Category: gardens open to the public

Broughton Grange – a walled garden plus.

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date July 4, 2013
4 Comments on Broughton Grange – a walled garden plus.

Back to Oxfordshire and this time we shall share a wander around a most wonderful and varied garden which we were privileged to visit recently. The gardens at Broughton Grange are only open a few days a year in support of charities and we visited on a weekend when it was open under the auspices of the National Garden Scheme, The Yellow Book.

We arrived not long after it opened and approached across a traditional wild flower meadow through which was cut a vehicle width track. Without thinking we drove slowly across the grass, the fact that we were taking a mechanical monster over something so delicate and special made us move as gently as possible.

Although there is plenty to see here we had to immediately make for the walled garden which had been designed by Tom Stuart-Smith. I was so keen to explore this garden that I even did without my pre-explore coffee! I was glad I did!

The design had a strong structure beneath it, both of hard landscaping and natural frameworks, which provided a network into which the plants could grow, softening the hard surfaces as they did so.

The planting scheme here had a wonderful coherence which allowed your eye to move slowly across a delicate colour palette but sometimes individual plants stood out from the crowd and demanded a closer second look. Luckily for us there were lots of access pathways so we could delve into the borders to enjoy a close look at specials that caught our eyes.

First a few shots of borders………….

………… and now for some of the glittering stars!

Foliage played an important role here too, with leaf texture, shape and colour adding further interest to the plantings.

We spotted this little cameo as we were leaving the walled garden to explore the outer grounds. A piece of accidental garden sculpture?

Outside the walled garden many acres awaited discovery by Mr and Mrs Greenbench. Woodland, a new arboretum, meadows and features such as this Laburnum arch – sunglasses were essential if you wished to pass through it!

Nearby a new patch of woodland featured many native trees plus a select few non-natives, such as lilacs with rich fruity scent that filled the air all through the neighbouring trees.

We wandered through an interesting garden in front of the house itself on our way to the arboretum. Here little meadows full of airy wild flowers and native grasses moving gently in the summer breeze bordered a parterre with bright blue obelisks as highlights.

As we left the old woodland to enter the newly planted arboretum we discovered a stumpery. We have a soft spot for stumperies and this was an interesting one as it was designed and laid out to form a welcoming funnel between the two sections of garden. From the woodland side the stumps build up to form a gateway.

So in my follow-up post about this wonderful garden I shall begin with the stumpery.

Tags stumpery

community gardening fruit and veg garden design garden photography garden wildlife gardening gardens open to the public half-hardy perennials kitchen gardens natural pest control village gardens

Find Peace and Tranquility in a Walled Garden

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date June 3, 2013

Geoff, a friend and gardener, recommended Sugnall Walled Garden as a special place to visit. We love walled gardens and always have done for their special unique atmosphere. Peaceful. Tranquil. Enclosed. Calm. Secret.

Sugnall is not pristine, and it is better off not being so. We liked its “shabby chic” effect. It is a mix of productive and decorative borders with lots of paths to follow inviting exploration. But first we had to check out the tea shop! A little plant as a table centre set the scene for our walled garden visit.

There were some very efficient pest controllers working within these walls. Two pairs of ducks were champion slug and snail eaters. Nesting swallows, which appeared and disappeared through a convenient hole in the gable end of the potting shed were seen to be catching insects while in flight to feed to their hungry youngsters.

Now Geoff also mentioned a nature reserve just a stroll up the lane which hosts bluebells! That just had to be our next port of call.

birds gardens open to the public National Trust nature reserves photography Shropshire The National Trust trees wildlife winter gardens woodland

Birches in Winter

Regular readers of Greenbenchramblings will be very aware of my love of Birch trees in all their many guises. In this post I shall highlight our native Betula pendula.

The texture of its silvered bark metamorphoses as it ages from a smooth shining silver to a pattern of deeply fissured elephant skin.

Our native Birch is a relatively short-lived tree so within any mixed woodland fallen specimens litter the ground. They will slowly dissolve away through the actions of the tiniest creatures and a multitude of fungi.

Perhaps the best way to finish off this series of photos of my favourite trees, the Birches, is with a set of pictures of groups of them standing like cold sentinels.

Tags betulas, birches, birds, National Trust, ornamental trees, trees, winter gardens, woodland

gardens open to the public National Trust nature reserves Shropshire wildlife woodland

Attingham’s Deer

We always keep an eye out for the deer herd at Attingham. Today we were treated to a close up view of a group of these Fallow Deer. They were so busy feeding they hardly noticed us. We felt honoured that they let us watch them and take a few photos. Click on any pic to see them as a slide show.

Tags deer, National Trust, wildlife, winter

birds garden photography gardens open to the public National Trust nature reserves ornamental trees and shrubs

The Hole Story

As we wandered through the woods at Attingham Park, our local National Trust Property, we were looking at some tree surgeon’s work, the felled branches, neat piles of logs, less neat brash heaps and some boughs separated out into stacks suitable for becoming fence posts in the future. On the ends of several felled trunks we noticed holes where the centres had been hollowed out, possibly through the ravages of age or disease killing the tree from the middle outwards.

I couldn’t resist photographing several!

As we continued our woodland wanderings we noticed holes all around, in tree trunks, stumps, in the ground itself. Thus the idea for this post was born. I chose the title over several alternatives, such as “A Hole in One” and “The Hole Truth” but stuck with “The Hole Story” as this is really the story of a walk.

Where trees had fallen naturally rather than by the hand and saw of man holes form where branches break away and the natural processes of decay get to work. Callous forms around the holes in the last hope of repair. We were impressed with the way nature fights back against all the odds, where the hollowed out stump of a long ago felled tree breaks into growth. New whippy branches burst from close to the ground. Mother Nature seems good at coppicing.

Animals and birds have been at work creating holes too, holes to live in or to store food in and to excavate later to retrieve it.

A rabbit has burrowed out his home, Nuthatches and Woodpeckers have bored into bark to get at beetles living there, a squirrel or perhaps a Jay have searched for a cache of nuts, a Wood Mouse has made its home at the base of a stump and beetles have bored their way into rotten wood.

In the photo below spores have burst out through holes in the miniature puff-ball fungi. The fungi look like old, burst table tennis balls.

The biggest holes of all were in the still-standing half trunk of a grand old tree still standing rotting away and feeding a multitude of creatures from the tiniest microbes to Green Woodpeckers. This long vertical split looked like sculpture from a distance. Close up it revealed itself as the work of weather, wind or lightning.

Not all the holes we discovered at Attingham were created by Mother Nature, some were there because of the activities of man. In particular the charcoal burners leave their marks, pipes, a circular scar where their metal structure was at one time situated and the burner itself.

So that is it, the whole story of our hole searching wander.

birds flowering bulbs garden photography garden wildlife gardening gardens open to the public Land Art landscapes National Trust nature reserves ornamental trees and shrubs outdoor sculpture photography Shropshire spring bulbs The National Trust trees wildlife Winter Gardening winter gardens woodland

A Cold Woodland Walk

A cold dull day with a biting easterly wind. Stay at home and enjoy a book in front of a roaring homely log fire? No, we decided to get out into it and enjoy a walk in the woodland in the grounds of our local National Trust property, Attingham Hall.

We visit regularly and no two visits are ever the same. We set out on this particular walk expecting to see the first signs of spring, perhaps the fresh green growth of Hawthorn, buds on trees fattening fit to burst or birdsong all around. How wrong we were. The wood is still in the grip of winter and birds remain quiet, except for a Mistle Thrush who cast his song far and wide over the tree tops, a melodic uplifting tune. One patch of Hawthorn displayed some green but only one.

However in the protection of a brick wall this Flowering Currant defied the winter and cheered us up with its soft pinky-red flowers hanging in so many tassels. Nearby just beyond the warmth provided by the wall the tight yellow buds of a variety of Mahonia aquifolia patiently wait. The odd splash of blue sky above us reflects in the gloss of the leaves. Close by their cousins the Berberis are a little behind but both will respond to some kinder weather.

The last of the Snowdrops still hang on, and wherever there is protection flowers respond.

Where elderly specimens of trees begin to break and fall sculptural shapes are created. This old split trunk looks huge amongst younger trees and its boughs stretch out across the ground rotting where they fell and colonised by a carpet of mosses.

There is something magical about woodlands, they make you feel calm and relaxed and they make some visitors more creative or more childlike. They build dens, climb trees or create little bits of land art. The National Trust are doing a brilliant job in encouraging these effects on their visitors, in particular with their little booklet “50 things to do before you are 11 3/4“. Right in the depths of the woodland we came across these two simple but beautiful land art pieces.

Tree surgeons at work have left their marks. We were amazed when we spotted the beautiful “fern” chipped into the bark by a chainsaw. The off cuts were used to make a wonderful big logpile to attract insects especially all the beetles who make Attingham their home. The National Trust’s woodland management keeps wildlife in mind. It is heartening to know that Stag Beetles now live here.

In the walled garden the extra warmth afforded by its tall brick walls has allowed flowering plants to make some progress towards Spring.

The best feature of our walk was to see a Honey Bee at work feeding on Wallflowers in the walled garden.

What a great walk we had, cold ears and noses but plenty of fresh air and sheer joy at being outside and in woodland. I hope you enjoy the collection of pics below!

colours garden design garden photography gardening gardens open to the public hardy perennials meadows outdoor sculpture photography

Breezy Knees

Enough of this cold, wet, miserable weather! Let’s transport ourselves back to warmer times and brighter days in the wonderful Vale of York.

Breezy Knees. What a great name for a nursery! We came across it in an article written by Roy Lancaster for the RHS members’ magazine, “The Garden” and he highly recommended it. So when travelling around the Vale of York and finding ourselves close to it we just had to go and have a peruse. It also has a garden to wander around attached to it, which highlighted many of the unusual herbaceous perennials it sold.

How about this for a bench?

The nursery is less than ten years old and created on open farmland, very open hence its quirky name. We arrived at the end of a period of rain and the day before had seen the nursery’s show gardens closed as much of it was flooded. From the nursery to the gardens entails a ten minute walk between fields and we soon discovered the relevance of its name.

The garden is a collection of small garden rooms displaying different types of garden styles and conditions, from an annual meadow to a rose garden and from raised beds to double borders. The most unusual is the “Rogues Gallery” where garden thugs live together and warn us of their behaviour.

We began our exploration of Breezy Knees with a wander along an enticing path cut through the Spring Meadow, and then moved on through the show gardens discovering some beautiful plants along the way.

If you are up that way, make sure you drop in to Breezy Knees. It will be worth it.

A sense of humour always adds an extra element to any garden. Breezy Knees certainly had plenty to offer. As well as their long bench we were delighted to come across this pair of wonder wellies! Jude the Undergardener looks as if she is checking to see if they are her size!

Tags foliage, foliage plants, garden photography, gardening, meadows, outdoor sculpture, sculpture, Vale of York, Yorkshire

autumn autumn colours garden design garden photography gardening gardens open to the public ornamental grasses ornamental trees and shrubs photography

Looking Back Two – Trentham

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date March 2, 2013
4 Comments on Looking Back Two – Trentham

In this post in my series featuring looking back at gardens visited in 2012, I will share photographs of an autumn visit to the wonderful Trentham, one of our favourite places to visit.

We took friends Jean and Tony with their granddaughter Lucy to share our enjoyment of this latest of our regular visits to these wonderful gardens designed by favourites, Piet Oudolf and Tom Stuart-Smith.

Perhaps this sign in the first photo is inviting us to get lost in wonder.

The garden is still full of colourful flowers in October. Each flower colour is enhanced by the gentle neutral shades of the grasses.

Lucy needs regular re-fuelling! She also needs time to play and enjoy an occasional sit down.

Through windows and doors.

Trentham once again provided us a real treat. We’ll be back again soon.

Tags autumn, autumn colours, garden photography, gardening, new perennial gardening, Piet Oudolf, prairie planting, Staffordshire, Tom Stuart-Smith

garden design garden photography gardening gardens open to the public National Trust NGS photography Shropshire South Shropshire The National Gardening Scheme" The National Trust trees

Looking Back One – An Hour at Croft Castle

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date February 24, 2013
6 Comments on Looking Back One – An Hour at Croft Castle

This is the third in the series of posts looking back at garden visits we enjoyed last summer and autumn. Here we shall remember our autumn visit to the grounds of Croft Castle in South Shropshire.

Croft Castle is a favourite National Trust property. We often visit to enjoy a walk around the gardens and take tea in the teashop. On this autumn day we only had a short time but still managed to do both!

Croft is famous for its ancient avenue of Sweet Chestnut trees which are now sadly coming to the end of their lives. Their gnarled, pitted bark shows their great age and makes you imagine just what they would have seen going on under their boughs and all around them over the centuries. If only they could tell.

Autumn was descending on the walled gardens. SAMSUNG

Tags Croft Castle. Sweet Chestnuts, fruit and veg, fruit and vegetable growing, garden photography, gardening, greenhouses, grown your own, National Trust, NGS, organic gardening, Shropshire Hills

garden design garden photography gardening gardens open to the public ornamental trees and shrubs photography village gardens

A Felley Foray

Felley Priory Gardens are described in promotional literature as “a tranquil garden” and as “one of Nottinghamshire’s best kept secrets” but how can this be true when it is just half a mile from the M1 motorway? There is only one way to find out the answer to such mysteries visit and see for ourselves. Such a visit should be a delight as the gardens are reputed to contain many rare and unusual plants.

So did our recent foray to Felley present us with answers to the queries above?

Just minutes from the heavy traffic of the motorway in quiet farmland we find a narrow drive leading to a roughly surfaced, virtually empty car park. As usual coffee was our first requirement, so off to the “Farmhouse Tea Room” which was remarkably busy.

When we entered the garden we were the only visitors and a gardener opened up the garden gate for us. It seemed as if most visitors were just using the tea room.

The claims were indeed true. Tranquility engulfed us, enticing us on through archways and gateways to discover new garden rooms and more rare and unusual plants. Another claim seen to be true.

A pool within a walled garden presented us with clear, still reflections of the trees around it.

The gardeners were quietly working away in the shelter afforded by tall trimmed evergreen hedges, cutting down last year’s perennial growth and adding compost as a mulch around them. Their biggest task must be keeping these hedges and the varied topiary specimens in tip-top condition.

Throughout our wander around these unusual gardens we met few visitors, the most interesting being this ancient stone bishop. He looked so cold I shared my hat with him for a while. He didn’t thank me but I hope he appreciated it.