Earthly Garden Designs

Motor Neurone Disease – Shetland Croft House Garden

Motor Neurone Disease - Shetland Croft House Garden
Designer: Sue Hayward
Contractors: Alan Smiles-Shetland Stonecraft, Nottingham Trent University horticultural students

The garden, set in the 1940s, depicts a typical Shetland croft house garden. The garden is owned by a Shetland crofter who has hung up his fishing nets since being diagnosed with motor neurone disease, symbolised by the walking stick leaning by the doorway.

The walls, sheltering the plants in the croft garden from the harsh weather, form an analogy with the refuge and support given by the MND association to its sufferers.

The croft garden is scattered with the evidence of a fisherman’s life and ropes and nets are hung from the walls. The window sill is lined with vibrant potted pelargoniums.

There is an alpine table in the sheltered corner of the croft wall featuring rare Shetland plants such as Edmonston’s chickweed (Cerastium arcticum subsp. edmonstonii), which has not been found anywhere else in the world.

The planting consists of tough shrubs such as Rosa rugosa, Fuchsia magellanica and Lonicera periclymenum. These help to shield the other plants from the gale-force winds.

Cultivars of heritage and rare Shetland vegetables, such as the ‘Foula Red’ potato, Shetland kale and rhubarb, are grown in rows on one side and on the other are colourful herbaceous plants that will tolerate the harsh conditions mixed with salad crops.
Shetland Croft House Garden