A quick visit to the plot revealed that, hmm, the padlock is still on the gate. I can start as soon as I can get through that, I guess. I emailed the council to ask what the state of play is, including absolute confirmation on which plot I’m getting, as the maps they’d put in with the contract bore very little resemblance to the physical and geographical truth of the matter. And are all the cabbages and beanpoles really all just being abandoned by Mr B, the previous resident?

The reply came back that there was some confusion about what was being handed on to me, but no fear, they were going to be drawing their maps and I would definitely be getting a plot. My fear was just that I might get a long thin plot, rather than the square I’d been shown in the first place. A square lends itself much better to the kind of photographic garden that I’m hoping to magic into reality. A long thin strip gives you two much longer boundary lines where the background of your photos is at the mercy of what your neighbour’s plot looks like. And in some cases, that could be fairly dismal.