Category: garden furniture

A canal-side garden in winter – John’s Garden Part 2

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date December 22, 2019
2 Comments on A canal-side garden in winter – John’s Garden Part 2

I found this unpublished post originally written back in mid-February of 2018. I hope you enjoy it!

Back at John’s Garden for our February visit in the cold we can carry on with our exploration as we wander further along the canal-side borders to the canal bridge. In part two we will move along the canal borders before returning along the opposite side of the patch, while along the way discovering a pool, sculpture and a terrace and lots more exciting plants and plant pairings.

Conifers, grasses and trees and shrubs with coloured stems and bark give a common theme throughout. The first two photos below show the matching gold coloured foliage of a group of conifers and a swathe of grasses.

The Rhodendron above has a surprise for you if you turn over its leaves! Who would expect orange on the reverse side of a touch dark green leaf? And it feels like the softest felt.

Skimmia “Kew Green” has unusual green flowers instead of the usual reddish shades, while the Witch Hazels sport many shades of yellow.

Snowdrops in drifts light up the ground beneath the tree. Ilex “Ferox” sparkles with variegated leaves curled and heavily spined, probably one of the best hollies available for the small garden.

Metal panels with cut-out shapes of fern leaves reflect the planting beneath them in the border. John features many different versions of the low growing evergreen shrub, Leucothe. This one was a real beauty!

White can be a powerful colour when the winter sun catches it, as in the bleached stems of Teasels, the trunks of white-bark Birch and the ground covering Carex.

Along the way a beautiful pool gave a space to slow down and take a deep breath to take in all we had so far seen.

Every garden however small needs seats and they must be chosen to fit the design and atmosphere.

Sculpture is scattered around the garden providing us with pleasant surprises among our delight at its plants.

Turning at the far end of the garden we had a quick look at the new garden which has just begun being created, Adam’s Garden, designed in memory of John’s gardener who died very young late last year. This will be a great addition to the garden and we look forward to seeing it develop. We then returned on the opposite side of the long garden making interesting discoveries all the way.

The terrace is a place where you need to stop and study the small details, the pots full of original planting ideas, trimmed shrubs, interesting foliage and some floating blossoms.

Exploring an interesting little terrace garden finished our visit and we returned to the cafe via John’s lawned area with Betula, Snowdrops, Crocus and sheep.

We have a list of the other few open days the rest of the year so aim to return. All of John’s open days are to raise money for charity including some for the National Garden Scheme, the NGS. We will be back!

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

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!

Tags colour in the garden, garden arches, garden design, garden diy, garden follies, hardy perennials, herbaceous borders, herbaceous plants, mixed borders

garden arches garden buildings garden design garden furniture garden garden arches garden paths garden photography garden seating gardening gardens gardens open to the public half-hardy perennials hardy perennials Hardy Plant Society HPS meadows National Garden Scheme NGS nurseries ornamental trees and shrubs shrubs village gardens walled gardens Yellow Book Gardens

Stone House Cottage Garden – rare plants and follies

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date August 18, 2019
2 Comments on Stone House Cottage Garden – rare plants and follies

A return visit to a garden that we have not seen for a few decades is a rare treat. We returned to Stone House Cottage Garden and Nursery as part of a day out with our Hardy Plant Society Shropshire Group friends. In the afternoon we followed up with a wander around Arley Arboretum, another place we have visited before. Both gardens open for the National Garden Scheme during the year too.

We were greeted by Stone House’s owner and gardener, Louisa Arthbutnot, who invited us to wander freely but saying she would be around to answer queries. We entered through a round tower and were soon reminded about what makes this such a special patch, interesting plants combined well and brick-built grottoes.

Entering the garden through the first folly we are given a choice of paths straight away, so enticing.

But we did not make a choice straight as we were attracted to the unusual selection of plants growing right alongside the back door of the entrance folly.

Brickwork and follies feature so strongly in the is cottage garden and enhance it in a unique way.

As we moved through the garden we discovered unusual shrubs with loose meadow-style planting beneath them.

But what makes this cottage garden stand out as being something rather special is its collection of rare and unusual plants and the way Louisa places plants in communities so effectively.

As we left the garden we all made for the nursery where many unusual plants were waiting to tempt us.

Tags follies, garden arches, garden follies, garden paths, half-hardy perennials, HPS, HPS gardeners, independent nurseries, NGS, NGS gardens, nurseries, rare plants

colours garden buildings garden design garden designers garden furniture garden paths garden photography garden seat garden seating gardening gardens gardens open to the public grasses half-hardy perennials hardy perennials light quality nurseries ornamental grasses outdoor sculpture pathways poppies sculpture Shropshire South Shropshire village gardens

seasonal visits to two very different gardens – mid-summer at Wildegoose nursery and gardens

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date August 9, 2019
1 Comment on seasonal visits to two very different gardens – mid-summer at Wildegoose nursery and gardens

We made one of our frequent visits to Wildegoose Nursery and Gardens in the middle of July on a warm bright day. We were pleased to find a new sign at the entrance to the nursery and garden, a beautiful coloured plan of the walled garden. Also new was an area of planting alongside the path to the sales hut.

This new planting reflected the planting style of much of the garden, new perennial style with thoughtful colour matching. The nursery beds also looked really colourful and inviting.

We made our way up to the top of the slope where the tea shop is situated, and we treated ourselves to a coffee and one of their special cakes. Then suitably refreshed we set about exploring this wonderful space. Every gravel pathway led to interesting plant combinations.

We will finish off sharing our visit with you via a gallery of my photos. The whole garden is an exciting example of thoughtful planting groups, sometimes pale and subdued colours others bright and red hot. To follow our tracks click on the first photo and then use the arrows to navigate. We shall return later in the year to see Wildegoose in another season.

Tags garden sculpture, grasses, hardy perennials, hardy violas, new perennial gardening, nurseries, ornamental grasses, South Shropshire, unusual perennials, Wildgoose Nursery and Garden

garden design garden furniture garden photography garden seat garden seating gardening gardens

Are You Sitting Comfortably – no 20 in an occasional series

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date July 27, 2019

We reach the milestone post in this occasional series featuring the amazing variety of garden seats we find and enjoy sitting on as we reach no 20.

I will start with a couple of very different seats located very near each other in an NGS garden we visited in May, the gardens of “The Citadel”.

This next set is of seats we found while exploring one of our favourite walled gardens and nurseries in Shropshire, Wildegoose Nursery and Garden.

These next few are from another NGS Yellow Book garden, the wildlife friendly patch at Gorsty Bank just a half hour or so drive from home.

So that is it for this selection of garden seats but another selection will follow soon.

Tags garden photography, garden seating, garden seats, gardening

flowering bulbs garden design garden furniture garden paths garden photography garden pools garden seat garden seating gardening gardens gardens open to the public hardy perennials Land Art light light quality ornamental grasses ornamental trees and shrubs outdoor sculpture pathways shrubs spring spring gardening village gardens Yellow Book Gardens

Moors Meadow – a romantic garden full of magic

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date June 9, 2019
3 Comments on Moors Meadow – a romantic garden full of magic

We had not visited the magical garden at Moors Meadow for several years so we were really looking forward to exploring it with my brother Graham and sister-in-law Vicky.

The garden here was pronounced Britain’s most romantic garden by a national gardening monthly. We were so looking forward to finding out if it lived up to this and if it still felt as magical as we remembered.

It didn’t take long for us to discover that it was indeed a garden full of surprises, artifacts, unusual plants, amazing seats and wandering pathways through changing moods of garden.

I shall now share a gallery of photos showing our walk around the gardens.

So there is my gallery of photos of our journey around the magical and romantic gardens at Moors Meadow. I hope you enjoyed sharing our journey and our enjoyment.

Tags garden furniture, garden sculpture, garden seating, garden seats, gardens of Herefordshire, Herefordshire gardens, Moors Meadow, outdoor sculpture, trees and shrubs

fruit and veg garden furniture garden paths garden photography garden ponds garden pools gardening gardens grow your own hardy perennials kitchen gardens National Garden Scheme NGS ornamental trees and shrubs Shropshire shrubs spring gardening woodland woodlands Yellow Book Gardens

A new NGS Yellow Book garden, Longden Manor

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date June 4, 2019
1 Comment on A new NGS Yellow Book garden, Longden Manor

It is always exciting finding a new NGS garden to visit and when we find one that is just a few fields away as the crow flies it is extra interesting. Longden Manor with its organic farm still had to be driven to though and we seemed to drive in a big loop before we got to its field parking. As we drove up the drive to the field we were amused by several topiary pieces as well as a beautiful bright patch of Azaleas.

The Manor House itself sits in such a dominant place with wide sweeping views out across the Shropshire countryside. A huge lawn sits in front of the house ensuring a clear view, a view framed by large specimen trees.

New areas are being discovered all the time, old parts of forgotten gardens which are now being unearthed. It was a privilege to look at a pool and bog garden area just cleared and being prepared for planting. The pool has been reinstated already but it looks as if there will be exciting waterfalls and streams to follow.

From the newly discovered old pool we wandered through established woodland into a small orchard, an unusual holly orchard and kitchen garden.

I shall finish off my report of our visit to this new National Garden Scheme garden with another piece of topiary created to make you smile. A rather happy caterpillar!