Category: gardens

The Dorothy Clive Garden in January – Part 2

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date January 24, 2016

So here we are back at our feature garden for 2016, the Dorothy Clive Gardens on the border of Shropshire and Staffordshire. I will start with some views from around the garden. It will be interesting to see how these views change through the year.

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Let us now look at the bright red colours of berries and the more subtle browns and biscuit colours of seedheads of Hydrangeas and Phlomis.

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The delicate beauty of these seed heads deserved a very close look to fully appreciate them.

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We walked down the gentle slope towards the pond and the scree garden around it. Throughout the other seasons the borders here will be glowing with colour and full of exuberant growth.

Different textures together add interest to the winter garden where the bare stems of deciduous shrubs and perennials sit alongside bright new growth which are the promises of spring and summer.

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The Rose Garden looks very bleak in the winter when its bones are revealed, the obelisks and arches of black metal and the bare unpruned stems of the roses.

Near the bottom of the slope we came across a stand of three old Birches and a single tall specimen nearby. In the border here obelisks have been created from the trunks of felled Birches. It is good to see them given a second life.

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We spotted this architectural looking plant as we walked back up the slope and we were both unsure what it was but came to the conclusion it was a Tetrapanax.

We are not really fans of conifers but admit that in the winter they can give strong structure to the garden.

I will finish off with a selection of photos, a rustic seat, a terracotta bird box on an old brick shed, a larger then life statue of a stag above a stream and pool and finally a snow topped sundial on a sunless day.

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That is it for our January exploration of our featured garden for 2016, The Dorothy Clive Garden. We are already looking forward to our February visit when we may see more signs of spring bulbs in flower and some more early flowering shrubs.

Tags betulas, birches, Dorothy Clive Garden, Shropshire, Staffordshire, winter, winter garden, winter gardening, winter gardens

colours flowering bulbs garden photography gardening gardens gardens open to the public grasses hardy perennials ornamental grasses ornamental trees and shrubs Shropshire Staffordshire trees Winter Gardening winter gardens

The Dorothy Clive Garden Month by Month – January

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date January 21, 2016
3 Comments on The Dorothy Clive Garden Month by Month – January

This is the report of our first visit to this year’s featured garden, the Dorothy Clive Garden. We have been making occasional visits to this beautiful garden for about forty years now and have enjoyed many new developments for this is not a garden to rest on its laurels. It is affiliated to the Royal Horticultural Society and is run by the Friends of Willoughbridge Garden Trust.

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The garden was born way back in 1940 when Harry and Dorothy Clive lived in the large white house, Elds Gorse. The first area to be tackled was the old quarry which is now a richly planted Dingle Garden. Harry Clive created this first part of the garden so that his wife, who was suffering from Parkinson’s Disease could take daily exercise in a beautoful garden. Sadly she died in 1942 and Harry continued to develop the garden as a tribute to his wife. In 1958 the Willoughbridge Trust was founded to ensure that the garden continued for ever as a place of “rest and recreation” for the public.

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We made the one hour journey to the Dorothy Clive Garden on a very cold morning in mid-January. We were surprised to drive through areas of snow and arrived at the garden to find snow covering the garden in a shallow layer. We left our tracks in the snow as did a Grey Heron before us.

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Snow decorated the foliage of trees and shrubs where later in the year we will discover the colours and scents of their flowers. The weight of wet melting snow bent grasses down towards the ground and gave the plants a graceful shape.

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The first view of the garden opened up before us as we climbed a gently sloping path towards the tea shop which in winter doubles up as the ticket office. Naturally we were tempted by the aroma of warm coffee and the sight of home made cakes. The little flower arrangements in the centre of each table added to the warm welcome we received from the staff.

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Just outside the tearoom the little nursery area held plants hidden under snow and sculptures of rabbits and hares wearing hats of snow. The gardeners had been painting acorn fence-post tops a gentle shade of green.

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We left the tea shop and mini-nursery to walk towards the Dingle Garden an area of woodland garden created in an old quarry. Snow topped off the buds and leaves of Azaleas and Rhododendrons and the seed heads of the occasional herbaceous perennials.

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But we were particularly delighted to find flowers out, the simplest of Snowdrops with droplets of melted snow hanging from their stems, the occasional Rhododendrons and Camellias and Witch Hazels in sunshine colours.

The overnight snow and ice had turned this pink Rhododendron translucent and delicate, while the flowers in the Camellia Walk were just managing to hang on. The pink scented flowers of this Daphne however shrugged off the cold and looked fresh and cheerful.

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Hydrangeas looked as good covered in seed heads as they do in flower with gentle biscuit and ginger hues.

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During the winter when undergrowth has died away and low growing deciduous shrubs have dropped their leaves the trunks of Rhododendrons and Azaleas are exposed. We can then appreciate their amazing scrolls and curlicues.

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The new winter garden at the Dorothy Clive Garden was a surprise to us as it is totally new so we didn’t know it existed. A great surprise! The Laburnum Arch through which we left the Winter Garden has been a popular feature of the garden for many years.

The colours and textures of trees can add so much to any garden and the gardeners at Dorothy Clive certainly know how to choose them and place them to best advantage.

You only need the tiniest touch of light on berries to make them sparkle. The last drops of melting snow hung on many.

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Mahonias are always a good plant in any garden with their glossy evergreen leaves which show rich autumn colours and in the winter yellow scented flowers appear to be followed by black berries with a white floury dusting.

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We shall return for part two of this January visit to our feature garden of 2016 to see what other treats the Dorothy Clive Garden has in store for us.

Tags azaleas, betulas, coloured bark, coloured stems, Dorothy Clive Garden, rhododendrons, Shropshire, snowdrops, spring bulbs, Staffordshire, winter, winter garden, winter gardening, winter gardens, winter shrubs

arboreta autumn autumn colours colours garden buildings garden photography gardens gardens open to the public ornamental trees and shrubs sculpture trees

Arboreta in Autumn – Batsford Part 2

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date January 19, 2016

As we return to Batsford we are still wandering along the pathway that promised us views of plen1ty of unusual and beautiful trees and shrubs. Being autumn of course gives us the added benefits that it brings – yellows, oranges and reds in every shade possible. Many are on the ground at our feet so rather than just their colours we enjoyed their sounds as we scrunched through them with our boots and kicked them into the air bringing back childhood memories. Jude the Undergardener and I have frequent childhood memories which we have to relive.

Think of autumn colour and for many the first plant to spring into the mind is the massive family of Acers. Batsford has dozens of varieties both trees and shrubs.

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We were drawn in by the sight of raspberry coloured seed pods shaped like arthritic old fingers. They were hanging on a Magnolia x veichii “Peter Veitch”, with its large pleated leaves.

The scent from these lovely acid yellow Mahonia reminded us of pineapples which made our mouths water!

We have a Liquidamber styraciflua “Worplesdon” in our front garden which is fastigiate so takes up little room, but this beauty would dwarf an awful lot of our other plants. The Liquidamber styraciflua here is a beautiful tree as are all Liquidamber.

There is more to this arboretum than trees and shrubs as we discovered when we came across this Japanese style building and oriental sculptures, all adding a little eastern spice.

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This sculture was equally beautiful but was simply created by Mother Nature as the top of this tree had died away.

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Wherever I go in the autumn and winter I keep an eye out for dried seed heads and flower heads as I enjoy their colours, shapes and textures. I managed to manoeuvre my self and my camera to photograph these against dark leafy backgrounds.

Just a few shots now to illustrate how much colour can be found around trees in this autumnal period.

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The pale raspberry coloured fruit of Cornus x cousa “Norman Hadden” once ripe will be enjoyed by the local Blackbird population but they look good before they disappear.

So that is it for our visit to Batsford Arboretum for now but I feel sure we will be back.

Tags acers., arboreta, arboretum, autumn colours, autumn gardens, Batsford Arboretum, berried trees, cornus, deciduous trees, garden buildings, garden in autumn, garden sculpture, garden trees, liquidamber, ornamental trees, outdoor sculpture, sculpture, seed heads, trees and shrubs

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

Arboreta in Autumn – part 2 – Batsford

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date January 17, 2016

We made a special effort to get to see several different arboreta this autumn. We visited our friend Richard’s arboretum twice, then drove northward to the Bluebell Arboretum and Nurseries and finally south to Batsford Arboretum in Gloucestershire.

Batsford is one of the biggest and oldest arboreta in the UK and a very well-known one so provided a good contrast to Richard’s place and Bluebell as these are relatively small and both just over 20 years old. Their own publicity leaflet describes Batsford as “The Cotswold’s Secret Garden” but judging by the number of visitors even on a dull day it seemed far from a secret.

New borders lined the gently sloping pathway leading down from the car park to the reception area. The beauty of the planting here which included this yellow berried Sorbus and two very different Indigofera, prepared us for the treats we had in store.

After walking just a few yards from the entrance we came across a special tree – one of those specimens that stops you in your tracks and starts the brain and memory off trying to work it out. It was like a Cotoneaster in leaf and growth habit but it had black berries rather than the more usual red. Luckily it had a label and it was indeed a black berried Cotoneaster. Here was a plant we had never seen before or even knew existed. It is called Cotoneaster moupinensis. This was going to be a good day!

Contrasting leaves in shape and size make for good plant combinations, such as this large leaved Dalmera paltata in front of the delicately leaved Acer palmatum. We liked the contrast between the slim fragile white Fuschia flower and the gritty surface of a capping stone as we crossed over a bridge.

Autumn visits to any arboretum means colourful foliage but we always find flowers of interest flowering in this season too, Hydrangeas, Viburnum and an unusual flowered Heptacodium.

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Berries too caught our attention among the colours of fire, the yellows, oranges and reds especially this particular Berberis dripping with long racemes of red berries. Nearby rose hips dripped from the plant which had lost all its leaves.

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Sorbus pseudohupahensis “Pink Pagoda” bears berries of pin and white which from a distance gives the affect of pink mist. Another Sorbus attracted us by the sheer size of its pure white berries, Sorbus cashmeriana.

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Sorbus scalaris like most Sorbus displays red berries but what is most noticeable with this tree is the uniformity of its foliage which was hanging on into the autumn.

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Remember the Dalmera peltatum which I showed teamed up with an Acer, well we found several large clumps of this bog-loving plant around Batsford. I enjoyed getting up close and looking through the Nikon lens at the details of their giant leaves.

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No arboretum visit in the autumn can be reported without celebrating the family of Acers. Enjoy!

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As well as the bright changing colours of the leaves and the appearance of berries there is one tree that we appreciate in autumn for its pale yellow coloured autumn foliage but this foliage as it falls has an amazing sweet smell like brittle toffee, burnt sugar or toffee apples. Cercidyphylum japinicum

As we moved on along the trail we were literally stopped in our tracks at the sight of the Berberis with its incredibly long and unusually coloured racemes of flowers.

Around the next bend in the path this beautifully coloured cherry tree glowed a salmon pink colour and we rushed to read its label. We discovered it was a close relative of a tiny flowering cherry we grow in our Japanese Garden at home, Prunus incisa “Kojo-no-mai”. This much larger tree was Prunus incisa fuginaea, the Fuji Cherry. We could only guess at how spectacular it must look in flower.

We wandered on stopping frequently to look for labels, sometimes to confirm what we thought trees and shrubs and sometimes to find out.

I always manage to find Betulas (Birches) in every arboretum we visit and here we came across the beautifully coloured bark variety, Betula albosinensis Septentrionalis.

I shall finish this first post about Batsford with another favourite, this time a shrub, a deciduous Euonymus, Euonymous oxyphyllus, which flowers and berries in remarkable style.

Tags arboreta, arboretum, Batsford Arboretum, berberis, betula, betulas, deciduous euonymus, ornamental shrubs, ornamental trees, trees and shrubs

garden photography gardens gardens open to the public National Garden Scheme ornamental trees and shrubs shrubs Staffordshire water in the garden

A new garden for monthly visits – The Dorothy Clive Garden

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date January 5, 2016
2 Comments on A new garden for monthly visits – The Dorothy Clive Garden

After visiting Trentham Gardens monthly throughout 2014 followed by Croft Castle Gardens in 2015 we searched for another local garden which changes with the seasons and has interest every month of the year.

We have chosen The Dorothy Clive Garden, a forty minute drive from home and a real favourite of ours for years. It is one of the gardens we share with family and friends who come to stay. The garden has a postal address which places it in Shropshire but the garden’s guide book says it is situated in neighbouring Staffordshire. Perhaps on one of our visits we may discover its real location.

The garden guide describes it as “An informal hillside garden.” On its website is an invitation to “Explore this charming English country garden. Enjoy great plants throughout the seasons, delightful views and tasty homemade food.” This sounds just up our street – great plants and tasty food!

The website continues describing the Dorothy Clive Garden as “A place to relax and unwind in an intimate, informal and inspiring setting. Experience a really welcoming and friendly environment.”

So it sounds as if we have chosen our feature garden for 2016 rather wisely.

For now here is a gallery of pics from a previous visit just as a taster.

Later this month we will make our first visit to the Dorothy Clive Garden and then create the first monthly post.

Tags azaleas, dingle, Dorothy Clive Garden, gardens open to the public, insect hotels, National Garden Scheme, NGS, NGS gardens, ornamental shrubs, ornamental trees, rhododendrons, Staffordshire

autumn autumn colours climbing plants colours flowering bulbs garden photography gardening gardens gardens open to the public hardy perennials Herefordshire irises light light quality National Trust ornamental trees and shrubs poppies roses shrubs The National Trust walled gardens Winter Gardening winter gardens

Croft Castle – month by month – the final report

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date December 23, 2015
3 Comments on Croft Castle – month by month – the final report

Illness has prevented us making our monthly visit to Croft Castle where I would take photographs and report back about all that is going on in the gardens of this Herefordshire property run by the National Trust. Thus this final visit for the year took place in early December and will be a joint report for November and December together.

Tags apple trees, apples, berried shrubs, berries, flowering shrubs, Herefordshire, Herefordshire gardens, nerines, ornamental shrubs, perennial wallflowers, scent, scent in the garden, scented plants, scented shrubs, trees and shrubs, walled garden, walled gardens, winter shrubs

autumn autumn colours community gardening garden furniture garden seating gardening gardens gardens open to the public hardy perennials light light quality ornamental trees and shrubs shrubs trees

Furzey Gardens – a wonderful gardening community – Part Two

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date December 13, 2015
3 Comments on Furzey Gardens – a wonderful gardening community – Part Two

Back at Furzey Gardens we continued to wander along its magical paths seeking out secret places and reveling in its beautiful plants. Beyond each corner more beauty was revealed and the depth of its calmness and peace increased. Furzey Gardens takes hold of its visitors and admirers. Throughout the garden volunteers and clients work together, laugh together and learn together. The trust here is set up to help adults with learning difficulties gain new skills, social and horticultural and develop a sense of self esteem and confidence. This results in everyone at Furzey having great pride in what they are doing and a deep level of satisfaction.

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A graceful stand of Birches with the white umbels of Cow Parsley scattered at their feet felt as full of calm and contentment as any place could possibly feel.

The rust colours of autumn trees matched the seeds of Primula close by.

The colours, tints and shades of Autumn can make ordinary places look special but it can also make special places look exceptionally beautiful. Just as we discovered here at Furzey.

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Homes for everything can be found at Furzey. As well as homes for fairies we found homes for hay bales and homes for birds.

The hedges along the edge of the gardens were full of fruit ready for the invasion of winter migrating thrushes and our resident Blackbirds and Thrushes.

Enjoy our wanderings back to the cafe where we refreshed ourselves before journeying back to out hotel.

Among shrubs and trees we discovered a building which hid a secret place for sky viewing.

I thought I would drop in a couple of pics of herbaceous flowers to show that there was a lot more to Furzey than shrubs and trees.

I promised to share with you more of those Fairy and Insect Doors secreted around Furzey.

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Our tour of the gardens at Furzey finished as we explored the 16th Century Forest Cottage, beautifully renovated and re-furnished in simple elegance. It sat in a garden of equal character and an accurate portrayal of its period.

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Tags communal gardens, community, community spirit, Furzey Gardens, garden furniture, Hampshire, ornamental shrubs, ornamental trees, shrubs, trees and shrubs

autumn autumn colours community gardening garden buildings garden design garden furniture garden photography garden ponds garden pools garden seating gardening gardens gardens open to the public light light quality memorials ornamental trees and shrubs trees

Furzey Gardens – a wonderful gardening community – Part One

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date December 11, 2015
1 Comment on Furzey Gardens – a wonderful gardening community – Part One

Jude, The Undergardener, and I always love visiting community gardens to see what is going on. As we are Chairman and Secretary of a community garden, Bowbrook Allotment Community, we always appreciate everything our fellow community gardeners are achieving.

When in Hampshire we discovered that we were close to Furzey Gardens, run as a charitable trust and a very special community garden indeed, described as “A haven of peace and tranquility in the heart of the New Forest.”

We discovered this 10 acre garden created within woodland around a 16th Century forest cottage. It is a partnership between Furzey Gardens and the Minstead Training Trust. To find out more check out their respective websites, http://www.furzey-gardens.org and http://www.minsteadtt.org .

We arrived at their car park where our progress into the car park was hindered by wandering pigs belonging to local commoners taking advantage of their “rights of pannage”. The signage looked promising. We soon came across a photograph of some of the garden’s volunteers and a shed where produce was sold.

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And once inside we discovered a lovely cafe and gallery run by some of the trust’s volunteers. This was to set the scene for the whole visit.

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The views from the table at which we enjoyed our coffee and cakes were certainly very encouraging. We set off with high expectations!

We noticed within the outside seating area this huge table carved by a local wood sculptor from the trunk of a tree. It was hard to see how this was possible. But possible it was! In the picnic area we found another!

We found more beautiful hand made furniture throughout the gardens.

We soon discovered that this was a garden sporting some beautiful specimen trees and shrubs which in early autumn were performing a colourful show. The volunteers maintained the gardens and individual specimens to a very high standard. Above all a sense of peace pervaded every space and the volunteers we saw working looked full of contentment and displayed a great pride in their work.

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We loved this sign which faced us as we followed our pathway through the garden.

“We love children but we also love plants!

Many of the plants at Furzey are old, rare and fragile.

So please don’t climb our trees or trample on the flowers.

Feel free to hop and skip along the paths

And follow the secret places map.”

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We moved on and the low autumn sunshine lit up the foliage all around like a massive stained glass window.

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We enjoyed having so much choice when it came to sitting resting and taking in the beauty of Furzey. Many benches were memorials of volunteers, clients and visitors who simply enjoyed the special nature of this place.

After a break for tea and yet more cake we set off through the shrubs and trees to find the lake, a lake whose surface was cluttered with water lily leaves and its moist margins decorated by big-leaved plants and umbel seed heads.

Throughout the walkways there were secret places for children to discover, “Fairy Houses” hidden low down and camouflaged.

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We shall find more of these little magic places in part two of our visit to Furzey, but I shall finish this first part by sharing with you one of the many thatched rustic garden buildings scattered throughout the gardens. The use of coloured glass leaves added magical light effects.

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Tags communal gardens, community, community gardening, community spirit, Furzey Gardens, garden sculpture, garden seating, Hampshire

autumn community gardening fruit and veg garden buildings garden photography gardening gardens gardens open to the public grow your own kitchen gardens National Trust renovation Shrewsbury Shropshire The National Trust walled gardens walled kitchen gardens Winter Gardening

The Walled Garden at Attingham Park

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date December 6, 2015
1 Comment on The Walled Garden at Attingham Park

Our local National Trust property, Attingham Park, is just a 20 minute drive away. We are so lucky as within the grounds are several different walks to choose from including woodland walks, but we also love visiting the renovated walled gardens. When we first visited Attingham Park years ago now there were very few walks accessible, the walled gardens were in a poor state of repair and the refreshment facilities were poor. Things have certainly changed for the better!

In late November we decided to go for a walk around the woodlands and explore the walled garden to see what was going on. The improvements become immediately obvious as there is now a new entrance building and a newly refurbished Carriage House Cafe in the stable yard. After sampling the delights in the cafe we wandered off towards the Walled Garden one of our favourite elements of the Attingham Estate. In the Stable Yard sits a little sales hut selling produce from the walled garden, freshly picked and delivered by bike.

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The Walled Garden was originally created way back in 1780 and its job was to provide the estate with fresh fruit and vegetables throughout the year. Looking at it now it is hard to believe that it fell into total disuse and dereliction. An amazing team of volunteers have recently brought it back to life. It no longer produces food for the “big house” but instead sends its organic produce up to the restaurant and cafe and for sale to the visitors.

One of the impressive features of the Walled Garden is the amount of information boards placed carefully to keep visitors fully informed. Before passing through the gateway into the garden itself we always love seeing the beautifully trained fruit on the outside wall.

Taking a step inside and the garden came to life before our eyes, volunteers busy harvesting, weeding the beds and clearing ground ready for winter digging.

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The volunteer gardeners enjoy getting creative with Birch and Hazel boughs and branches and their bean supports, tunnels and wigwams always look impressive.

It was good to see sound organic principles being used here, barriers, green manures and companion planting and herbaceous borders to attract beneficial insects, predators and pollinators.

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As we moved into the glasshouse area we were impressed by the renovation work being carried out on the glasshouse ranges. Information boards show visitors what the area looked like prior to its rescue.

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Cut flowers were also grown here and even in November the Dahlias were flowering well due to the protection of the walls and protection from Earwigs provided by the old fashioned method of putting a pot stuffed with straw on top of a cane.

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On a cold day a look inside the gardeners bothy proved to be a welcome time to warm up and enjoy the displays.

Exiting the Walled Garden via the orchard gave us a chance to look at the front of the old red brick buildings. The Walled Gardens here at Attingham are worth visiting throughout the year as there is always something interesting going on. We are so lucky having this national trust property so close to Shrewsbury.

From the walled gardens we wandered off into the woodlands following one of the marked trails. My next post will feature what we found there.

Tags Attingham Park, fruit and veg, fruit and veg growing, fruit and vegetable growing, fruit training, garden restoration, glasshouses, parkland, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, The National Trust, walled garden, walled gardens

autumn autumn colours climbing plants colours flowering bulbs fruit and veg garden photography gardening gardens gardens open to the public grow your own hardy perennials Herefordshire irises kitchen gardens light light quality National Trust poppies roses The National Trust walled gardens walled kitchen gardens

Croft Castle Month by Month – October

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date November 16, 2015
1 Comment on Croft Castle Month by Month – October

October was a month made special by a bright, colourful Indian Summer. It made our tenth monthly visit to the gardens at Croft Castle special. Without realising it we had chosen the week when the property were putting on a Halloween trail for the children. The trail sheet encouraged the youngsters to search for clues, so naturally we had to do the same.

The first change we noticed on this visit was how autumn had taken over the garden, with most trees changing their green cloak to one of yellow.

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The first border we pass on our way to the walled garden is the long mixed border alongside the drive.

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We reached the walled garden which is the best part of the grounds, wondering what changes we would find there. Even though some borders were being cleared there was plenty left to attract my camera lens, whole borders of interest …………

………… and plenty of single plants still looking full of colour.

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We were amazed by the simple beauty of these Japanese Anemone flowers which had just dropped their petals.

Plants can find their own niche however inappropriate it may seem to us. This bright red poppy chose a spot close to equally blue fencing.

When we made our first of this year’s monthly visits to Croft Castle we found an unfinished insect hotel, bearing the label “unfinished project”. We looked forward to its completion each month but nothing changed, but on our October visit we noticed it was finished at last.

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We didn’t expect to see much colour in the Rose Garden but we were pleasantly surprised by delicately scented Rose blooms and the supporting cast of perennials.

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The veggie beds were still providing late season crops with leeks looking particularly tasty. On the old apple trees clumps of Mistletoe had found a home.

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We found this extra bright colour combination which lit up the whole walled garden.

Another Halloween activity for the children was to find big pumpkins hidden around the gardens. Naturally the children in us tempted us to find them too.

As the seasons move on towards the year’s end signs of plants closing down have appeared. Seed heads are so beautiful at this time of year. They look even better if touched by the hand of Jack Frost.