An Open Garden with a Difference

wow Lily,what a beautiful place to visit..love all the sculptures etc,super pics..you could have taken us to the plant stall..i feel i have missed out on something now..lol.great blog :o)

Oh very very nice Lily. I loved it, would love to go there. Is it open often, and where is it please. Those animals were fantastic.

Blimey, gorgeous plants, Lily, but oh those sculptures ..... less is more dear owner, less is more ....... !!!

It all looks amazing thank you so much for showing it .

really great lily bet you had a wonderful day you must tell us where it is,I went trough the blog twice before I wrote this , and Im going back for another look when Im finished thanks for the lovely pictures.

my goodness what an incredible blog, your photos are stunning, I enjoyed every minute of it and did'nt even miss the tea, where actually is this park please, its wonderful it raised that amount of money, thanks for taking us there Lily, like Vabascum I am going back for another look

Fantastic Lily I love all those sculptures. They are so well done..... Fanfabtastical. Been to Hyde Hall RHS garden today. There were sculptures there too but nowhere near as good as your photos.

Me too.. loved it, the horses were brilliant, I'll pass on the lake..all those dangerous animals lol! but all WELL worth a visit!! Actually didnt think it was that long..could have gone on..and on..as Yorkie said, never even thought about tea and cakes (only cos Im having that right now!). Thanks Lily2.

Wow, that's fantastic, great fun too! Where is it?

Just love this,Lily2..a brilliant blog and pics..not too long at all..I enjoyed everything about this lovely place..wherever it is..awaiting your comment on that,like lots of others..so glad you had a lovely day out,and a fantastic sum raised too..:o)

There's only one word I can say - WOW!

Fabulous photo's Lily, a really enjoyable blog.
Loved the lake, tho' not sure about the great creatures around it but I suppose they are guarding the little creatures. lol
Thanks and glad you had a super day. x

Beautiful estate where is it ,Just loved the Otters,All your pictures are so sharp could you give Val a few lessons.

Hey Brian, CHEEKY !

Wow thanks everyone for all your lovely comments. :o))
It seems I needn't have worried about making it too long then, I took 85 pics in all and had real trouble picking from them but I didn't want to get boring.
This 'garden' has opened for the first time this year, this time and for the red Cross a couple of weeks back, I dont know if it will open again. As it's a private garden I wasn't sure if it was OK to do a blog without the owner's consent so for this reason I didn't include any pics showing the house or give the location....does anyone know?
Louise, I think this garden is all about the sculptures really. It's well laid out with lots of different areas but to be honest there wasn't really much in the way of flowers, maybe just the wrong time of year or maybe I was too busy being sidetracked by the sculptures! It's only 14 years old so still plenty of maturing to be done.
Nearly all of the 52 wood sculptures (good job I didn't include all of them!) are in the open parkland which would have been rather boring otherwise.
I'm so glad you all enjoyed the tour, I had a lovely afternoon out and have really enjoyed compiling the blog, many thanks to you all again :o)))

Lily - I know where this garden is because I helped there when it was open for the Red Cross. In fact it's been open about four times for the Red Cross but I think it was the first time for the Air Ambulance this year. We (Red Cross) often run a competition for children to find various sculptures so they don't get bored.

Thanks Brian, yes the otters are lovely aren't they. It's amazing how they can do them so well with a chainsaw isn't it. Some of them were very complex. I think Val is probably a hopeless case.......lol
I knew you would be in the know Andrew! This time there was a competition to match sculptures to a list of names but I didn't take part as I realised it would mean going all the way round many times in order to get the more obscure ones named. :o((

fantastic place lily and love all the figures and sculptures, beautifull lakes and planting to, thanx for showing us, amazing :o))

I'm in awe of this garden Lily ... so much statuary and so many carvings ... spread across such a vast area it probably looks just right. Would love to see an aerial view of it. The lake is beautiful ... the Oriental garden is planted so well ... not too sure about the bright turquoise bridge though! Thankyou so much for sharing your day out and well done to the owners for raising such a good amount. : o ))

Hi Sandra, it's good to see your face again and I'm glad you liked the garden. Mind you when I was there I did think that I was very glad I didn't have all that to look after! No doubt they have a couple of gardeners to take care of it. Hope you're feeling OK.
Yes I would too Shirley, it's hard to keep the layout in mind when it's so big. That's a point, the bridges in Oriental Gardens are usually red aren't they? Isn't GOY great when you can share things like this with other appreciative people :o)
As Andrew has pointed out that the garden is open more often than I thought then there seems no need to stay quiet about it's location. It's called Murrell Hill Grange and is in Binfield near Bracknell Berkshire for those of you who asked. As it seems to open regularly for the Red Cross then any other planned open dates could be found via them........or just ask Andrew our resident man in the know! :o))

I enjoyed your tour Lily. The sculpures were such fine quality and so many of them. Sounds like you enjoyed your visit.

I am amazed Lily how they keep these lovely gardens so tidy and neatly kept. I have just nearly filled my green bin this morning with hazel seedlings, bits of camellia, ivy that I pulled out, pieces of dead wood, dead headed stuff, leaves that won't rot down. My plot is a modest 40ft by 50 ft and I'm feeling a bit tired now. Must have some young fit gardeners to do all that stuff.

Lovely blog, good pics - screams 'money' that garden, doesn't it... reminds me of a friend's estate in Devon, though he makes the statuary himself there, but he's rolling in it as well. I love the wood carvings.

Glad you liked the tour Dawnsaunt, I had a lovely afternoon out and would have gone round again if I'd had the energy!
I know what you mean Dorjac, the green waste seems never ending even in a small plot. They must have several gardeners I should think as there's always something to do even in a tiny plot.
Thanks Bamboo, glad you enjoyed the blog. You're right, the upkeep of such an estate must be considerable, not to mention the cost of acquiring it in the first place. You're lucky to have such wealthy friends to visit and in beautiful Devon too, any chance of a pictorial tour round his garden?

Sadly, I've not been there for 4 years or so, for various reasons. His wife is my friend, and I find him a bit difficult to communicate with to say the least. Frankly, it'd help if he spat that plum out of his mouth and didn't drawl, but the other reason I don't go is their house (not large, but absolutely stuffed with antiques, such that you can't move without cracking your shins on something, and not a comfortable place to sit anywhere) and the 6 large dogs constantly in the rather small kitchen. I love the dogs, but they're always absolutely filthy and I object to eating my dinner with at least two very large dogs dribbling on my legs... He's a great cook though, shame, but he's a toff, and like many others I've met, appears to enjoy dog hairs, mud and uncomfortable conditions at home. She does the planting, he does the landscaping, creating lakes, a moat, avenues, and statues. I've taken to calling them Gertrude and Capability. Impressive, maybe I should force myself to be uncomfortable and go see them just to take pics, lol!

Wow! I love all the Statues :) So glad u enjoyed your visit :D

Sounds like a case of garden delights v household discomforts Bamboo! You paint a very uninviting picture where comfort is concerned so I don't blame you for not visiting, it's a pity as the garden sounds fascinating.
Glad you enjoyed it Jacque, good to see you on GoY :o))

I've never liked being uncomfortable, and I'm even worse now I'm older. Now I understand why my Dad refused to go anywhere to stay when in his late sixties, early seventies.

I have that feeling coming on too, comfort is no.1 priority these days.

I would of love to of been there it looks so beautiful and the tea and scones would of been nice too lol

There was a very tempting array of cakes there Pondlady, it was so hard to choose only one :o))

Thankyou for the tour Lily .I feel like i was actually there . The photography was perfect.

Thank you Rose, I'm glad the enjoyed your tour. It's much easier on the feet sitting on a chair! I just point the camera and it takes good pics so I can't claim any credit :o)

Oh I think you can Lily because the photos are amazing.

You're very generous Rose and at least I can claim to have overcome my 'camera shake' as at one time I couldn't take any photos in focus at all!

Such a lovely blog :) I'm sorry that I'm late finding it! I especially loved the hippopotamus in the lake! He made me giggle :P

Better late than never Jennyfer! I'm glad you made it and that you enjoyed it. :o) The hippo is one of my favourites too, he looks so at home there.

Even later . . . but many thanks Lily. What a fabulous tour . . . we all want to go there now! I shall Google the name you gave us, and see when it is open again. Sculptures were fun - brilliant otters - and lovely pics.

What an incredible place!!!! Loved it!

Any time is good Sheila, so glad you enjoyed it. I think it only opens now and again for charity so it may be a bit late for any dates this year. They may not have them organised yet for next year but I hope you get there sooner or later!
It's certainly different isn't it Lil? I'm glad you came along for the tour. :o)

Lovely sculptures. Looks like a lovely day out.