West Green House – Hartley Wintrey

After a day at the huge RHS garden of Wisley, it felt good the following day to visit a garden in the same area that was very low key in comparison.

We made plans to meet Graham and Vicky, our brother and sister-in-law, at West Green House not far from their home in Farnham. We arrived at the same time even though we had travelled from opposite directions. Of course we began our day with a catch up, coffee and cakes in the very pleasant coffee shop.

The welcome we receive when visiting a garden for the first time is so important and a good coffee shop is just one element of this. At West Green we felt good before we took our first sips of coffee and bites if cake.

All it took was a touch of quirkiness!

West Green was a rediscovered garden being re-born, reconstructed and re-planted! So much was yet to be touched and these places gave us clues as to its original character. It was amazing how well-positioned new benches set the tone for the areas they were placed in.

Many areas had been generally cleared and as the original grew amid weeds and wildflowers there was a certain “Mrs Haversham” beauty to it.

We followed the path to the left and we all spotted patches of an unusually bright shade of blue in a border up ahead. Once close enough we realised the colour was of hyacinths. We had never seen such intensity of colour in hyacinths before, but we were so pleased to be observing them.

The blue hyacinths were alongside a small stream with banks planted with spring plants. By following the pathway beside the stream borders we arrived at some older places with more formal designs.

As the closing time for the garden approached we made our way back and passed the welcome building and off to the carpark, now almost empty.