Category: garden design

Bexhill-on-Sea – a cold walk by the sea. Go South 2.

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date October 4, 2012
6 Comments on Bexhill-on-Sea – a cold walk by the sea. Go South 2.

After not visiting the seaside all year we have now done so twice in a week. A few days ago we went up to the north Wales coast and enjoyed a walk along the sea front on a bright warm day. Then we visited the south coast of England and walked along the front at Bexhill-on-Sea. It was cold with icy winds and periodic bouts of heavy rain. How can our weather be so different just days apart? It is a good job we like variety where our weather is concerned and it is a good reason to live in the UK.

Bexhill looked good even under grey clouds and viewed through downpours. There was such an obvious sense of pride about the place. The seafront has obviously had a facelift recently so it now boasts interesting garden designs where even the seating is interesting. I would imagine a garden designer was involved, resulting in interesting materials being used. Even the “Healthy Heart” fitness trail featured exercise equipment that had almost sculptural qualities and actually enhanced the overall look of the walk along the sea front.

It was good to see new architecture sitting alongside the old, mirroring it or picking up on some of its detailing. There must be strict planning controls here but not so strict that they squash innovative new architecture. The only strange decision of the planners seems to be making sure that all the beach huts, traditionally a medium for lavish colour schemes, are painted white. Strange and somehow disappointing to see them lined up in a row all looking the same.

Bexhill is a town reflecting so many periods and styles of “seaside” architecture. There are fascinating features to be found on buildings all along the front.

As we had approached Bexhill I suddenly remembered that the little town had a place in motor racing history and after racking my brains and wearing out a few cogs and cells in the process, I came up with the thought that the first motor race had taken place here on the sands. Later I was informed by Son-in-Law, Rob that it was the first in Britain and not a world’s first. This old postcard illustrates one of the early race meetings.

It is often the little details that appeal to me when taking photos at the seaside, details of texture, pattern and shape.

Oh no! I nearly finished a seaside post without a picture of boats! So here it is.

Tags Bexhill-on-Sea, coastal gardens, garden design, Southern England, the coast

allotments community gardening fruit and veg garden design garden photography garden wildlife gardening grow your own hardy perennials natural pest control

A Wander Around the Allotments in September

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date October 2, 2012
4 Comments on A Wander Around the Allotments in September

This is the month of harvesting and preparing the soil recently vacated by crops that have been dug, cut, pulled and picked,ready for next year’s new crops.

As we wander around the allotments now it is noticeably colourful – flowers abound with almost all plot holders growing some for picking, to enhance their plot or to attract beneficial predatory or pollinating insects.

Some plots feature the more expected allotment flowers grown for cutting, such as Sweetpeas, Dahlias. Chrysanths and Gladioli.

And of course productive plants give floral displays before the fruit, pods and berries appear.

Many plot holders grow a variety of flowering plants as companion plants to attract beneficial insects, both as pollinators and predators, or to benefit crops or act as barriers.

In our communal borders, designed to look good for the plot holders and visitors as well as serving to attract wildlife, late summer flowers are adding a feast of colour and scent.

On some plots the gardeners have such a good sense of design that their vegetable raised beds look structured and colourful without the need of flowers.

Some flowers on our lottie site had to serve a very different purpose recently. Annie, one of our neighbouring plot holders sadly passed away after a long illness. It was decided that as Annie loved the allotments so much that Jill, who represented the site at the funeral, should create a big bouquet made up of flowers cut from the plots. It was a bright, colourful, cheerful and summery and perfectly reflected Annie’s personality. We will miss her.

Tags allotments, community gardening, fruit and veg, fruit and vegetable growing, garden photography, garden wildlife, gardening, grown your own, insects

autumn birds garden design garden photography garden wildlife gardening hardy perennials ornamental grasses ornamental trees and shrubs photography poppies roses Shropshire

A Wander Around Our Garden in September

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date September 27, 2012
2 Comments on A Wander Around Our Garden in September

September is a month I love for the richness of its colours which are intensified by the lower light of early Autumn. But It is a month I dislike as it marks the end of summer and initiates the dropping of temperatures. I enjoy watching the fruits and berries ripening and their changing colour. I am saddened by the silence in the sky as Swallows and House Martins leave us for warmer climes. Leaves begin to show signs of changing their colours too and in September we are given hints of what is to come.

Throughout the September garden we find individual buds and flowers hanging on after the thrusts of the summer lush display. Droplets of moisture sit on the blooms as the first frosts melt away.

These little gems of individual blooms which are flowering out of season add so much colour to the borders, flowering alongside those plants which are traditionally the true flowers of September. Two flowers which we look forward to in early autumn are Lobelia tupa and Salvia uliginosa which display unusual colours and shapes.

The light in September creates a different atmosphere, no longer the direct overhead light of the summer. Now there is increased contrast between light and shadow.

Our grasses begin to come into their own in September. Their seedheads glow and their colours get paler and more silvery.

I shall finish my September wander with a few plant portraits.

The garden is still full of colour, texture and patterns but is missing the life flying above it. The Swallows, House Martins and Hobby have left the daytime sky quieter. At night we miss the cries and calls of the Little Owls even though at times we curse them for keeping us awake.

Tags birds, foliage, foliage plants, garden photography, garden wildlife, gardening, grasses, greenhouse gardening, ornamental trees, roses, September, summer migrants

climbing plants garden design garden photography gardening hardy perennials Land Art ornamental trees and shrubs outdoor sculpture photography roses Shropshire trees

A day out with the Shropshire Hardy Plant Society

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date September 14, 2012
4 Comments on A day out with the Shropshire Hardy Plant Society

Today was a special day spent with friends from the Shropshire Branch of the Hardy Plant Society, with the morning spent visiting a plantsperson’s garden and the afternoon listening to a talk with photographs of a botanist’s garden.

The garden was called Stevenshill close to Wenlock Edge venue of our recent woodland walk featured in a recent post. The owners were so full of enthusiasm and plant knowledge, and the garden full of rare and colourful delights.

It had far-reaching views of Wenlock Edge and plenty of varied, comfortable places to sit and enjoy the scents and sights of the plants.

It was one of those gardens with lots of plants to confuse and mystify even the most experienced hardy planters. Lots of head scratching about unknown and forgotten plants. Luckily the garden’s owners have put lots of labels in and have good memories for plant names. Their plant sales table held some unusual specimens and many went home in the hands of hardy planters, including ourselves. We selected a hairy leaved bergenia, Bergenia ciliata and a shrubby Teucrium, Teucrium “Paradise Delight”. Now where are we going to place those?

Throughout the garden were sumptuous Agapanthus and deeply coloured, richly scented roses often strategically placed next to enticing seating.

This yellow rose graced an arbour over a seat in the hot border. It was strongly scented. With it was planted Clematis aromatica with its tiny simple purple flowers scented with mouth-watering vanilla.

Buddleias were scattered in the borders giving height and attracting hoards of butterflies.

A selection of sculpture gave another layer of interest, from this classical figure to sinuous modern metal pieces.

But the true stars of this garden were the plants.

After a break for tea and cakes we travelled over to Bicton Village Hall where we hold our meetings, where we were looking forward to a talk entitled “A Botanist’s Garden” presented by John Grimshaw who until recently was Head Gardener at Colebourne in Gloucestershire, a garden famous for its mass displays of unusual snowdrops. In the last few weeks he has moved to Yorkshire for a new challenge, to develop the arboretum at Castle Howard. The talk was as good as we had hoped for. John illustrated his talk with a Powerpoint presentation featuring photos of the highest quality. We came away enthused and carrying another plant, Sedum telephium “Arthur Branch”.

To find out more about John and to see some of his beautiful photos visit his Garden Diary blog, www.johngrimshawsgardendiary.blogspot.com.

Tags buddleias, clematis, foliage plants, garden photography, gardening, shrubs, trees

garden design garden photography gardening hardy perennials National Garden Scheme NGS ornamental trees and shrubs outdoor sculpture roses village gardens

A Little Leicestershire Gem

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date September 11, 2012
6 Comments on A Little Leicestershire Gem

Orchard House was open for the second time in its first year as a Yellow Book garden, and is special because it fits so much into such a small space. It is an excellent example of fitting lots of interesting plants and features within an effective design. The design encourages you to wander, to make decisions and stop to admire views and cameos.

The day of our visit dawned wet – very wet. As we arrived at the garden it was pouring with rain, so we waited in the shelter of the car for some respite. However after ten minutes there was no sign of the downpour giving over so we donned waterproofs and defied it.

At the cottage off a narrow lane there was no sign that a garden awaited us. The houses fronted straight onto the lane, with no front garden at all. But we knew we were in for a treat as this little welcoming cameo greeted us alongside the entrance to a narrow pathway leading around the back of the cottages.

We were not to be disappointed for as we turned the corner we were greeted by colour and richness of planting, dotted with little features to draw the eye.

This little garden gem in a village in Leicestershire proves that it is not the size of the garden that matters. It is the size of the gardener’s heart and imagination. One aspect of this gardener’s character is his sense of humour shown by the sign on the gate to his composting area.

Tags garden photography, gardening, grasses, Leicestershire, NGS, roses

allotments fruit and veg garden design garden photography garden wildlife gardening grow your own hardy perennials ornamental grasses ornamental trees and shrubs outdoor sculpture photography roses trees wildlife

Barnsdale – a garden of memories

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date September 8, 2012
8 Comments on Barnsdale – a garden of memories

We return to Barnsdale Gardens every few years on a trip down memory lane. Barnsdale was the garden of TV gardener Geoff Hamilton the nation’s favourite gardener for many years. He was the gardener on the BBC’s “Gardeners World” programme so he visited many gardeners’ homes every Friday evening for years. He was the first truly organic TV gardener and as such he promoted these sound garden principles and backed them up by conducting experiments and sharing the results on his show.

As well as Gardeners World he made several series of gardening programmes based on making gardens such as “The Cottage Garden” and “The Paradise Garden”.

He sadly died at a young age when taking part in a sponsored cycle ride for charity, but he has never been forgotten.

The Barnsdale Gardens still display all the model gardens Geoff made and others have been added since his death. The garden and the nursery attached are run by his son and daughter-in-law. His other son created this bronze sculpture that graces the garden.

The trees that we saw Geoff plant many years ago are now impressive specimens and display interesting bark colours and textures.

One of his favourite flowers was the Day Lily and many remain in the gardens still. Coming a close second as his most popular garden plant must be the rose.

A popular feature of “Gardeners World” was Geoff’s do-it-yourself projects – he was always making furniture and garden features, to try to save his viewers money. Below is his garden bench with matching herb coffee table made from recycled pallets with old roof slates built in as coasters.

He also constructed this compost bin disguised as a beehive and accompanying garden store, both created from recycled wood.

He even made a water feature from an old copper water cylinder!

Although he encouraged gardeners to construct things for their own gardens he also extolled the virtues of craftsmen and his garden diaplays many works by craftsmen local to Barnsdale. In particular he brought locally made furniture into the garden.

Productive gardening – fruit, veg and herbs – played a big part in his programmes, magazine articles and books. Several of his productive plots are still at Barnsdale, such as an allotment, the Ornamental Kitchen Garden, an Elizabethan Vegetable Garden. the Fruit Orchard, an Apple Arch and Herb Garden.

Geoff was definitely ahead of his time, encouraging organic principals and attracting insects into the garden. he recognised them as pollinators and predators of garden pests.

He featured plants such as Achilleas, Heleniums and other hot coloured flowers, and using lots of different grasses. These are all popular now.

Since Geoff’s untimely death the garden has continued to develop. His son, Nick and daughter-in-law have created new gardens so now Barnsdale is described as “39 inspiring gardens, all in one place”

A sign of just how popular and influential Geoff Hamilton was is the fact that his book on Organic Gardening is still in print and has been updated and revised on several occasions. He was a great believer in the importance of compost and found all sorts of ways of making it efficiently. How about this brick-made composter. The bricks would absorb warmth from the sun and heat up the composting material inside and speed up its decomposition.

I shall end this visit to Geoff Hamilton’s Barnsdale with a few more views of the garden.

Tags allotments, birds, foliage, foliage plants, fruit and veg, fruit and vegetable growing, fruit., garden photography, garden wildlife, gardening, grasses, greenhouse gardening, grown your own, insects, organic gardening, ornamental trees, Rutland. Barnsdale. Geoff Hamilton, trees, wildlife

allotments community gardening flower show fruit and veg garden design garden photography garden wildlife gardening grow your own hardy perennials meadows National Garden Scheme NGS photography roses wildlife

A Wander around the Allotments in August

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date September 6, 2012
6 Comments on A Wander around the Allotments in August

August is when the busy harvest period begins. As land is cleared green manures are sown and compost is spread across empty spaces. Plans for next year’s gardening are beginning to form.

Another amusing sign has appeared on a plot in recent weeks. Doreen and Phil have a corner plot and it has been christened “The Naughty Corner”. Next to their plot, Gill has hung some vibrant decorations in her fruit.

Wendy’s plot is always full of interest and at the moment the star of the show has to be the glitter ball hanging inside an obelisk up which is growing Morning Glory.

We have had a very successful month where awards are concerned, some for the whole site and others for individual allotment holders. Jude and I were invited to the Shrewsbury Flower Show to receive an award for the allotment site. Chris Beardshaw, author, broadcaster and TV gardener presented me, on behalf of our allotment site, with the award for “Shropshire’s Best Community Garden”.

Bowbrook Allotment Community members also provided plants for a show garden created by the Shrewsbury Residents Association – herbs, vegetables and companion plants. This garden won a medal.

The two daughters of our Membership Secretary entered craft and art classes in the Honey Tent and won many certificates too. Their honey cakes and biscuits looked so tasty.

Jude and I also took part in the Shropshire Organic Gardeners Society stand at the show. Members were asked to provide photos of themselves with a pot plants and these took centre stage.

Dave Bagguley one of our plot holders was awarded Shrewsbury’s “Best Front Garden” award at the show.

Back at the lotties the Autumn Garden, one of the site’s “Gardens of the Four Seasons” is beginning to look really good, with the late summer/early autumn perennials blooming in their hot colours.

The meadows around the site are incredibly colourful at the moment but the early flowering ones are well-past their best. They will soon be due their annual haircut.

We like to leave the meadows’ annual haircuts as late as possible so delay them until seeds are well set and there is an obvious decrease in the amount of wildlife visitor activity. But in the Buddleja Borders the beautiful scented flowers are still bringing in so many butterflies, bees and hoverflies.

This year’s periods of extreme wet have taken their toll. Whole potato crops have rotted on plots and root crops badly split.

As I was finishing writing this post I heard that our site’s entry into the Shrewsbury Town Allotment Competition came out the winner, so well done to Sue and Paul from Plot 40. Here are a few shots of their plot to finish off this post.

Tags allotments, community gardening, fruit and veg, fruit and vegetable growing, garden photography, garden wildlife, gardening, grown your own, meadows, NGS, organic gardening, roses, wildlife

garden design garden photography gardening grow your own meadows National Garden Scheme NGS ornamental trees and shrubs photography roses Shropshire The National Gardening Scheme"

The Garden at Ashley Farm – an NGS garden.

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date September 5, 2012
4 Comments on The Garden at Ashley Farm – an NGS garden.

On a very wet weekend we decided we needed to get out whatever the weather so a quick check in the famous Yellow Book of gardens open under the auspices of the National Garden Scheme and we were off to visit a garden in the neighbouring county of Herefordshire.

Herefordshire is a county of great gardens mostly created on rich red clay soils. Ashley Farm Gardens was described in the Yellow Book as a 5 acre garden designed as a series of formal rooms with the rooms getting less formal as the visitors move further from the house. We were presented with a plan as we entered the garden which showed a very formal layout. As we moved into the garden through farm buildings we could appreciate the way the gardeners had planted imaginatively and boisterously within the formal structures.

The old farm buildings were interesting and beautiful in themselves and featured some fascinating artifacts reminding us of the farm’s cider producing heritage. The buildings are softened with plants and interesting collected and found objects.

We made our way past the formal pool through blue borders and made our way towards a wildlife pool in woodland.

Seating around the pool encouraged us to sit, look and listen, although on closer inspection they looked a bit algae-covered and far too rickety to risk.

Through the trees along the edge of the wood the neat and tidy kitchen garden came into view.

The next stage of our garden wander took us through an interesting and very varied assortment of garden rooms.

Beyond the formal garden rooms we encountered meadows growing within orchards, a nuttery and unexpectedly a rose garden linked the garden to the countryside.

We moved back into the main garden where more rooms awaited us and a wonderful arbor made by a local craftsman in local oak. It was so tempting to have a seat and look in detail at the wood working skills.

Tea was served in an outbuilding constructed of wooden beams and stone. Inside were artifacts aplenty. The chocolate cake was excellent!

We explored the old farm buildings after our tea break before calling it a day – a really good day.

Tags fruit and veg, garden photography, gardening, grown your own, Herefordshire, meadows, NGS

birds climbing plants garden design garden photography garden wildlife gardening photography Shropshire wildlife

Late Summer Clematis

The Undergardener and I don’t really like the big dinner-plate clematis that flower earlier in the year but we adore the small-flowered, often bell-shaped subtle ones that are stars of the late summer. Every time a tree gets tall enough to support one we plant a new clematis to befriend it, even though every obelisk and arch is already adorned with one. To get double the flowering effect clematis love the company of climbing roses and we pair them up with our apples that we have growing over arches. The apples fruit well and the clematis flower well, and I wonder if this is another case of companion planting in action. Could it be that they benefit each other when grown together?

The flowers manage to attract the harsh summer sunlight giving them the appearance of silk or tissue paper.

They are so amenable too. We treat them as herbaceous perennials and cut them down in the winter. Although they have masses of flowers deadheading is not necessary and instead they can produce wonderful seedheads like whispy white spiders. Many flower more than once a year too.

Wildlife love clematis especially our avian friends. They nest in the jumble of vines which also serve as roosting shelters. Dunnocks nest every year in at least one of our clematis and chaffinches and goldfinches do so occasionally. Goldfinches extract the seeds from the fluffy seedheads in winter, Warblers, Robins and all members of the Titmice family gorge on all the insect life that live in them in the summer and feed on the seeds in winter.

When visiting a garden this August with our fellow Hardy Plant Society enthusiasts we came across the clematis with the tiniest, most delicate flower we had ever seen on a clematis, in the deepest purple hue and to top it all off it had an enticing scent. It was appropriately called Clematis aromatica.

Tags apples, birds, clematis, climbers, climbing plants, garden photography, garden wildlife, gardening, insects

birds climbing plants garden design garden photography garden wildlife gardening hardy perennials ornamental grasses ornamental trees and shrubs photography Shropshire trees village gardens wildlife

A Wander around our Garden in August

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date August 25, 2012
5 Comments on A Wander around our Garden in August

Our garden in August is a bright, colourful place full of lush growth, rich scent and so much wildlife to enjoy. Our wild birds are mostly quiet at present as August is the time when they hide away as they go through their annual moult. They have gone to ground and gone silent.

Above our heads however avian activity is busy and exciting. The Swallows and House Martins are feeding up in anticipation of their migration south. The sky is full of them, but the screaching of Swifts is absent as they began their own long journey a few weeks ago. For a few days there is a gap in the sounds – we miss them for their excited calls and aerial displays.

The calls of the young Buzzards can be heard above the Swallows and Martins, as they excitedly search out thermals and discover the joy of riding them. The Peregrines have reappeared now that their breeding season is over so we can watch the adult pairs rising in ever-higher circles until they disappear from view. Our eyes become incapable of seeing them as they become smaller, become dots and are then gone. They have the luxury of far better long distance vision than us – they will see the movement of their prey from hundreds of feet up in the air. A real treat is to spot them as they stoop, travelling down at speeds of over 200 miles per hour with a pigeon in their sights.

Yesterday when deadheading in one of our borders we were surprised by a low-flying, high speed Green Woodpecker who zoomed close to us, just a few feet away. A real treat!

Insect life is flourishing. On any warm bright day a variety of insects can be seen hunting out nectar and pollen. Butterflies, bees and hoverflies are attracted to Buddleias, Alliums, Salvias, Nepetas, Lavenders and Echinops. There are so many Peacock Butterflies around at the moment but you can’t have too many of them. The Holly Blues are much scarcer and flit continuously rarely seeming to settle.

Bees and hoverflies are attracted to our Lavender hedge which borders the lane which passes in front of our garden.

The ponds are full of life with shoals of young fish basking in the shallows, diving Beetles and Boatmen moving up to the surface and back to the bottom regularly. On the surface Pondskaters pace out the length and breadth of the pond surface. Young newts regularly appear at the surface take a gulp of air and drop back down. When Jude the Undergardener nets the duckweed and blanket weed from the pond she catches newts every time. She is delighted with every newt that graces her net. I am convinced that removing the weed is an excuse for her newt catching exploits. In August the majority of newts Jude catches are youngsters.

The front garden is looking good! So much colour! The Hot Border is HOT!

The “Beth Chatto Garden”, our gravel garden, is full of interest with Agapanthus taking centre stage. These Agapanthus were actually bought from the Beth Chattos Gardens nursery.

Early in August the front garden was dominated by yellow – even Jude the Undergardener was wearing yellow – but after a few weeks all the other colours caught up.

In the back garden the growth in our Secret Garden is exuberant to say the least. The foxgloves are going over but the achilleas, lychnis and alliums are still giving us a full performance.

Elsewhere in the borders of the back garden the seedheads of our Snakebark Acer add rich reds, Crocosmias give every shade of yellow, orange and red, Achilleas add subtlety and the spiky Erigeron flowers provide silver.

In the greenhouse tomatoes, cucumbers and capsicums are adding sweetness and freshness to the cut-and-come-again mixed leaves of ours summer salads.

The world beyond our garden is changing this month as in our borrowed landscape the hay in the paddock has been cut and baled and the wheat fields turn gold and are being harvested one by one. By the time my September garden wander comes around the skys will seem empty as the Swallows and Martins will be on their way to warmer climes, but the garden will be getting busier with mixed feeding flocks of titmice and Goldcrests, and others of mixed finches.