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相反的，他們種上了成百株杜鵑、松柏和槭樹，幾十棵冬青、杜鵑，還有許多的馬醉木——一種開白花的常綠灌木、攀援樹木的衛矛——如今它正呈現出一派火紅景象。他們的想法是，這座園子在春夏秋冬都要燦爛鮮艷。
這對夫婦每天都要出門，做將近三個小時的園藝。他們不是從一邊做到另一邊，而是Tony從一個方向出發、他的妻子從另一頭出發——帶著一臺收音機，調到古典頻道。
這些日子里，他們把工作時間規定在了白天。但是在退休之前，他們有時候會在工作歸來后做園藝，把手電筒綁在頭上來照明。
一年之中有幾次，他們會讓公眾付費入園欣賞，并以此為慈善機構籌集了一大筆錢?！皫啄晗聛?，我們接待了8500個游客，籌集了25000鎊，”瑪麗說。
說到錢，Newton家為這個花園付出了多少呢？他們不能、也不會給出他們投入的具體數目，但是肯定到五位數了，甚至可能上了六位數。很顯然，花的每一分錢都是值得的。
在談論他們所創造的一切時，他們臉上的微笑充分說明了心中那份完全有理、微微陳舊的驕傲。
所有這一切引出了一個問題：他們能忍受搬離這座房子嗎？從Marie的臉色我們可以清楚地知道，她已經想過了這個問題，明白這個答案很痛苦。
“如果你是實際的，你就會明白我們無法保持這樣的工作量20年……”她說。但是她會很高興地知道，即使某一天他們必須離開，他們的辛勞會給成千上萬的人帶來快樂。
“這會是份可愛的遺產，”她說著，淘氣地露齒一笑?！叭绻嗔?，我們可以隨時用上電鋸?！?/FONT>
Instead, they've planted hundreds of azaleas, conifers and acers, dozens of holly bushes, rhododendrons, lots of pieris (evergreen shrubs with small white flowers) and euonymus (spindle trees) which are currently providing a glorious display of red. The idea is to have a garden that looks brilliant in spring, summer, autumn and winter.
The couple are outside every day, doing up to three hours of gardening. Rather than work side by side, Tony heads in one direction and his wife in another — carrying a radio tuned into Classic FM.
These days, they restrict their exertions to daylight hours. But before they retired, they'd sometimes garden after work, strapping torches to their heads.
A few times a year they invite the paying public to visit and raise large amounts of money for charity. "Over the years, we've had 8,500 visitors and raised £25,000," Marie says.
Talking of money, how much has the garden cost the Newtons? They can't or won't put a price on the money they've ploughed into it, but it must run into five figures, and possibly six. It's clearly been worth every penny.
The pride — fully justified, lightly worn — that they feel is manifested by the warm smiles on their faces as they talk about what they have created.
All this begs the question: could they ever bear to move house? It's clear from Marie's face that she's given some thought to the question and finds the answer painful.
"If you're realistic, you can't think we could keep this workload up in 20 years' time ..." she says. But she'll be happy in the knowledge that even if they have to leave one day, their endeavours will have given pleasure to so many thousands of people.
"It'll be a lovely legacy," she says. Then a mischievous grin plants itself on her face. "And if it gets too much, we can always get a chainsaw!"
