A return visit to a garden after 40 years – part one

It was forty years ago that we last visited Brownhills garden in Ruyton- XI-Towns north of Shrewsbury. The garden is built on a steeply sloping plot of land dropping down to the banks of the River Perry, a small but extremely beautiful river. The garden is open several times a year under the auspices of the NGS and please note it is open by appointment as well as set days.

The reason for the decades of waiting to return was that a serious, life-changing accident left me suffering mobility problems and chronic pain. A few operations over recent years has afforded me better mobility so the time became right for a return.

We received a warm welcome from the owners/gardeners, a green man and a friendly gnome.

Close to the entrance was an auricula theatre absolutely full of a wide variety of colourful specimens. We both love this feature wherever we find one. We were also impressed by a couple of specimen black aeoniums.

General views and vistas through the garden give an idea of its size and steepness.

As with any garden the plants are the stars and the glue that hold the place together. There were so many little gems here at Brownhills and some effective combinations. This first gallery illustrates some effective plant combinations and communities.

And now we can look at a few individual plants that caught our eyes.

One essential element of this garden that lifts it above many others is the huge selection of sculpture, some fabricated from metal, some from found objects and a miscellany of other materials. So this will be featured in part two of this pair of posts all about our visit to Brownhills House gardens.