VISIT TO FOURSEASONS GARDEN: Saturday 15th May 2010

Wow. It makes my one third of an acre look bare.

I think everything in the garden must be bonsai scotsgran, They keep everything in its place and the size they want. I'm going to be a bit more ruthless from now on too. I've no idea what happens to all those roots:-)

I suppose you only need roots to support the top growth so there will not be as many roots as you and I would have from trees etc. It is truly inspiring and I could go for it if presented with a clean slate but I would never be able to do it now in my present garden but I can do some of it. How much lawn is there?.

Great pics and what beautiful colours! Thanks for sharing Bornagain.....

I bet you enjoyed your visit, Ba. I saw the programme about this garden, and they said that they're ruthless about pruning. Interesting that the tulips are still in flower there.

This has to go on my Favourites, Ba! Such a stunning garden,it really took my breath away, and what fantastic photos you've taken, showing us FourSeasons at it's very best! Lovely, lovely blog! :~))

Lovely photos, Bornagain.
Good that the weather stayed dry for you to take the pics :o)

Scotsgran, the only lawn is the one you see straight after the back of house pics, it's quite a good size by my standards:-) Dylandog, you're very welcome, thankyou:-) Spritz they certainly were ruthless...and the shrubs seem to thrive on it. I still have some tulips in flower too, we're way behind you in the West Midlands:-) Thanks Flori, the amount of 'stuff' they fit in this space leaves me speechless with admiration (well I'm never really speechless, but you know what I mean lol) You can see Fourseasons website on Goy if you type it in the search box when you have time:-) Yes Terra I was so lucky with the weather and rather pleased with my pics too:-)

What a lovely place! the colours are fantastic just shows how foliage can be as pretty as flowers

It has certainly taught me to be more ruthless Sk. I have 6 acers, only one is planted in the garden, but more will be when makeover is finished, but I doubt mine will look like this:-)

You`ve certainly done a great job of the photo`s Bornagain, the waterfall
pics are great.

Thanks Stroller, i see you live in the West Midlands too, have you ever visited Fourseasons? :-)

Thanks for all your kind comments

The lawn is 30 ft x 30ft - and will be covered with a marquee in August for our youngest daughter's wedding!

I don't know the name of the tulips - I bought them from a local nursery as "extra large bulbs" (Pacific Nurseries on the Chester Road in Aldridge). They were £5 for a "fill a box" so they worked out very reasonably since I got about 30-35 in a box! I also got several tulips from Wilkos and also Focus. We have had tulips blooming since late March.

We buy all our plants, trees, shrubs from local shops and nurseries - none of them are particularly "special" - price being the main deciding factor!! Wilkos and Focus have some very reasonable prices.

Our main task throughout the year is pruning - keeping plants in their allotted space. We don't follow any particular style of planting - having evolved what we like and what works for us. The nearest we've got to finding something similar is Christopher Lloyd's Great Dixter - succession planting and the use of "anchor" plants when designing.

It's like conducting an orchestra: "Camellias - it's your turn to be seen"; then it's "Over to you, azaleas" and so on throughout the year. We try to keep something of interest in every area of the garden but that does mean we need to be vigilant so that things don't get obscured by plants who's turn it isn't!!

I'll be off to Pacific nurseries next autumn Fs, good luck with the wedding (more hard work for you) I hope the weather is fine for your daughter:-)

Wonderful garden the colours are just stunning, pleased you enjoyed your visit BA you have taken some gorgeous pictures to remember it by!

No Bornagain, unfortunately I haven`t but its on my list of things to do and see.

I think it's open again in July or August, you can find out on Fourseasons website Stroller. I may see you there:-)

Thanks Pansy, It is amazing when you consider it's nearly all shrubs/trees I'm looking forward to seeing it in Summer and taking more pics:-)

It all looks very beautiful and you must have had an enjoyable afternoon .

Hi Hywel, yes, it's great to be able to visit someones garden, especially one like this, as it shows what can be done:-)

Stunning garden!!...lovely pics Ba...could I ask you to post a few of the acer pics in the photo gallery...for the GoYpedia page on Japanese Maples....please :-))

Glad to, do you mean put on as separate pics then nominate Alice? You can see what an ignoramus I am 8~/

Thats the way to do it......thanks....:-o))

I read that in Punch's voice lol...or was it Judy? :-)

I was at Gardening Scotland (Scotlands Chelsea) yesterday and got some information from the lady on the Caledonian Bonsai Society stand. I explained I had lots of self sown seedlings in the garden and asked for advice on digging them up and training them as bonsai. Surprisingly she told me to allow them to grow where they are and wait until the trunk is fairly thick and then chop them back to bonsia size. They can then be kept at the size of choice. I was concerned that chopping back to old wood would make recovery impossible but this is not so according to her. I have rowan, laburnum and also birch seedlings to practise on.

Thats sounds a fascinating project Scotsgran....

I am looking forward to it.

Wow Scotsgran, let us know how you get on. my old next door neighbour used to chop his hydrangeas down to the ground every year...they were brilliant. My problem was that I hated to prune, felt cruel, so got taken over lol. After my makeover I will be ruthless cutter...off with their heads lol and anything else that sticks out:-)

Lol! She definitely did not mention Hydrangeas Bornagain. She was talking about deciduous trees. I don't want to get taken up for inciting murder of defenceless shrubs.

I have actually given one of my neglected hydrangeas in a pot the chop this year, it's still alive, kill or cure lol:-)

lucky you bornagain, sorry im late with this blog, the pics are stunning, watched them on tv and they never stop all year, always doing something, beautifull ;o)))

Thanks Sandra, I'm looking forward to July now. It's a place I can reach on the bus too, makes me wish I wasn't quite so lazy:-)

it does make me feel lazy when i see what they do each day, really it wouldnt take long to get there from here, must be nice to my baz lol

Aren't you always? ;-)

ummmm,,,, yes i guess lol ;o)))

Thank you so much, Ba, for taking us on this lovely walk. Four Seasons looks very much like my kind of place - and the info about chopping back trees from Scotsgran answers a question I've often wondered about, ie. getting the trunks to thicken up. Your photos are really beautiful, and show what can be done with foliage plants!

Thanks Sheila, it's one of the few I can get to by bus. I'm thinking of pruning one of my acers which is covered in lichen hoping to get new clean growth. I know they prune early, but can't remember when. I presume it will have to be when dormant. :-)

Yes - in the paper at the weekend, we were advised to prune deciduous trees while dormant . . . in other words, NOW. :-)

Thanks Sheila, i was just worried in case we had more frost. I found a dead frog today in my pond:-(

Pruning is such a puzzle isn't it . . . I'm never sure who to believe. That's sad about the frog. :-(