Enclosed and sheltered, this sunny courtyard can be made into an area that will provide treats for the kitchen, as well as a peaceful place to relax. Raised beds are used to grow salad leaves and flowers, while the warm walls are home to cordon redcurrants, a fig tree and vines.
The terracotta pots hold olive trees, lemon verbena, tomatoes and chillies, while the larger bed is filled with gourds, sunflowers and at their feet bright annuals and swiss chard.

Preparation and planting
1. Fill the raised beds with a mix of soil enriched with compost or manure and grit or sand for drainage.
2. Plant the redcurrants, vine and fig tree. Curtail tree roots with a barrier made from a container to help it fruit. Fix wires to walls to train the growth.
3. In spring, sow nasturtium and salad leaf seeds and thin out the seedlings when big enough. Sow Californian poppy seeds, and plant coreopsis seeds in pots, thin out and plant out in early summer.
4. Plant up containers with perennial herbs using soil-based compost for stability. Line large pots with plastic to reduce moisture loss.
5. Plant out gourds, sunflowers, swiss chard, tomatoes, basil and chillies, and pot up the pelargonium.

Summer plant list
1. Olea europaea
2. Vitis 'Brant'
3. Fan-trained fig
4. Cordon redcurrants
5. Tomato 'Pendulina Red'
6. Rosemary
7. Aloysia triphylla (lemon verbena)
8. Climbing gourd
9. Mixed Italian salad leaves
10. Orange, gold and mahogany dwarf nasturtiums
11. Mix of California poppies and Coreopsis 'Mahogany Midget'
12. Helianthemum 'Earthwalker' and 'Velvet Queen'
13. Rainbow Swiss chard
14. Italian basil
15. Pelargonium 'Red Unique'
16. Oregano
17. Chilli

APRIL 2004
ORIGINAL IDEA JANE NEWDICK
ILLUSTRATION BETTY BIB