Ashley Ball meets a gardener who has found a new purpose and passion in life...

THE prospect of sitting around all day was never going to appeal much to Andrew Dolman.

Told to close down his construction business due to a heart condition, he had to turn his attentions elsewhere.

His attentions were always going to be fixed on doing something outdoors and he opted to transform his garden.

He has a long border down the side of his home in Broomhill and the fact it looks far more established than it actually is, is testament to his hard work.

Around the other side of the house is a fruitful vegetable patch and greenhouse.

Andrew said: “My cardiologist told me that I had to finish with my construction company and do no heavy lifting.

“I was in and out of hospital and keep having to restart my heart.

“I am in a position now where I’m feeling a lot better than I did 18 months ago.

“With packing the business in, I needed something and I threw everything into the garden.”

Andrew might not be able to operate at the speed he’d like but you can see he applies similar principles to his garden that he did back in his working days.

There is a lot of planning done, well in advance, and then the stages are all completed on time.

It has left him with a very neat and easy to maintain end product.

He said: “I took a lot out and put in what I wanted to put in.

“It’s become a passion, one hundred per cent.

“Early in the year, when I am sewing the seeds for the vegetables and all my bedding plants, which are all from seed, that’s my favourite time.

“Starting late December/January, I am planning and you get to see the seeds coming through. It’s enjoyable.

“We see all sorts of nature here, foxes, hedgehogs, birds of prey and that’s wonderful.”

So what’s next?

He has already taken on part of the farmer’s field adjacent to his house and has plans for a ‘river’ water feature to run down the garden.

He added: “There was a triangle that the farmer couldn’t use so I asked him if I could tidy it up and it’s now full of vegetables.

“I had done all my garden and I was thinking: what can I do next?

“I’ve got it in my head what I want to do with the river... now the missus needs to see it before I get the sign-off.”

The competition is now closed and people will soon be able to vote for their favourite garden on the website.