The garden at Lower Hope – another Herefordshire NGS garden.

It is always exciting to find gardens to visit which we do not know anything about, especially if they are National Garden Scheme gardens which allow us to support such worthwhile charities at the same time as having a satisfying day out. The gardens on the Lower Hope Estate were described as 5 acres which included rose gardens, herbaceous borders, and Italian, Mediterranean and Japanese influenced areas.

We parked the car up in the field abutting Lower Hope Gardens and we were both delighted to spot some interesting perennials for sale, gown at a local nursery. Temptation got the better of us and we bought a dozen or so healthy looking plants before we took a step into the garden itself.

We entered the gardens through a wooden gate and followed a path through a small woodland area, and it soon became clear that this garden had a lot to offer. There were clues as to what we might expect to find.

The Italian influenced garden had a gentle feel to it with stone pillars, several seats and water features.

We left the Italian Garden behind and soon found some impressive mixed borders. The selection of dahlias was most impressive!

After admiring the borders with their impressive selection of dahlias, we wandered off around a small lake to find the Japanese area.

We finished off our tour of the garden by making our way to the lake with its native planting around its edges. We found plenty to catch our eyes along the way.

I thought it would be fun to finish off with this photo of Jude sat on an oversized garden chair. She found it extremely difficult to get back out of it! We love gardens that show a touch of humour!