Betty Carter has been gardening for most of her life. She currently lives at Hartley Court, one of our retirement living schemes in Newcastle, where she took it upon herself to transform the garden at Hartley Court.
We spoke to Betty to find out more about her love of gardening and get some top tips too.
How did you get into gardening, Betty?
My dad got me into gardening when I was a child. He gave me this little plot of land and I just had to figure out what to do with it. I’ve been gardening ever since. Everywhere I’ve lived, I’ve gardened, even when I was living in a little flat.
I love gardening. It keeps you fit and it’s very therapeutic, especially when you see the plants start to grow and bloom.
What are your favourite plants to grow?
I love potato plants, rhododendrons, black cane. I really like hanging baskets as well, you can hang them from May and watch them flourish until October.
What gardening have you done here at Hartley Court?
During Covid, most of the garden was left and got quite muddy. I grassed it over and then just built the garden up over the years. I added plants, ornaments, trellises and lights - it’s great in the night time, it looks like a fairy tale.
I got a statue of an owl near the black cane which has a plaque in tribute to my son who passed away at the age of 27 and a bench with a plaque for my husband John, who passed away in 2022. I also planted a red robin tree for John which is in the middle of the garden.
What advice would you give someone new to gardening?
Start small, plants things like peony roses, small rhododendrons, azaleas, red robin plants, potato plants – they look nice and they are easy to grow, you don’t have to spend too much time looking after them.
Put plenty of compost and nutrients in the ground to help feed the plants and water them regularly.
You grow into it, when you see them flourishing it inspires you.
You can also get plenty of advice online from websites like Gardeners’ World.
How does gardening make you feel?
It makes me feel good, when I’m sitting here looking at the garden and thinking ‘I’ve done that, I’ve made that grow.’
We’d love to see some of your own garden success stories. Send your garden selfies to communication@karbonhomes.co.uk and they could feature in a future edition of our magazine At Home with Karbon or online on our website and Facebook page.
Betty Carter has been gardening for most of her life. She currently lives at Hartley Court, one of our retirement living schemes in Newcastle, where she took it upon herself to transform the garden at Hartley Court.
We spoke to Betty to find out more about her love of gardening and get some top tips too.
How did you get into gardening, Betty?
My dad got me into gardening when I was a child. He gave me this little plot of land and I just had to figure out what to do with it. I’ve been gardening ever since. Everywhere I’ve lived, I’ve gardened, even when I was living in a little flat.
I love gardening. It keeps you fit and it’s very therapeutic, especially when you see the plants start to grow and bloom.
What are your favourite plants to grow?
I love potato plants, rhododendrons, black cane. I really like hanging baskets as well, you can hang them from May and watch them flourish until October.
What gardening have you done here at Hartley Court?
During Covid, most of the garden was left and got quite muddy. I grassed it over and then just built the garden up over the years. I added plants, ornaments, trellises and lights - it’s great in the night time, it looks like a fairy tale.
I got a statue of an owl near the black cane which has a plaque in tribute to my son who passed away at the age of 27 and a bench with a plaque for my husband John, who passed away in 2022. I also planted a red robin tree for John which is in the middle of the garden.
What advice would you give someone new to gardening?
Start small, plants things like peony roses, small rhododendrons, azaleas, red robin plants, potato plants – they look nice and they are easy to grow, you don’t have to spend too much time looking after them.
Put plenty of compost and nutrients in the ground to help feed the plants and water them regularly.
You grow into it, when you see them flourishing it inspires you.
You can also get plenty of advice online from websites like Gardeners’ World.
How does gardening make you feel?
It makes me feel good, when I’m sitting here looking at the garden and thinking ‘I’ve done that, I’ve made that grow.’
We’d love to see some of your own garden success stories. Send your garden selfies to communication@karbonhomes.co.uk and they could feature in a future edition of our magazine At Home with Karbon or online on our website and Facebook page.
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