Category: outdoor sculpture

Thrive at the Vynes

We visited the Vynes on a wet October day not knowing that the walled garden there was run by the gardening charity, “Thrive”. If you ask someone to name a garden charity the most likely answer would be the RHS, the NGS or perhaps Garden Organic but few will mention Thrive. This is sad as they do such good work. On their website when describing their role they state, ” We champion the benefits of gardening, carry out research, and offer training and practical solutions so that anyone with a disability can take part in, benefit from and enjoy gardening.”

“Thrive” is such an apt name for a charity which helps people thrive in the garden and through gardening. Sadly as the weather was so wet we met no gardeners at work. Apart from us and the occasional Robin, who provided the entertainment, the place was deserted.

The charity looks after gardens all over the UK teaching the skills of gardening and developing a love of gardening in its clients. Their gardens though are there to educate others. The gardening standards are very high and the gardens boast some effective educational and informative displays.

Here at the National Trust property, The Vynes, the productive garden maintained by Thrive illustrates quality techniques in action especially composting.

We liked these two ideas for raised beds, particularly this turf bank version, which would make gardening easier for wheelchair users or back pain sufferers (like me). The second picture shows raised beds and recycling combined – revamped old tyres.

Arches constructed from tree prunings make most attractive and natural supports for climbers such as Sweet Peas and help entice you down the paths.

Organic ideals are followed here as well, such as using fleece as protection from pests and the cold and growing green manures such as this Phacelia.

We were impressed by the use of willow as a craft material in creations such as the giant hen and the wall-mounted butterfly.

There was even a children’s garden with picnic tables topped with puzzles and a beautifully decorated shed full of special tools and games.

The produce from the beds are for sale to visitors and at this time of year that meant mostly apples in variety.

To find out more about the work of Thrive I suggest a visit to their website www.thrive.co.uk . To see their work in action you can visit one of their many gardens around the country. Check it out and you will be impressed!

Tags apples, community gardening, fruit and veg, fruit and vegetable growing, fruit., garden charities, garden photography, gardening, grown your own, National Trust, organic gardening, the Vynes, Thrive

garden photography gardens open to the public Land Art outdoor sculpture photography the South

David Nash at Kew Gardens – Part 1

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date November 1, 2012

Can you have a better day than this? Outdoor sculpture collection with one of the world’s best exponents – David Nash. The only World Heritage Site that is a garden – Kew. And the best company possible – Jude and our four kids (we started off with two but they each gained another).

And here they are (well just four of them) taking a break in the Temperate House. Apart from Jude and Sam we are all camera-toters so it is impossible to get a pic of us all together as there is always at least one left somewhere composing their artistic endeavours.

We drove down to London in drizzle and mist – a miserable journey through beautiful countryside we couldn’t see, but after a night’s rest in a comfy hotel room we met our four kids in the White Peaks Cafe just inside the world of Kew. The day was a great improvement over yesterday but as we left the car our ears were subjected to the cacophony of noise made by the parakeets now dominating the parks of the capital. They do not fit here at all. Our native Jays in their subtle outfits of pink and blue were much more in keeping.

Lattes and lemonades safely stored away we followed the Kew App that sent us on the trail of the collection of David Nash pieces. It was over a year since we had seen his retrospective exhibition at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park so we were more than ready to appreciate his work again.

Two of my favourite pieces were created from strips of cork oak bark, a huge cone in the conservatory and a low dome out in the open.

As with much of his work there is beauty in the details.

Suddenly I was presented with a sighting of a wonderful juxtaposition.

So another amazing exhibition of the work of David Nash. I wonder when we shall be treated to his next?

Tags cork oak, David Nash, garden photography, Kew Gardens, land art, outdoor sculpture

fruit and veg garden design garden photography gardening gardens open to the public grow your own outdoor sculpture photography

The Other Hampton Court – Part 2

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date October 20, 2012
9 Comments on The Other Hampton Court – Part 2

Back to the Hampton Court Garden – not the one in London but the one in north Herefordshire.

The structure designed into the gardens here entices us to move on, to follow paths, to enter gateways, to sit and rest and to look at views.

Within the design plants sit comfortable and happy in their surroundings.

This wonderful garden is also about fun, that essential element that acts as the vehicle for children to become involved with gardens and gardening.

Not just children though – adults need fun in the garden too, especially Jude, the Undergardener.

Sculpture is an important feature of Hampton Court and is enjoyed by all ages. This piece features stained glass within a wooden obelisk,

Within the orchard this sculpture of a hare in its rusty finish attracts everyone for its beauty and charm.

We shall leave Hampton Court in the orchard a collection of heritage fruit trees and meadows, and with a wander around the potager.

And a piece of unintentional outdoor sculpture.

Tags fruit and veg, fruit and vegetable growing, garden photography, gardening, grown your own, Hampton Court, Herefordshire, Herefordshire gardens

fruit and veg garden design garden photography gardening gardens open to the public grow your own outdoor sculpture photography

The other Hampton Court – Part 1

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date October 11, 2012
1 Comment on The other Hampton Court – Part 1

Just a hour’s drive away, following the A49 south into north Herefordshire, is the “other” Hampton Court. It is much smaller and less well-known than its London namesake, but we love it. It is a garden of many moods from a formal Dutch style canal garden, a potager, herbaceous borders, sweeping expanses of lawn with towering Cypress trees, a riverside walk to a dingle with grotto and pool. Who could ask for more?

We went down for a visit in September taking friends Tony and Jean with us and their granddaughter, Lucy. They are our daughter’s in-laws and niece. Jean has loved gardens for ages, Tony is excited about recently discovering them and Lucy, just 2 years old, simply loves being outside and looking at everything around her.

Naturally we arranged to meet up with them in the coffee shop situated in the beautiful orangery. The lawns outside were decorated with sculptures for all tastes.

DSC_0007-11 — The saxophone playing sculpture serenading visitors enjoying coffee and cakes in the Orangery.

The Tree of Wishes provided insight into children’s thoughts and imagination.

One unusual piece of sculpture was “The Tree of Wishes” upon which children hung their wishes written on cards. They made inspirational reading, some sad, some happy and some that just made us think. “I wish my Mum was Happy”. “I want to play for Man United when I grow up.” “I wish I had a sister.”

DSC_0009-8 — Jude takes Lucy for a walk around the pool in the canal garden.

DSC_0010-9 — And on that pool lived a dragon!

Throughout the garden interesting bespoke buildings delight and surprise.

DSC_0017-6 — This beautiful building is one of a pair in the Dutch Garden

DSC_0012-13 — The beauty is in the detail.

Down by the pool at the bottom of the Dingle hides this thatched beauty.

And again the detail is worthy of a pic or two.

The best garden buildings of course are those with enticing seats.

Tags fruit and veg, fruit and vegetable growing, garden photography, gardening, grown your own, Hampton Court Gardens, Herefordshire, Herefordshire gardens, organic gardening

community gardening garden design garden photography gardening outdoor sculpture photography the sea the seaside the South town gardens

Bexhill-on-Sea – a cold walk by the sea. Go South 2.

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date October 4, 2012
6 Comments on Bexhill-on-Sea – a cold walk by the sea. Go South 2.

After not visiting the seaside all year we have now done so twice in a week. A few days ago we went up to the north Wales coast and enjoyed a walk along the sea front on a bright warm day. Then we visited the south coast of England and walked along the front at Bexhill-on-Sea. It was cold with icy winds and periodic bouts of heavy rain. How can our weather be so different just days apart? It is a good job we like variety where our weather is concerned and it is a good reason to live in the UK.

Bexhill looked good even under grey clouds and viewed through downpours. There was such an obvious sense of pride about the place. The seafront has obviously had a facelift recently so it now boasts interesting garden designs where even the seating is interesting. I would imagine a garden designer was involved, resulting in interesting materials being used. Even the “Healthy Heart” fitness trail featured exercise equipment that had almost sculptural qualities and actually enhanced the overall look of the walk along the sea front.

It was good to see new architecture sitting alongside the old, mirroring it or picking up on some of its detailing. There must be strict planning controls here but not so strict that they squash innovative new architecture. The only strange decision of the planners seems to be making sure that all the beach huts, traditionally a medium for lavish colour schemes, are painted white. Strange and somehow disappointing to see them lined up in a row all looking the same.

Bexhill is a town reflecting so many periods and styles of “seaside” architecture. There are fascinating features to be found on buildings all along the front.

As we had approached Bexhill I suddenly remembered that the little town had a place in motor racing history and after racking my brains and wearing out a few cogs and cells in the process, I came up with the thought that the first motor race had taken place here on the sands. Later I was informed by Son-in-Law, Rob that it was the first in Britain and not a world’s first. This old postcard illustrates one of the early race meetings.

It is often the little details that appeal to me when taking photos at the seaside, details of texture, pattern and shape.

Oh no! I nearly finished a seaside post without a picture of boats! So here it is.

Tags Bexhill-on-Sea, coastal gardens, garden design, Southern England, the coast

canals outdoor sculpture photography

A Canalside Walk in Leicestershire

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date September 17, 2012

When visiting Leicester recently for a few days, we passed a brown tourist sign to “Foxton Locks” and we both thought we knew the name. So when we had a morning to spare we found the sign again and followed it. We were so pleased we did. Here we found a series of locks which were a popular tourist attraction. The area was so picturesque.

The old lock keeper’s cottage was now a cafe, the seating area of which was adorned with this bronze figure and traditional “Roses Castles” narrowboat ware.

Artifacts decorated the grass slopes alongside the canal, and served to emphasise its past importance.

Beautiful and almost life-sized the sculpture of the canal worker and his horse provoked memories of the people who lived and worked the canal.

Tags canals, Leicestershire

climbing plants garden design garden photography gardening hardy perennials Land Art ornamental trees and shrubs outdoor sculpture photography roses Shropshire trees

A day out with the Shropshire Hardy Plant Society

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date September 14, 2012
4 Comments on A day out with the Shropshire Hardy Plant Society

Today was a special day spent with friends from the Shropshire Branch of the Hardy Plant Society, with the morning spent visiting a plantsperson’s garden and the afternoon listening to a talk with photographs of a botanist’s garden.

The garden was called Stevenshill close to Wenlock Edge venue of our recent woodland walk featured in a recent post. The owners were so full of enthusiasm and plant knowledge, and the garden full of rare and colourful delights.

It had far-reaching views of Wenlock Edge and plenty of varied, comfortable places to sit and enjoy the scents and sights of the plants.

It was one of those gardens with lots of plants to confuse and mystify even the most experienced hardy planters. Lots of head scratching about unknown and forgotten plants. Luckily the garden’s owners have put lots of labels in and have good memories for plant names. Their plant sales table held some unusual specimens and many went home in the hands of hardy planters, including ourselves. We selected a hairy leaved bergenia, Bergenia ciliata and a shrubby Teucrium, Teucrium “Paradise Delight”. Now where are we going to place those?

Throughout the garden were sumptuous Agapanthus and deeply coloured, richly scented roses often strategically placed next to enticing seating.

This yellow rose graced an arbour over a seat in the hot border. It was strongly scented. With it was planted Clematis aromatica with its tiny simple purple flowers scented with mouth-watering vanilla.

Buddleias were scattered in the borders giving height and attracting hoards of butterflies.

A selection of sculpture gave another layer of interest, from this classical figure to sinuous modern metal pieces.

But the true stars of this garden were the plants.

After a break for tea and cakes we travelled over to Bicton Village Hall where we hold our meetings, where we were looking forward to a talk entitled “A Botanist’s Garden” presented by John Grimshaw who until recently was Head Gardener at Colebourne in Gloucestershire, a garden famous for its mass displays of unusual snowdrops. In the last few weeks he has moved to Yorkshire for a new challenge, to develop the arboretum at Castle Howard. The talk was as good as we had hoped for. John illustrated his talk with a Powerpoint presentation featuring photos of the highest quality. We came away enthused and carrying another plant, Sedum telephium “Arthur Branch”.

To find out more about John and to see some of his beautiful photos visit his Garden Diary blog, www.johngrimshawsgardendiary.blogspot.com.

Tags buddleias, clematis, foliage plants, garden photography, gardening, shrubs, trees

garden design garden photography gardening hardy perennials National Garden Scheme NGS ornamental trees and shrubs outdoor sculpture roses village gardens

A Little Leicestershire Gem

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date September 11, 2012
6 Comments on A Little Leicestershire Gem

Orchard House was open for the second time in its first year as a Yellow Book garden, and is special because it fits so much into such a small space. It is an excellent example of fitting lots of interesting plants and features within an effective design. The design encourages you to wander, to make decisions and stop to admire views and cameos.

The day of our visit dawned wet – very wet. As we arrived at the garden it was pouring with rain, so we waited in the shelter of the car for some respite. However after ten minutes there was no sign of the downpour giving over so we donned waterproofs and defied it.

At the cottage off a narrow lane there was no sign that a garden awaited us. The houses fronted straight onto the lane, with no front garden at all. But we knew we were in for a treat as this little welcoming cameo greeted us alongside the entrance to a narrow pathway leading around the back of the cottages.

We were not to be disappointed for as we turned the corner we were greeted by colour and richness of planting, dotted with little features to draw the eye.

This little garden gem in a village in Leicestershire proves that it is not the size of the garden that matters. It is the size of the gardener’s heart and imagination. One aspect of this gardener’s character is his sense of humour shown by the sign on the gate to his composting area.

Tags garden photography, gardening, grasses, Leicestershire, NGS, roses

allotments fruit and veg garden design garden photography garden wildlife gardening grow your own hardy perennials ornamental grasses ornamental trees and shrubs outdoor sculpture photography roses trees wildlife

Barnsdale – a garden of memories

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date September 8, 2012
8 Comments on Barnsdale – a garden of memories

We return to Barnsdale Gardens every few years on a trip down memory lane. Barnsdale was the garden of TV gardener Geoff Hamilton the nation’s favourite gardener for many years. He was the gardener on the BBC’s “Gardeners World” programme so he visited many gardeners’ homes every Friday evening for years. He was the first truly organic TV gardener and as such he promoted these sound garden principles and backed them up by conducting experiments and sharing the results on his show.

As well as Gardeners World he made several series of gardening programmes based on making gardens such as “The Cottage Garden” and “The Paradise Garden”.

He sadly died at a young age when taking part in a sponsored cycle ride for charity, but he has never been forgotten.

The Barnsdale Gardens still display all the model gardens Geoff made and others have been added since his death. The garden and the nursery attached are run by his son and daughter-in-law. His other son created this bronze sculpture that graces the garden.

The trees that we saw Geoff plant many years ago are now impressive specimens and display interesting bark colours and textures.

One of his favourite flowers was the Day Lily and many remain in the gardens still. Coming a close second as his most popular garden plant must be the rose.

A popular feature of “Gardeners World” was Geoff’s do-it-yourself projects – he was always making furniture and garden features, to try to save his viewers money. Below is his garden bench with matching herb coffee table made from recycled pallets with old roof slates built in as coasters.

He also constructed this compost bin disguised as a beehive and accompanying garden store, both created from recycled wood.

He even made a water feature from an old copper water cylinder!

Although he encouraged gardeners to construct things for their own gardens he also extolled the virtues of craftsmen and his garden diaplays many works by craftsmen local to Barnsdale. In particular he brought locally made furniture into the garden.

Productive gardening – fruit, veg and herbs – played a big part in his programmes, magazine articles and books. Several of his productive plots are still at Barnsdale, such as an allotment, the Ornamental Kitchen Garden, an Elizabethan Vegetable Garden. the Fruit Orchard, an Apple Arch and Herb Garden.

Geoff was definitely ahead of his time, encouraging organic principals and attracting insects into the garden. he recognised them as pollinators and predators of garden pests.

He featured plants such as Achilleas, Heleniums and other hot coloured flowers, and using lots of different grasses. These are all popular now.

Since Geoff’s untimely death the garden has continued to develop. His son, Nick and daughter-in-law have created new gardens so now Barnsdale is described as “39 inspiring gardens, all in one place”

A sign of just how popular and influential Geoff Hamilton was is the fact that his book on Organic Gardening is still in print and has been updated and revised on several occasions. He was a great believer in the importance of compost and found all sorts of ways of making it efficiently. How about this brick-made composter. The bricks would absorb warmth from the sun and heat up the composting material inside and speed up its decomposition.

I shall end this visit to Geoff Hamilton’s Barnsdale with a few more views of the garden.

Tags allotments, birds, foliage, foliage plants, fruit and veg, fruit and vegetable growing, fruit., garden photography, garden wildlife, gardening, grasses, greenhouse gardening, grown your own, insects, organic gardening, ornamental trees, Rutland. Barnsdale. Geoff Hamilton, trees, wildlife

flower show garden design garden photography gardening hardy perennials July ornamental grasses ornamental trees and shrubs outdoor sculpture photography poppies RHS town gardens

Third Visit to the Tatton Park Show

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date August 12, 2012
4 Comments on Third Visit to the Tatton Park Show

The third and final post about this summer’s RHS Tatton Park Flower Show begins by visiting the Back-to-Back Gardens, the small show gardens with masses of interest and appeals. These gardens are full of ideas for gardeners whatever the size of their gardens with inspiration for planting combinations, furniture and features.

There was a group of small show gardens designed around the theme of “The Orchestra” and these turned out to be our favourites. The garden designers had risen to the challenge and seemed to have really enjoyed creating such imaginative gardens. Each one evoked harmony and rhythm and the rise and fall of a musical piece.

But this garden of rhythmic grass was a true delight to the eye. It was very difficult to fully capture its effect with a camera, but not as difficult as it would be to cut the grass!

In complete contrast to the Orchestra Gardens were the Conceptual Gardens, a set of three designs intended to present ideas, sometimes controversial, and make the viewers think. We do not always appreciate such designs but the trio this year were full of meaning and original design ideas.

We always enjoy a wander around the nursery stands at these shows and Tatton always attracts a good variety. We only bought one little plants this time though, an Aeonium that sports leaves of deepest, shiny purple almost black, called Logan’s Rock.