Levens Hall ~ Cumbria

Amazing topiary, love that little elephant!

Me too - so clever all that clipping and chopping and keeping on top of it - absolutely amazing. :O)

Oh poor Lottie Janey LOL ... What an amazing place to visit I loved the little Elly too , very clever :o))

I too love that elephant and as for the rest WOW. what incredible gardens. Thanks Janey.

I have seen photos of this garden before in magazines, but it looks much better in your photos, a stunning place, OH and I love topiary, so clever, a real work of art, just wish it was nearer.....thanks for sharing Janey.

What an amazing place to visit... Love the topiary, think the Top Hat is brill! Love the little pots at the end. Thanks for letting us visit with you !:-))

The Elephant! Lovely!:))

Looks a lovely place, only remember seeing Levens Hall before and that was om Most Haunted...lol

Lovely photos and a fantastic house ... I love the elephant :o)

superb garden! the building needs a restore .

Thanks girls and Hywel.....:)). Apparently they start clipping in September and it takes months! The little elephant is cute isn't it......aw, thanks Dd! It's a fabulous place to look round, and just imagine doing all that clipping, I certainly wouldn't have Bingowings then.....Lol!

Didn't realise it was haunted Holly.....the family still live there......well I thought it was the family......scary!!!

I first saw pictures of Levens Hall and the topiary garden waaay back when I was in my twenties! This garden is just amazing. ( I was so inspired that when we had our own house I immediately bought a globe cedar..thinking to try it. LOL...such optimism. The yew that I bought was very slow growing...I admit I didn't have the sticking power. Gave up! We moved away and last I saw my garden they had returned it to clipped lawn...even my red maple was gone!) How lovely that you could see all this within a days travel.

Hi Lori.....it is amazing walking between the topiary giants here, some of them a couple of hundred years old.....you can tell by the shapes they are. There is an incredible feeling as you stroll around of a garden through the ages that is timeless and still quietly alive, that if you looked out the corner of your eye you would catch the topiary moving....:))

That's a shame about your old garden especially the red maple, quite sad. We were so pleased last year when we visited our Spanish garden again and everything was thriving and well established, it was a joy to see. Yes we are lucky here nowhere on our island is ever really too far away, and so much history to enjoy....:))

Ah yes...the whispers of history. I seem to recall a topiary giraffe...is there one? Enjoyed this blog, Janey. especially the pictures of the delphiniums...sigh! I keep thinking that I should make the journey before I'm too old to stand the flight! ;-)

Well we didn't see a giraffe Lori, I've looked on google too, Willowpark hall in NZ has topiary in the shapes of African animals.....they look incredible! Never too old for a flight, thats what I keep telling myself, I'm hoping to visit our boy in Oz in September if I can face the journey....:))

Oh that sounds wonderful, Janey. Start your training programme now! lol...
I remembered where I saw the picture of the topiary of Leven's Hall...it was in a pruning/topiary handbook from the Brooklyn Botanic Institute in N.Y. I think I still have it...must be an antique by now. Since getting outdoors is chancy I've taking to looking thro my "collection" of materials on garden planning and construction and that little handbook was one of the things I saw recently. Serendipity!