This Hamilton Mountain garden is both a showplace and for family to enjoy

There are showplace" gardens, meant to show off the gardener's skill or collection of plants, and there are family" gardens that are places for generations to gather, for children to play, and to attract birds and other wildlife.

Karen Cunningham - with assistance and serious sweat equity from husband, Fred - has made a garden on Hamilton's east Mountain that is both. A really spectacular pond and waterfall catches a visitor's eye immediately, but it is surrounded and embraced by flower beds and borders that are a reflection of Karen's love and knowledge of plants.

The couple has lived in the house for about 40 years and some flower beds went in right from the beginning. But this was a garden for two young (now grown) children, with swings and a sandbox. We added here and there all the time," Karen says.

The pond - the splendid centrepiece of this garden - went in 13 years ago. They did their research, went to a couple of pond clinics at a garden centre, and started off with a pre-formed pond. But they wanted more in their water feature than molded plastic could provide, and so Fred started digging. The dirt was piled into a berm at the back" of the pond, which gave them a place to create a lovely waterfall that has a very soothing, quiet sound.

I dug it out until I hit the clay," Fred says ruefully. That was as hard as hitting rock."

While Fred did the shovel work, he's clear that Karen was in on the planning, the planting, the careful (and back-breaking) placement of rocks and boulders and everything else that goes into creating a healthy aquatic ecosystem that is now home to thriving Shubunkin and catfish.

Everything we do, we do together," Fred says.

Like virtually every garden I've visited, this one is a repository of memory: delphiniums, which thrive here, come from Karen's mother's garden, as do some of the ground covers on the hill" behind the pond. But, this garden is also a reflection of Karen's eclectic and diverse taste in perennials, woody plants, and annuals.

Near the end of June, the garden - like all our gardens - is going through the transition from the bright, showy flowers of late spring - lilacs and irises, bleeding heart and peonies - to the more subtle hues of summer. The dahlias are yet to come.

In one spot, Karen has the showy blue flowers of agapanthus in bloom. The tender perennial (also known as African lily or lily of the Nile) is much more common in Britain than here, but Karen has, until now, enjoyed them by treating them as an annual. I'm going to bring them inside for the winter this year and see what happens," she says.

She has a dozen hibiscus standards (small trees) in pots close to the house and they go inside every winter. They bloom prolifically there during the cold weather, she says.

This is very much a garden for wildlife. What appear to be five birdhouses on poles are actually three squirrel houses and two for birds. Karen's other" hobby is wildlife photography and feeders attract birds into their garden. She won't admit to attracting squirrels (knowing neighbours don't share her fondness for the animals) but she says she loves photographing them.

The garden, not to be soppy about it, is clearly her happy place."

I love all the colours," she says. It makes me happy to see them blooming like this."

Fred says he's not much of a gardener, but gets his enjoyment out of seeing his wife's.

Karen gets the most pleasure out of this," he says. But it is nice to sit down and see what we've done here."

Rob Howard lives and gardens in Hamilton. He's a garden writer, speaker (in non-pandemic times) and garden coach. You can reach him at gardenwriterrob@gmail.com or on Facebook at Rob Howard: Garden Writer.