Category: gardens

Avocet NGS Open Day

At the weekend we opened our garden for the first time. Last February when we purchased the famous Yellow Book we were proud to see the name “Avocet” second on the list of gardens opening in Shropshire. Our August opening date seemed a long way off.

Suddenly it was upon us and we got more nervous the closer to Sunday 3rd August we got. We kept making sure nothing needed dead-heading, we checked the lawn to see how long the grass was and we wandered around every border to check there was enough interest especially colour.

The day before we opened our helpers arrived, my sister Penny and husband Tony came up from Bredons Norton a tiny Gloucestershire village and my brother Graham and wife Vicky from Farnham. Daughter Jo and her husband Rob dropped in from nearby Telford. We had a great evening working on preparations and then enjoying a meal with plenty of beer and wine consumed. Sadly I had to sick with Ginger Beer as alcohol and my morphine do not go well together!

So when the opening day dawned bright we were up with the lark checking that all signs were in place, the car park was ready, plant sales and tickets sales in place and the tea shop primed and ready for off.

The all important WC and teas signs were in place first followed by the balloons and signs at the bottom of the drive.

The ticket sales and plant sales tables were put in place and the tea shop set up ready and waiting for customers.

Vicky quietly put final finishing touches to her courgette and lime cake in the kitchen. Neither the tea shop or kitchen would be this quiet for a long time. Her cake became a real star!

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We were to open from 11:00 until 5:00 to spread the load on our quarter acre garden. We thought we would have a quiet time until the early afternoon once everyone had indulged in their Sunday lunches. How wrong could we be as by quarter to eleven cars were already parked up and people were wandering down the lane. Our first customer, our friend Sherlie soon collected the first cup of tea and a slice of cake. This was to be the first of over 250 teas and cakes served up by by our trusty tea ladies. The drive soon filled up with visitors buying tickets, collecting our garden info sheets and looking at Jude’s plants for sale.

Tony and Rob had the car parking well sorted. This would prove to be the last time they found time to relax. As things busied up our neighbour living in the Old forge, who had lent us the field, supplied them regularly with drinks and food. Here we see the car park attendants waiting and ready for the first customers.

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Things soon busied up and at the peak the field was almost full and we reached the stage of having only one car space left.

Every nook and cranny of the garden began to fill up with visitors keen to see every border, many making notes and taking photos. By the end of the day my voice was hoarse with answering so many questions, most visitors wanted to know the name of certain unusual plants but many were interested in the wildlife aspects of our patch and quite a few had queries about composting. It was heartening to see so many youngsters enjoying our garden and the little quiz sheets we had prepared for them.

As the last of the visitors wandered wearily down the lane to the car park we collapsed with tea and cakes of our own. The signs were soon down and our brilliant first opening was over.

We were tired and elated but pleased that 275 people came to see our little quarter acre patch. We were able to send a cheque for £1363.63 to the NGS to help support their charities.

We had just one day of rest before Jude and I spent an afternoon being interviewed for a magazine article about our garden. So many photos were taken and so many questions asked. We now look forward with anticipation to seeing our garden in print.

Tags National Garden Scheme, NGS, open days, open gardens, Yellow Book, Yellow Book Gardens

community gardening fruit and veg garden wildlife gardening gardens grow your own hardy perennials National Garden Scheme NGS Shropshire Shropshire Wildlife Trust wildlife Wildlife Trusts Yellow Book Gardens

Our Allotment Yellow Book Open Day

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date July 27, 2014
2 Comments on Our Allotment Yellow Book Open Day

This was our 4th annual NGS Open Day at our allotments, Bowbrook Allotment Community. In the past we had been dogged by bad weather, heavy rain, high winds and once even excessively high temperatures. But today was to be different – the weather was perfect so we were set for a successful day. We open under the auspices of the National Garden Scheme and thus we are proud to appear in their famous Yellow Book.

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Members of the public are invited to look around the individual plots and all our communal spaces. They can follow our Interest Trail, look at the wildlife areas and the communal gardens and the children have quiz sheets to enjoy and can use the features we have made for our members’ children such as the Willow Dome, Turf Spiral and Willow Tunnel. We turn our Communal Hut and the area around it into a Tea Shop for the day so that our visitors can indulge in tea, coffee and home made cakes and biscuits.

All the money raised goes to the NGS’s charities including Macmillan Nurses, Marie Curie and Help for Hospices.

Here are a few of the scarecrow creations members came up with. Little Miss Muffit, Peter Rabbit, Little Red Ridinghood, Dr Foster et al.

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On one plot visitors were asked to help Little BoPeep find her lost sheep. I will admit it took me ages to find him for a photo shhoot

The Wildlife Trust brought all this equipment for bug hunting and the volunteer from the Shropshire Mammal Group stayed on all afternoon entertaining and informing.

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Visitors took every chance to sit and enjoy our tea shop, where refreshments were on tap all afternoon.

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A few of the younger members just relaxed in the sunshine!

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Jude the Undergardener found a good spot to set her stall selling our herbaceous perennials she had grown from seed.

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Members were on hand to talk to our visitors, give advice and answer questions. Some visitors found comfy seats all round the site.

A good day was had by all and we felt proud to have raised over £1000 for such good charities.

Tags allotments, Bowbrook Allotment Community, Bowbrook Allotments, community gardening, community spirit, decorated wheels, mammals, National Garden Scheme, NGS, scarecrows, Shropshire Wildlife Trust, Yellow Book, Yellow Book Gardens, Yellow Necked Mice

climbing plants colours garden design garden photography garden ponds garden pools garden seating gardening gardens grasses half-hardy perennials hardy perennials Hardy Plant Society HPS National Garden Scheme NGS ornamental grasses ornamental trees and shrubs roses Shropshire The National Gardening Scheme" water in the garden Yellow Book Gardens

Aiming for a year round garden – our garden in June – how our visitors saw us.

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date July 16, 2014
5 Comments on Aiming for a year round garden – our garden in June – how our visitors saw us.

This year, 2014 will be the year we open our garden under the auspices of the National Garden Scheme, so we saw our garden details published in the famous Yellow Book. This is a landmark for any gardener in England and Wales, albeit a pleasing one and a worrying one. So many questions pour into your mind when you see the description of your garden in print.

I had to provide 9 photographs of our garden taken in previous years at the same time of year we are due to open. It was hard to choose shots that gave the right “feel”. We wanted to give a taste of what our plot is all about and these pictures give further ideas for the visitor after they have read the paragraph we presented to the NGS. Luckily I could look back into the archives of my blog. To check out the photos I selected go to the NGS website, http://www.ngs.org.uk, click on “find a garden” and type in Avocet where you are asked for a garden name.

We have also been asked by a couple of garden groups if they could visit. So the first of these we set for mid-June and we felt it would provide a practice run for the big day in August. The group were the Shrewsbury Mini-group of the Shropshire Hardy Plant Society, so we knew them already which made the day a bit less daunting. I took a series of photos in the morning of the day they were coming to give an idea of how they would see our little quarter acre of garden.

This post also serves as part of my series on “Aiming for a Year Round Garden” where I look around our garden to see if our aim to have interest throughout he year is working.

The first photos show how we welcome visitors as they find our gateway and look up the drive.

Next we take a quick wander around the front garden to view the gravel garden (The Beth Chatto Garden), the stump circle and the driftwood circle, as well as the mixed borders around the lawn.

We have worked hard this year to make the drive and the side of the house more welcoming using antique galvanised containers planted up with Dahlias and Calendulas and brightly coloured Pelargoniums are planted in the hanging baskets and other containers.

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The next “port of call” is the Shade Garden followed by the “Fern Garden” and then into the “Seaside Garden”. I always seem to follow a set pathway around the garden when taking photos but I have to admit that I designed the garden to give visitors choices and so have created a situation where no two people wandering around need to follow the same route. I want each section of the garden to be viewed and approached from several directions. So although I am trying in this post to show our garden from our visitors’ viewpoint it is in reality just my own personal route.

And so to the back garden which has a different feel to it altogether as the individual garden compartments are all hidden in some way. It is a garden where you have to go looking – you cannot sit and look and take it all in in one go. Unlike the front, where from the seat under the arbor you can view most of the garden borders in one go, there are parts you can’t see so you are enticed to go to them for a close look.

In the back garden we find the water feature among Hostas and Toad Lilies on the end of the Shed Bed and from there you can look down the central path with arches draped with trained apple trees, roses and clematis. Another arch to the side of the main path affords glimpses of more borders.

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From the central path we can peer over the cloud pruned box hedge into these borders, which hopefully will entice the visitors to explore further.

By turning right off the central path visitors find themselves between the Chicken Garden and the Secret Garden and after a mere half dozen steps must choose which one to look at first.

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Within the Secret Garden alongside a comfortable cream coloured seat visitors can enjoy our latest creation, the Alpine Throne.

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If however our visitors chose to go left at the central path they would find further choices, the Japanese Garden, the Wildlife Pond and Bog Garden to the right or the Long Border and Crescent Border to the left.

Back closer to the house we can find the “Pollinators’ Border” complete with insect hotel, the Shed Scree Bed and the new Tropical Border.

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So there we have a quick tour of our garden in mid-June just as our first group of garden visitors saw us. We enjoyed the kind comments they left and felt it had been worthwhile, particularly when several said they would be back when we opened for the NGS in August.

The only downer was that the Bearded Iris had given us their best show ever, a true extravaganza for the three weeks or so prior to the visit. On the day just one bloom remained to show everyone what they had missed. Gardeners always say “You should have come last week.” and for us this may well have been true, at least where the Iris were concerned.

Our next big day is our NGS Open Day on the 3rd August so we are hoping we can maintain interest in the borders until then. A second mini-group of Shropshire Hardy Planters will be visitors a month after that so we will have to be “on our toes” for a while yet!

Tags clematis, foliage, garden photography, gardening, grasses, Hardy Plant Society, NGS, organic gardening, ornamental trees, Shropshire Hardy Plant Society, Yellow Book, Yellow Book Gardens

colours garden buildings garden photography gardening gardens gardens open to the public hardy perennials NGS nurseries photography Shropshire South Shropshire walled gardens Yellow Book Gardens

Day Lilies in a Walled Garden – Mynd Hardy Plants

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date July 13, 2014
3 Comments on Day Lilies in a Walled Garden – Mynd Hardy Plants

After opening our allotment community gardens at the weekend we felt in need of a restful day out. So Jude and I with friends Pete and Sherlie decided to visit a little nursery and garden close by. We chose what we thought would be a peaceful place and we were right.

As soon as you enter Mynd Hardy Plants in the Corvedale in South Shropshire you feel yourself relax, as the sight of so many colourful perennials reaches your eyes and an intermingling of scents seduces your nose. The new owners give such a warm welcome and it was good to hear of their plans, while the aroma of coffee and freshly baked scones took over the assault on our noses. The soppy Labrador joined in the welcome nuzzling our legs and seeking attention.

Displays of plants in flower now and for sale in the nursery beds struck us with their rich colours. Achilleas always attract me and the display here was exceptional.

As you can imagine we didn’t get far before the aromas coming from the tea shop area drew us away from the plants. We sat wondering how we were going to resist buying enough plants to fill the car. The rains came as we started our wanderings but it did little to dampen our emthusiasm.

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There were signs of how much work was to be done if the garden was to be restored.

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An extra treat was to come after our second tea break. We met the wonderful Day Lily specialist Mark Zennick.

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What a character! He convinced us within minutes that we loved all Hemerocallis even the bicolours and doubles that we thought we disliked strongly. I had known about his work and now I can put the face to the name. Check out the photos of just a tiny selection of his plants below and you will just begin to appreciate the vastness of his collection.

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It is always good to find a plant previously unknown to you. This little beauty struck the four of us equally and we enjoyed racking our brains to work out what it was. We were all totally wrong. When we turned to Mark for the answer we were amazed to learn it was a Lysimachia.

Naturally we came away with a lovely specimen for our own garden. And we will be back within a week or so. As we get closer to our own NGS open day we are sure to need a few specimens to fill the odd gap. Mynd Hardy Plants is the place to satisfy these needs! And of course I may take enough shots of different Hemoraccalis to create another post. Mark agreed to come and talk to the Shropshire Group of the Hardy Plant Society in the future, on the subject of Day Lilies of course, and the new owners wished to make a reciprocal visit to our gardens.

We had chosen well. Our visit had relaxed us and we felt we had made new friends. If you love Day Lilies, or if you love walled gardens or if you like independent nurseries you must go and visit. The challenge is to leave without buying a plant!

Check out the website at http://www.myndhardyplants.co.uk.

Tags day lilies, hardy perennials, hemerocallis, independent nurseries, lysimachia, NGS, nurseries, South Shropshire, walled gardens, Yellow Book, Yellow Book Gardens

colours garden design garden photography gardening gardens grasses half-hardy perennials hardy perennials irises light light quality meadows National Garden Scheme NGS ornamental grasses ornamental trees and shrubs Powis Powys The National Gardening Scheme" trees Wales woodland

Three Welsh Gardens – Part Three – A Garden of Two Halves

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date July 9, 2014
4 Comments on Three Welsh Gardens – Part Three – A Garden of Two Halves

We visited another garden in the countryside of Powis, our neighbouring county. It proved to be very much a garden of two halves. We approached “Cil y Wennol” on foot up a gently sloping curved driveway with trees on both sides dotted around in grass. Closer to the more formal front garden there were interesting land forms with a small meadow facing the sun on an embankment. Moon Daisies shone out almost glaring in the sunshine. As you have gathered from that statement we were experiencing bright sunshine.

This Betula with its beautifully coloured peeling bark had enticed us up the long drive where we were greeted by this bank of smiling daisies.

The front garden was a typical cottage style with interesting plants such as Astrantias, Lilies and Irises dotted throughout.

We had now realised that we had visited this garden years ago so we were not surprised by the sudden change in the garden design that greeted us as we entered the back garden. Here the design was much more modern. It was a garden to explore slowly taking advantage of the invitations presented through good design.

One path invited us into woodland, a relief for a while from the brightness and warmth of the sun. We were impressed by how a beautiful woodland can be created with the commonest of tree species. It proved you don’t have to have rarities to impress. Here the gardeners grew just native Birches, Rowans, Cherries and a few non-natives to add a touch of spice. A lovely atmosphere pervaded this space.

Leaving the woodland we were again presented with several options, different paths to take with different views and different plants.

Closer to the house a gravel area gave a completely different feel. Here were neatly trimmed conifers and Cotinus with their skirts lifted to expose twisted limbs. Soft planting among these features reflected the planting in the nearby borders.

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Moving around the side of the property we found another path to take through gap in the hedge where we discovered a swimming pool overlooked by a summerhouse.

We walked from here along a narrow path below a wall with soft planting above, beautifully backlit by the sun.

This was most definitely a garden of many parts beautifully linked with winding paths found through enticing arches and gaps in hedging.

Leaving the garden along the central pathway of the front cottage garden we enjoyed the view behind this wonderful gate. A great garden – it was good to return.

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Tags foliage, garden photography, garden wildlife, gardening, grasses, herbaceous plants, meadows, mixed borders, ornamental trees, Powis, Powys, summerhouses, trees

countryside garden design garden furniture garden photography garden ponds garden pools garden seating gardening gardens hardy perennials hedgerows irises landscapes log piles meadows ornamental trees and shrubs outdoor sculpture Powis Powys sculpture Wales water in the garden Yellow Book Gardens

Three Welsh Gardens – Part Two – A Garden on Top of the World – Bryn Llidiart

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date July 7, 2014
1 Comment on Three Welsh Gardens – Part Two – A Garden on Top of the World – Bryn Llidiart

Of course the garden we visited wasn’t really on top of the world, but it certainly felt that way as once more we made our way into the hills of Powys the other side of Welshpool, travelling along narrow single track lanes up steep hills and around sharp bend after sharp bend. It seemed to take ages to get nowhere and the journey did actually take twice as long as we had anticipated. We had to go in Jude’s little car as I had been in hospital the day before having a minor op on my hand so I couldn’t drive. We should have known better and Jude could have driven mine as its more powerful motor wouldn’t have minded the hills so much.

Once we got there however we knew we were in for a treat. Anyone brave enough to tackle the making of a garden in these harsh condition must be a very determined gardener indeed. As we neared our destination we turned up a very narrow lane where the hedges virtually touched the side of the car and we climbed steeply until the lane came to a halt. A gate in the stone wall was open on our right and a sign indicated that this was where we had to park up. On the left another track of rugged slate took us through fields grazed by sheep towards the garden.The gnarled old hedgerow Hawthorns were bowed over and twisted from years of being wind battered on this exposed hillside.

After a steep knee-aching walk across fields we realised we were getting close as the close cropped sheep pastures were replaced by recently planted flower meadows with neatly cut gently winding paths.

After walking the meadow edges we glimpsed the house ahead of us. From this distance it already looked tantalising.

We found it to be a modernised and extended Welsh longhouse with its garden wrapped around it and just as well designed. Coffee and cake were enjoyed in an out building where plants from the garden were for sale. Only a few different plants but very well grown.

As we started to explore the garden it immediately became obvious that an artist was at work here. The planting with carefully selected combinations of texture and colour and scattered artifacts had the feel and look of the artist’s hand and eye at work.

Moving further from the house, closely mown paths enticed us through meadows of white daisies to a curving bench of slate encircling a fire pit and on further to a small but neat productive patch.

Moving back around winding paths towards a pool in the lower part of the garden we found more borders and this metal sculptural bird feeding station. Beyond every border were distant views of hillsides.

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The pool and the stream garden running into it was a new venture and still in the early stages of development. We could see such possibility and vowed to return to see developments.

Slate paths through raised beds let us discover further interesting plant combinations. We were impressed in particular by the different Astrantias.

Gardens wrapped around the complex perimeter of the buildings and here more gentle plantings helped root the new building extensions into the land.

As we left the garden behind and anticipated the beauty of the meadows we noticed a green roof under which we must have been seated while enjoying our coffee and cakes. Wandering the close cut grass paths through the meadows was a very gentle way to finish off our visit to this developing garden. We looked forward to returning in the future.

Tags fruit and veg, fruit and vegetable growing, garden photography, gardening, NGS, pond, Powis, Powys, trees, Yellow Book, Yellow Book Gardens

climbing plants garden buildings garden design garden photography gardening gardens gardens open to the public hardy perennials Hardy Plant Society Land Art National Garden Scheme NGS nurseries ornamental trees and shrubs outdoor sculpture Powis Powys trees Wales woodland

Three Welsh Gardens – Part One -Tan y Llyn – a little nursery in a woodland garden.

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date July 4, 2014
3 Comments on Three Welsh Gardens – Part One -Tan y Llyn – a little nursery in a woodland garden.

We ventured along narrow winding lanes into the countryside of Powys our neighbouring county across the border into Wales. We were not the only ones out travelling these lanes on a mission on this sunny afternoon. Several members of the Shrewsbury Mini-Group, part of the Shropshire Group of the Hardy Plant Society, were meeting up at a woodland garden and nursery called Tan y Llyn.

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The weather was bright. There is no better day to visit a woodland garden than a sunny one as it enhances the contrast between shade and light so well. Even the most ordinary plants such as this Cotoneaster and Yew look so good.

Any flowers in a woodland garden shine out from the shadows.

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Dotted around Tan y Llyn are interesting objects and well-composed cameos.

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Callum Johnston the garden owner also ran a little nursery specialising in alpines and herbs and he featured many of the plants for sale within a garden around his front door where plants were grown in a selection of pots and containers. They invited close inspection as did the sales benches close by in the shade of deciduous trees.

We were particularly drawn to this dry river bed of pebbles winding through the gravel of the driveway near the cottage’s front door. We immediately began to plan where we could try something similar out at home.

Callum admitted to an obsession – training, twisting and pruning willow into interesting structures. He also obviously loved hedge trimming where on occasion he lets his imagination run riot.

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Callum had even trained willows to become bird feeding stations. The birds certainly liked them as did our Hardy Plant friends. Callum and his partner Brenda served us up with cream teas under the shade of trees alongside these feeders so as we reveled in our luxury teas we were entertained by the birds enjoying theirs.

Nearby herbs grew in a terraced border and added their scent and spice to the conducive atmosphere. As with many garden owners who like to share their garden, Callum and Brenda knew how to make us feel comfortable and relaxed.

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A classic colour combination of yellow and blue attracted us. Closer to we realised that the yellow was provided by this stunning Lily.

One effective design trick used here was the use of enticing paths and it was very well used.

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A final wander around these paths beneath and between the trees was called for after our tea and before we reluctantly left this special place in a wooded Welsh valley.

Callum accompanied us down the drive as he thanked us for visiting and for buying lots of plants. They were very good hosts. At the bottom of the drive we made one final discovery, another surprise conjured up by this truly unique garden. Another of Callum’s tricks with his pruners.

Tags nurseries, Powis, Powys, Welsh gardens, woodland garden

fruit and veg garden buildings garden design garden photography gardening gardens gardens open to the public hardy perennials kitchen gardens light light quality meadows ornamental trees and shrubs trees walled gardens walled kitchen gardens woodland

A Wonderful Walled Garden – Cerney House

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date July 1, 2014
4 Comments on A Wonderful Walled Garden – Cerney House

Both Jude and I love walled gardens whether they keep up the tradition of providing the ideal environment for fruit and veg growing or if they house decorative planting within their walls. On an uncharacteristically hot day in May we spent the afternoon in the walled garden at Cerney House on the edge of the Cotswolds between Cheltenham and Cirencester.

The place for parking the cars was on a freshly mown patch of grass within a huge uncut flowery meadow. This meadow provided a wonderful foreground to the mature trees. We were amused to see these two cars which had obviously been parked up for a few days as the grass had been cut around them. Long grass and flowers lapped at their tyres.

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The garden here is on a gentle slope which must have created near perfect conditions for the gardeners to produce fruit and veg. The little gateway into the garden gave a glimpse of what we could look forward to and there were little gems to increase our anticipation.

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Now long mixed decorative borders run along the slope and in the top corner soon after entering through the gateway we discovered a tea shop in the old gardeners’ bothy. A great place to start our exploration and refresh ourselves before setting off.

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There were some lovely old gnarled fruit trees remaining from the old productive garden days, and a lovely old Viburnum still flowering strongly.

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We took a diversion into the edge of the Woodland Garden where the air was scented with Wild Garlic and the ground beneath the trees clothed in a huge variety of Comfreys and Geraniums. The walls here were clothed in Clematis happily rambling along.

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The gardens within the walls were a lovely combination of formal and informal, short smartly cut hedges enclosing frothy perennials.

In the centre of a group of four formal beds we enjoyed looking at four old Quinces in flower.

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The last view of the garden from the car park as we arrived back after our walk was of groups of mature trees, many of which were Horse Chestnut. I was doubly glad to see them. Firstly because they are my favourite late spring tree with their huge spires of white or pink flowers and secondly because I had just started a post about them.

I shall finish with this Aquilegia leaf shadow sharply painted by the sun onto a boulder.

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Tags clematis, foliage, foliage plants, fruit and vegetable growing, garden photography, gardening, ornamental trees, trees, walled garden, walled gardens

community gardening garden buildings garden design garden ponds garden pools garden seating garden wildlife gardening gardens gardens open to the public Land Art log piles logs National Trust nature reserves outdoor sculpture The National Trust trees water in the garden wildlife woodland

An Interest Trail for Children – Dunham Massey

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date June 25, 2014
2 Comments on An Interest Trail for Children – Dunham Massey

We have created an “Interest Trail” around our allotment community garden, and we see it performing two roles, firstly it guides all our visitors around the site taking in as big a variety of features as possible and secondly it performs as an activity trail for children. It has proved very popular. Whenever we come across a similar trail in large gardens or parks we always have a look to see how the idea has been executed. We visited the National Trust garden, Dunham Abbey, primarily to enjoy the Winter Garden but we discovered that since our last visit a few years ago a couple of the gardeners have created a children’s trail so we could not resist trying it out.

It was wonderful! Come with us and enjoy! We found the sign and below it one of the decorated bikes and then enjoyed a woodland wander before discovering the first of many fun and educational features designed for children.

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Any child who is brought here is very lucky indeed! At our allotment we also have features and arrange activities for the children and grandchildren of our members and their friends so we left with many new ideas.

Tags Cambridge, children and gardens, gardening for children, log piles, nature trails, woodland

architecture birds gardens gardens open to the public grasses hardy perennials lakes landscapes meadows National Trust ornamental trees and shrubs outdoor sculpture renovation shrubs The National Trust trees water in the garden

A Walk in the Park – Croome

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date June 20, 2014
2 Comments on A Walk in the Park – Croome

A a rare warm day in May we met my sister, Penny and husband Tony, for a walk in the park near their home. But this is no ordinary park – it was Croome a National Trust property near the village of Pershore in Worcestershire. The park and house are undergoing a huge long-term restoration programme. We were pleased to get a chance to enjoy it part way through its rebirth.

The parkland was originally designed by Capability Brown and it is beginning to come back to life after decades of neglect. Sweeping wildflower meadows were punctuated with newly planted trees. From the slightly elevated parts of the park we enjoyed distant views of the Worcestershire countryside.

As we walked along the highest ridge in the park through newly planted shrubs and trees we were amazed to see that one section of the original underground water system had been exposed by a landslip. A glimpse into the genius of those water feature engineers. In places small areas of herbaceous planting had been established. It was refreshing to look at colour close to and in detail as the parkland here is mostly about large-scale views.

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A few old specimen trees have survived and their gnarled twisted trunks were a stark contrast to the newly planted shrubs and trees. Beyond them glimpses of the house and church were revealed.

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Flowering shrubs seemed particularly happy here with fine examples of sweetly scented Lilac and Hawthorn with their rather unpleasant aroma.

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As we left the shrubberies we moved back out into the open passing over an old stone-built bridge over the River Croome where it had been widened out to form a lake. This was typical of the way Capability Brown manipulated the landscape. The fence on the bridge was constructed from the wood of chestnut. This wood makes unusual looking fencing which lasts for centuries without maintenance. (see another post, coming soon, concerning Chestnut trees and fences constructed from their wood)

Overlooking the lake was a grotto which had been lovingly restored and on this extremely hot and humid day it provided some much appreciated shade and cool air. The fissures and cracks within it afforded the local small birds with safe, secret nesting sites. We spotted Wrens, Blue Tits and Coal Tits while we sat and rested a short while. A statue here was dedicated to Sabrina the Goddess of the River Severn. Sabrina is well known to us as our home town, Shrewsbury, huddles within a loop of the River Severn. The goddess lends her name to many a boat and building in the town.

In places the lake’s surface bubbled and frothed with a seething black mass of tadpoles. Amazing!

Our wanderings back to the car park took us along the banks of the River Croome where we were entertained by Sedge Warblers in full song atop waterside plants, through more flower rich meadows.