For our second Hardy Plant Society mini-group visit for this year we drove just 5 miles to a nearby village, Hanwood. A dozen or so members visited another garden of fellow members Richard and Mavis. This was the first time we had visited their patch so we looked forward to surprises.
This lovely combination of potentilla and lavender greeted us as we walked into the front garden. Nearby a similar effect was achieved with a combination of lavender and Alchemilla mollis.
We soon realised that this was a garden that achieved a balance between aesthetics and attractiveness to wildlife. It felt so welcoming and peaceful, made even more so by its outlook.The land sloped down to the Rea Brook a small river inhabited by brown trout, grayling and chub.
The lower garden featured island beds of wildflower meadow planting, each with a different set of grasses and flowering plants. This area regularly floods, so much that the potting shed is raised high above ground level.
We ended our afternoon enjoyment of this absorbing garden with coffee and cakes on the terrace which overlooked the lower garden and the natural area around the brook.
greenbenchramblings 