Category: garden design

The Sheffield Gardens – Part 1 – Bramble Wood Cottage

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date December 16, 2019
2 Comments on The Sheffield Gardens – Part 1 – Bramble Wood Cottage

Via the NGS book, The Yellow Book, we had the opportunity to book a weekend up in Sheffield to explore three gardens, owned by members of the “Sheffield School of Planting” who have been encouraging the use of wildflowers and wildlife mixed borders for years now. In particular they have been encouraging local authorities to take a fresh look at their parks and verges, with the emphasis on planting or sowing for wildlife and in many cases reducing maintenance budgets.

The leading figure in this movement is Nigel Dunnett and it was to his garden at Bramble Wood Cottage we made our way first, as it was the furthest from the city centre. As we drove around the Sheffield area we could see the influence of this planting movement.

Nigel met us part way up the pathway that took us through the sloping front garden and welcomed us then explained what his garden was all about and what it meant to him. The planting here was to set the tone for what was to come behind the cottage. Native plants and wildlife friendly cultivated plants intermingled to present soft gently planted borders both sides of the path.

The back garden was a large sloping garden with mature woodland area at the very top which gradually became more cultivated as we moved towards the cottage.

To get the full effect of the garden I will create a gallery of some of the photos taken during our visit. As usual just click on the first photo then navigate with the arrows.

So from Bramble Wood Cottage we drove back into the city and found our next garden situated half way up a steep street of brick-built terraced houses.

Tags garden photography, gardens, grasses, hardy perennials, herbaceous borders, National Garden Scheme, NGS, ornamental grasses, Sheffield

garden design garden photography garden seat garden seating

Are you sitting comfortably? No 18 in a very ocassional series

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date December 11, 2019

So for number 18 in this very ocassional series of posts about all sorts of garden seating we have found on our travels we continue with the gardens of Cornwall. The first garden we visited in Cornwall while on holiday was a small garden called Poppies Cottage Garden and here are the seats from our exploration of this gente cottage styled patch.

From this little garden I will now move on to the much larger and much more famous Eden Project. There was a wide selection of garden seats on the slopes of the landscape in which its famous domes are situated.

So that is it for post 18 in this very occasional series about the seats we find in gardens we visit. See more in post 19.

Tags garden seating, garden seats

autumn autumn colours colours garden design ornamental grasses Shropshire South Shropshire Uncategorized walled gardens

Seasonal Visits – Wildegoose – Winter Weekends

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date December 2, 2019
1 Comment on Seasonal Visits – Wildegoose – Winter Weekends

We were so pleased to get the opportunity to visit Wildegoose Nursery Garden this weekend a time when it is usually closed but two special “Winter Weekends” have been arranged. We arrive in fog which added so much to the atmosphere of the walled garden borders. We felt calmed by the muted sound that fog and mist gives us.

The borders were full of seed-heads of perennials and grasses and even a few rogue flowers. Tiny raindrops hung from every seed and stem, giving plants extra life.

Sometimes in gardens especially in winter it is the tiniest details that are the most beautiful, spidery stems, individual seed-heads and even out of season blooms.

Euphorbias are loved for their chartreuse, lime and lemon coloured bracts and tiny flowers but when these fall in the autumn they reveal the brightly coloured stems which brighten winter borders.

Sedum varieties have the same powerful coloured stems as their seed heads turn black and purple.

I shall share the rest of my photos below – I hope you enjoy looking at all the pics as much as we enjoyed our misty winter garden wander.

It will be a few months now before we next get the chance to explore Wildegooose Gardens and Nursery, as it stays closed now until April.

Tags autumn, autumn colours, autumn gardens, autumn plants, gardens with nurseries, grasses, nurseries, ornamental grasses, seed heads, the garden in autumn, Wildgoose Nursery, Wildgoose Nursery and Garden

arboreta autumn autumn colours colours garden design garden fun garden paths garden photography gardening gardens gardens open to the public grasses hardy perennials National Trust ornamental grasses ornamental trees and shrubs photography shrubs The National Trust Wales water in the garden woodland woodlands

Seasonal Visits to two very Different Gardens – Bodnant Gardens

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date November 22, 2019
1 Comment on Seasonal Visits to two very Different Gardens – Bodnant Gardens

Following on from our seasonal autumn visit to our smaller garden for 2019 we took a drive up to north Wales to wander around our larger garden, Bodnant Gardens. Join us as we enjoy the signs of the new season on its trees and shrubs.

Within the first ten minutes wandering we had discovered so many interesting plants and plant combinations. We were slowly making for the Winter Garden, one of our favourite parts of the garden. A first for us was a wall trained Gingko biloba which was really striking, as were the glossy indigo berries on this Dianella.

Of course The Winter Garden excels in its season but puts on a pretty good show in the autumn too.

From The Winter Garden we wandered through the open woodland towards the Acer Glade. All along the way trees were warming up the day with their hot coloured foliage and with some the added splash of colour provided by berries. I hope you enjoy my short gallery of photos below.

The woodland paths of gravel and sometimes grass led us to the predominately orange and red Acer Grove, which was busy with photographers and grandparents escorting their grandchildren picking up selections of their favourite leaves, natural jewels of the glade floor.

We left the Acer Grove and made towards the stream which we crossed by a wooden bridge and went upwards into the wooded slope of the dingle, so that we could wander along the many paths and look down into the dingle itself. We found more acers and other colourful deciduous shrubs below the giant conifers. Follow our journal be enjoying this gallery.

And so our day of wandering around the wonderful gardens at Bodnant came to an end, but as usual as we walked towards the gate we had a look at the Hot Garden alongside the stone wall. There is always something worth a second glance here whatever month we visit.

Perhaps one more visit to our other garden Wildegoose to go and if tempted another to Bodnant before the year is out!

Tags acers., autumn, autumn berries, autumn colours, autumn leaves, berried shrubs, Bodnant, Bodnant Garden, deciduous trees, garden in autumn, gardens of North Wales, gardens of the National Trust, National Trust, North Wales, ornamental grasses, viburnum

garden buildings garden design garden furniture garden garden arches garden paths garden photography garden ponds garden pools garden seat garden seating garden wildlife gardening gardens ornamental grasses ornamental trees and shrubs town gardens water garden water in the garden

The Sheffield Gardens – Part 3 –

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date November 11, 2019
1 Comment on The Sheffield Gardens – Part 3 –

David Clayden is the third gardener from the Sheffield School of Planting whose garden we visited in the weekend arranged by the NGS. His garden was completely different to the other two but enjoyed by us equally. The garden had a gentle feel to it and it was full of wildlife. It had many features that would attract wildlife including dry-stone walls, green roofs and patches of ferns and grasses.

We found the narrow entrance half way down a steep street of terraced houses, and we got a feeling for the garden as we walked through the tiny front patch.

We then wandered around the side of the house into the back and immediately felt calm and relaxed. With plenty of places to sit including seats on a deck in front of a summerhouse complete with green roof, there were opportunities throughout the garden to sit and observe the planting and soak up the atmosphere.

I will finish this report from the three Sheffield School gardeners home gardens with a selection of more images of this third garden. I hope you have enjoyed looking at these three Sheffield gardens which we visited one July weekend.

Tags dry stone walls, garden ponds, garden walls, green roof, Sheffield, Sheffield School of Planting

autumn autumn colours colours garden design garden furniture garden paths garden photography gardening gardens gardens open to the public grasses hardy perennials light light quality National Garden Scheme NGS nurseries ornamental grasses ornamental trees and shrubs pathways shrubs South Shropshire walled gardens Yellow Book Gardens

Seasonal visits to two very different gardens – Autumn at Wildegoose

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date October 26, 2019

This is the last visit to the smaller of our two gardens that we have been visiting throughout 2019, so please enjoy my report on Wildegoose Nursery and Garden which we visited on its last open day of the year. We spoke to Jack one of the owners who looked very glad that the season was ending and the nursery closing for another year. He and Laura and the twins were off on holiday the day after our visit.

The colours of the autumn flowers was so intensely beautiful and the light on the day of our visit enriched them further. The bright pink Persicaria amplexicaulis in a new cultivar to me, ‘Amethyst’.

There were signs of autumn to remind us of the season! Pumpkins and gourds, trees and shrubs showing unusual shades of pink-red.

In places the dying seedheads of perennials contrast beautifully with the autumn leaves on the shrubs.

I shall finish off this report of our visit with a gallery of my photos. As usual just click on the first photo and then navigate using the arrows.

For my next post in this series we will return to Bodnant, the bigger of our two gardens this year.

Tags autumn colours, autumn gardens, autumn leaves, hardy perennials, herbaceous plants, new perennial gardening, ornamental grasses, walled, Wildgoose Nursery, Wildgoose Nursery and Garden

garden buildings garden design garden garden arches garden paths garden photography gardening gardens gardens open to the public half-hardy perennials hardy perennials ornamental trees and shrubs outdoor sculpture recycling sculpture Wales

Pembrokeshire coast and gardens – a week away in June – Part 5- Dyffryn Fernant

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date October 7, 2019

Dyffryn Fernant is one of those gardens that makes such a lasting impression that I can walk through it in my mind in great detail whenever I wish to. It is one of the best gardens we have ever visited, so atmospheric and so romantic, with such a great choice of plants all beautifully and sensitively combined to show each at its best. It even had a library of gardening books where we were able to shelter from the rain and enjoy drinking coffee.

You know this is going to be a special garden when you feel so welcome as you approach the house.

The library was a great place to shelter from the showers, a place for coffee and cake and a place to study some great gardening and art books. In front of this lovely deep pink building was an area of planting, really original planting with interesting plants.

Sculpture adds so much to good gardens giving them a lift. Gardens can provide great places to display sculptural pieces including found objects of interest. This was definitely the case at Dyffryn Fernant.

We really enjoyed the planting and the atmosphere at this wonderful garden.

Tags garden sculpture, gardens of Wales, hardy perennials, Mid Wales, ornamental shrubs, ornamental trees, outdoor sculpture

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Pembrokeshire Coast and Gardens – a week away in June -Part 1 – Cae Hir

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date September 28, 2019

As autumn creeps in slowly I will look back at a holiday week back in mid-summer as a reminder of what a great year we have had.

In June we decided to make the three hour journey across mid-Wales and then down the coast to Cardigan . We had a brilliant varied week marred only by the rain which hovered above us most days. But being gardeners we didn’t let it beat us – we just donned waterproofs and ignored it the best we could. We visited the coast, followed a coastal path, visited Cardigan the town and castle and of course discovered a few beautiful gardens.

On the day that we journeyed down we stopped off towards the end of our journey to explore a garden partnered to the RHS, called Cae Hir. We loved its mix of cultivated plants living happily with wilder cousins, which made for a warm, gentle atmosphere. Being a small garden we had the chance to spend time with the head gardener, who spoke of the achievements of his father setting up the garden from a barren hillside and the challenges ahead for himself as owner/head gardener. We enjoyed several cups of coffee with him accompanied by cakes of course.

Cae Hir Gardens welcomed us with bright grasses and Welsh Poppies, setting the tone for what we were to experience throughout the gardens.

Cae Hir garden is an atmospheric hillside garden full of choice plants and path choices. We enjoyed some special roses which we needed help to identify, one climber being Leo’s Eyes, a deep cerise R. rugosa and a deep red single flowered rose which even the owner could not identify for us.

There were intimate areas where the planting enclosed us but soon after clear green areas opened up before us changing the mood of the garden constantly.

Occasionally a more formal feature surprised us amongst the gentle naturalness prevalent in the rest of the garden, a piece of topiary or a rectangular pool.

The garden was a balance between woodland and open spaces, and its atmosphere was led by the mix of cultivated and wildflowers. We particularly liked the long sweeps of geraniums and a circular garden based on reds and purples.

This lovely garden had one more surprise up its sleeve, awaiting us in an hedged rectangle of garden – a bonsai garden! So our time here was a true box of delights revealing its secrets to us as we explored.

Tags garden ponds, gardens of Wales, independent nurseries, Mid Wales, ornamental shrubs, ornamental trees, water in the garden, wildflowers

climbing plants garden arches garden design garden furniture garden photography garden seat garden seating garden wildlife gardening gardens hardy perennials Hardy Plant Society ornamental grasses ornamental trees and shrubs outdoor sculpture sculpture Shropshire shrubs South Shropshire water in the garden wildlife

My Garden Journal 2019 – August

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date September 10, 2019
1 Comment on My Garden Journal 2019 – August

Here we are with my journal entries looking at the last month of summer according to the the MetOffice. August has been a bright month with confused weather as has been this year’s norm. plants have continued to grow oversized and then flopped.

I began by writing, “August saw the arrival of some unusual pieces of garden sculpture to our garden, 3 corten steel panels and a bespoke bench made for us by sculptor Nik Burns.”

On the opposite page I continued, We both love Achilleas but sadly they are short-lived here, lasting 3 or 4 years only except for the tallest yellow cultivars ‘Goldplate’ and ‘Cloth of Gold’. All Achilleas partner beautifully with grasses and we love planting them together.”

I continued then by presenting a gallery of photos, where I wrote “An August Gallery”.

Garden wildlife features next, “August has been a great time for insects of all sorts. Butterflies are having their best time for years, seeing prolific numbers of all our garden favourites. Now we don’t grow veg we love the ‘Whites’ “

Over the page from my wildlife paintings, I continued “As usual during August we have plenty to do in the garden. I have now finished cutting the Buxus features. We spent hours tidying up in and around the pond and Jude weeded the two green roofs. We also added trellis to the Blackberry archway.”

Collecting seeds. Taking cuttings.

Weeding the woodstore green roof and thinning the pond reeds.

Freshly trimmed cloud pruned box edging.

So that is my garden journal for August and now I am enjoying our patch in September and we will share that month in our garden in my next post in this series.

Over to the next double page spread and I

Tags annuals, August, beneficial insects, garden jobs, garden journal, garden sculpture, garden seats, garden wildlife, half-hardy perennials, hardy perennials, the garden in August

climbing plants garden arches garden buildings garden design garden furniture garden paths garden photography gardening gardens hardy perennials ornamental grasses ornamental trees and shrubs

A Tale of Two Gardens – Part 2 – Esme’s Garden

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date September 1, 2019
1 Comment on A Tale of Two Gardens – Part 2 – Esme’s Garden

After enjoying a couple of hours and fine refreshments at Nancy’s home town garden we drove a short way to her other garden which is dedicated to her mother-in-law, Esme.

Through a gap between two rows of terraced cottages we discovered a narrow grass pathway between hedges on one side and gardens on the other. An open gate within the hedge invited us to enter the magical world of Esme’s Garden.

We thought Nancy’s home garden was something special but what awaited us at Esme’s was simply amazing, a large beautifully designed space packed with interest. Again the planting was beautifully and thoughtfully put together and the use of foliage exceptional. A network of paths, arches and path junctions directed us around borders packed with trees, shrubs and herbaceous perennials.

There were Gothic touches throughout the garden and Nancy herself had created a great folly at the bottom of the garden, which impressed us all.

There is so much to enjoy at Esme’s Garden that I think the best way to share the garden with you is to create a gallery of my photos. As usual click on the first pic then navigate using the arrows.

So now I have shared both of Nancy’s gardens with you and I now presume like me you think she is one amazing gardener. Just thinking about creating and maintaining two gardens makes me breathless!