victorian greenhouse I was told it couldn’t be done, or at least not without professional help lasting two years or more. (You can just imagine how much that would cost)! But after the initial garden clearance I started my first restoration on September 01, 1999 and the first plants were installed on 15 November, 1999. The result amazes all our garden visitors.

Perhaps the biggest obstacle to any restoration or garden makeover project is the level of your own  confidence. My Victorian Greenhouse Restoration Guide provides both practical help and assurance to anyone seeking to restore their own Victorian greenhouse or conservatory.

Through popular demand (from my garden visitors), I’ve finally gotten around to writing a book for the DIY gardener or anyone new to gardening  Garden Design and Build Book. It’s chock full of highly practical tips, suggestions and step-by-step photo details that I’ve used to create my own garden which is open daily to the public.

Further Reading
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