A lovely day out.

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We are enjoying a spell of sunny weather down here, as I hope other members in the UK are. It seems so long since the last time, after dreary grey days and so much rain. What a boost to gardens and people!
As some of you will know, I have been seeking advice as to the replacement of a Juniper tree in my top border. (Thank you to those who responded with ideas!) This tree fell apart in a gale earlier this year and is currently wired together. I have never been happy with it anyway – it’s very prickly and the fallen needles stick into my fingers when I weed around it.

The trouble is that it’s a great focal point in the raised border, so it needs replacing with a different evergreen. So that was one of the reasons we decided to visit Westonbirt Arboretum in Gloucestershire yesterday. We checked their website and were delighted to find that Henry could come too in a large part of the Arboretum.

He just loved it – doggy heaven – all those trees to choose from, lots of sticks, and muddy puddles to romp in! We loved it, too. Walking through vistas of beautiful trees in the sunshine was just a delight.

We made a few notes as we walked around on the trees that looked good – and passed the ‘touch test’ – no more prickles, thanks!

Obviously, this was a place where dwarf conifers are not seen – so we just enjoyed the rare experience of the sunshine and the contrasting leaves in sun and shade.

However, in the Plant Centre there is expert advice available, as well as a good selection of conifers to look at. So we have narrowed our choice a little. It was a good day out, even though the M5 was horrendous on the way home! I recommend a visit if you are in the area at any time. The Acers will change colour soon and that will be spectacular.

One word of warning – the Old Arboretum is a dog-free zone, so we missed out on admiring the vistas created many years ago. I’d love to see them one day. What a glorious place, though.

• 20 Sep, 2008
• 8 likes

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