Another Favourite Village Garden – Ruyton XI Towns

We have known this village garden just north of Shrewsbury in the centre of the village with the unusual name of Ruyton -XI-Towns, for several years now. The owners and gardeners are Jill and Stephen, such imaginative gardeners, with wonderful use of plants and artefacts.

It is a long thin garden with several areas each with a character of its own. The front garden plantings set the scene beautifully.

In the back garden we were attracted to the several pieces of metal sculpture and found objects integrated into the plantings.

The choice of plants and the sensitivity with which they are placed and combined makes each border a delight to discover.

Some areas in the garden deserve to be looked at standing back and admiring their design as a whole.

The area around the pond is more intense in its planting and the pond itself sits in the centre of the garden so becomes a natural stopping off point.

Beyond the pond the garden opens up into a softer area with a summerhouse, sitting area, long thin grass area alongside a meadow area and a shady border. The meadows feature rusted metal sculptures based on found objects with a rusty trio of hens sat on the grassed area alongside.

Every cottage garden ancient or modern must have a productive patch usually at the bottom of the garden and here we find one at Jill and Steve’s.

In a narrow strip between the veg patch and the summer house and meadow Jill and Steve are creating a secluded seating area, a place where they can sit and ignore the world at large.

I will finish off this visit to one of our favourite gardens of all with a shot showing the ingenuity and sense of humour that lie beneath the surface throughout the garden, a trio of sculpted rabbits hiding away among plants.