EARLIER in the year my in-laws, June and Jack, moved up to the area from Norfolk. Since the move, they have been busy unpacking boxes, moving furniture and redecorating.

They seem to have just about got the inside licked now and have turned their attention to the outside. Their new neighbours have informed them that the previous owner hadn't really shown much interest in gardening. This was quite apparent, as theirs was the only garden in the street that wasn't immaculately laid out and lovingly attended to. It was the only garden in the area that didn't have a striped lawn and borders bursting with pest free blooms. It was the only garden that wasn't a garden.

Just over a fortnight ago we all sat down and decided on a plan of action. Naturally, having just bought the house, shelled out on solicitors and paid a massive removals bill, June and Jack were a little worried about spending too much money on doing up the garden. However, neither of them was working (both retired) so they had plenty of time to put into the garden, but they wanted a garden that would not be too labour intensive.

The first task was to actually get in there and see if there was anything worth salvaging. Under the three-foot high couch grass we managed to locate a lovely clump of lavender, a shiny, happy Hypericum, three bushes of blue geranium, one straggly apple (with apples) and one plum (without plums). We decided to leave them all in-situ.

Jack's task was to slowly clear away all the couch grass and then dig over and rake the soil. It seemed an insurmountable task, but doing a little bit here and there, he had it done within a fortnight.

Now we could start planning. They wanted a lawn, but not a large one as that would take a lot of mowing in the summer. They wanted lots of border space filled with colour, fragrance and privacy, but they didn't want to have to tend to it too often. Tinker and potter yes, but not digging, planting and hoeing.

As I usually do when I plan a garden, I stood and looked at it from all angles. I sat and got the feel of the place. Then I started drawing imaginary pictures in my mind. I decided on two big borders in opposing corners of the garden, not straight ones, but lovely curvy ones, big and billowing. I got out a broom handle and marked out the lawn. It would run across the garden between the two remaining corners in a large teardrop shape. It would be fatter at the end near the gate so that it would make the garden look bigger.

I quickly etched out a rough sketch of how the garden would look when it had been completed and showed it to June and Jack. They seemed to like the ideas (very important in garden design) and told me to carry on.

I made a quick trip out to buy some plants. However, I didn't go to a garden centre, I went to a supermarket. They often sell a wide variety of small plants at very cheap prices.

I thought this would be ideal for someone on a tight budget and have always wanted to see if I could plant out an entire garden this way. I bought plenty of shrubs and hardy perennials. These would need minimal maintenance and provide everything they wanted in terms of colour, shape and scent. The total cost for the plants came to less than £25. OK, they are smaller than the ones you would buy in a garden centre but they'll soon catch up.

After planting my prize purchases (taller specimens at the back), I paced canes around the perimeter of my lawn area and tied string all the way around it. I also made sure that some of the string criss-crossed the patch. This, I hoped, would keep the dog, the cats and the birds off the newly sown lawn. I loosely raked the surface and starting at the narrow end of the teardrop made my way backwards gently broadcasting an all-purpose grass seed mixture.

At the end of the day it looked good. It would take a little while for the grass to grow, but the conditions are perfect at the moment (wet and warm) and that shouldn't take long. I will mulch all the borders with chipped bark so that the weeds can't come back through. This time next year they will have a colourful, busy and embarrassment free front garden that will take very little upkeep.

JOBS TO DO THIS WEEK

Prune trained fruit

APPLES and pears that are grown on cordons, espaliers and step-overs can be pruned now. Cut them back to shape, and with no more than three leaf joints proud of any existing fruit. Cutting now should encourage greater fruiting rather than increased leaf growth.

READERS' QUESTIONS

YOU may have noticed that my personal e-mail address was at the bottom of last week's article. Despite giving away my age, I am willing to have a go at answering any of your horticultural queries. If you don't have access to a computer then feel free to write to me at work (Nature's World, address also supplied at the end of the column). However, be warned that I may use your questions in the gardening column and share your problem with the rest of the readers. It may be something that I cannot answer and would like to call on readers for assistance.

Take for example Mrs Gregory-Smith who e-mailed me to ask if anyone knows where you can buy netted pea guards to keep the rabbits off her vegetables. I don't know off-hand of anyone selling them but we have made our own at Nature's World from bits of chicken wire. We quite simply stuck bamboo canes in the ground around the crop and wove the wire around the canes. We then bent over the top half of the sheet of wire and twisted it together so that it formed a protective cloche.

If anyone knows where Mrs Gregory-Smith can get hold of some ready-made guards I (and Mrs Gregory-Smith) would be ever so grateful to hear from you.

POSTSCRIPT

BRIGID will be answering more of your horticultural questions on Radio Cleveland this Sunday morning between 11am and noon.

Contact Brigid at brigidpress67.freeserve.co.uk or write to her at Nature's World, Ladgate Lane, Acklam, Middlesbrough TS5 7YN.