A Garden to fall in love with.

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Hello everybody !

Thought it was high time that I wrote a fresh blog, as this garden is truly fantastic, so much going on all the time. I recommend a cup of tea and a packet of biscuits before you start reading as there is a lot of content for me to include if you are to feel the whole effect of the garden. There are 24 separate sections set across 2 acres, linked together with a 75m long pergola. There is a waterfall, two ponds, kitchen garden, fruit cage, orchard, bog garden, dell, formal rose garden, cut flower garden, wild flower garden, several long borders, not to mention lots of lawn, and much much more.

I have been working here as a sub-contractor for 18 months now, and have seen professional gardeners come and go. As a contract it has failed to get the input it deserves in the past, but hopefully I am going to put that right, as the contract has now fallen into my hands, and although I look after many smaller gardens, none stand out quite like this one! I must confess I am truly addicted!

I have been a gardener now for 2.5 years, recently attending Shuttleworth college to achieve my RHS Level II in Horticulture, the first rung of what is an extremely long ladder. If you feel you can offer me any advice about anything you see please feel free to PM me !

Eventually my plan is to open this garden (with the permission of the client) to the general public (NGS) but if I am to prepare it in time for next year there is a lot to be done.

The central part of the front garden is mainly an assortment of conifers surrounding a well established Weeping Ash tree. There are also an assortment of bulbs that come up through the winter. The far right hand side (top left of picture, sorry)is a bit mixed up but eventually I hope to make this more formal with seasonal colour. There is a Hydrangea petiolaris, Jasmine, Wisteria, Roses, Ferns (need to be moved) but ideally I feel this area needs some really colourful groundcover, mainly to act as a weed suppressant. (Sorry no pic)

We then move on through the arch into the main garden where we are met with a border of Hebes, Viburnum, begenias, honeysuckle and clematis, and a formal rose garden which is used to cut roses for the house.

As you come round you can see the main lawn which has a selection of ornamental trees and a small (9ft long) climbing pergola in front of the wild flower garden.

As we turn right pass the end of the fence the column garden is on the left and the large patio stretches out to the house on the right.

If you follow around to the back of the house here you will be greeted by the waterfall and the bog garden. The grass/carex that is overbearing needs to be removed. The Gunnera manicata are outstanding, and Zantedeschia are popping up their heads in amongst the hostas. The waterfall needs quite a bit of work plant wise as it is disappointing that such a wonderful structure doesn’t have all year round colour. I have ordered some Chinondoxa, dwarf iris, campanula, phlox, and will probably add some new heathers as well. The weeping ash lawn is cut twice a week and i love the way it looks when its done, yet there is much work to be done on the wall garden adjoining this as lots of plants have taken over due to lack of division. Also big plants at the front, small plants at the back, needs a lot of sorting out !

We then come to the pergola which stretches half the length of the garden, taking us through the orchard towards the top end of the garden where we find the veg patch, fruit cage, small pond, and greenhouse… not to mention the cut flower garden…

We then follow round the small pond to the left where we reach the rear entrance to the cut flower garden. This has been newly planted this year (quite late) so I expect much more from it next year. It is a fantastic space, 14 beds at approx 10ft by 4ft. The dahlias I love, and the sunflowers, and the gladiolis have only just started flowering over the last 2 weeks.

We then move on to the dell, and I would recommend checking out my previous blogs here as they are a lot more detailed.

There is still so much more to show you and i hope to be improving the frequency of my blogs. This is certainly a very good way of remembering what you garden looks like in the summer, when you are trying to re-arrange things through the winter !

The garden truly looks magnificent, but underneath the cosmetic appearance there are issues that need to be resolved. The trees in the orchard have long suffered and i am considering changing them, and we have some well established willows that will also have to be removed as they have been suffering for a long time now. I have also had to remove cordylines (although babies are sprouting), phormium, grasses as they all had a rough ride through the winter.

I hope you have enjoyed this tour, it gives a better perspective on the scale of the operation. (I have ordered 200 heathers, 1000 snowdrops and bluebells, 500 anemones, 10 cubic metre of tree and shrub compost, etc…

So when your garden goes into a slow decline this winter, and you put your feet up for a few months… please think of me, out there in the snow, rising to the challenge of putting this garden well and truly on the map.

As a ‘semi-professional’ (I use the word loosely) I am always open to advice, always looking for experts in their chosen fields to assist me (incentives in place), and constantly thriving to find recommended wholesalers who offer the best plants and materials at the cheapest prices.

So if you want to get in touch, please PM me for a guaranteed response.

Happy Gardening,

Much Love

TLG

• 10 Aug, 2010
• 13 likes

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