Small VICTORIES

Alasdair and Philippa Beaumont weren't going to let a tiny plot stop them having the garden of their dreams

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Tackling the garden came at the end of a two-year house renovation for Alasdair and Philippa Beaumont. 'We'd left it until last so that we had a place to store all the building materials - it was a dumping ground,' says Philippa. Overlooked by neighbours, the garden measured just 7.6mx4.6m (24.9x15.1ft) and had beds around the edges that made it seem even smaller. 'It felt very uninviting, with damaged crazy paving, and was horribly overgrown,' says Philippa. 'Its only saving graces were the original redbrick Victorian walls and a tall hedge at the bottom.'