Category: The National Trust

A Walk in the Park – Attingham Park – August Part 1

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date September 13, 2017

As summer moved on we made our August visit to Attingham Park for our monthly walk in the park. We decided to follow the Mile Walk in reverse for a change of view and as we were expecting rain later in the afternoon we kept to the shortest trail that we take. This turned out to be a wise decision because the rain started to fall when we had just a 5 minute walk back to the carpark. Our luck was in!

When we arrived we struggled to find a parking space as it was so busy being a mid-summer weekend afternoon but we found out later that it was also weekend when a special event was taking place, a Family Spectacular.

We decided to follow the One-Mile Walk in the opposite direction than the way we usually take and indeed against the signs. We are always amazed how following a path through a garden or the countryside in a reverse direction presents whole new experiences.

What struck us most as soon as we started the walk was the way the texture of tree bark was standing out. This mighty conifer was right at the start of our walk and showed it perfectly.

We also began to identify the shape of eyes on tree trunks where side boughs had fallen or been removed. This can be seen below in that same tree.

I will now share my texture photos with you in the form of a gallery and we can look at how much variety of texture and pattern we managed to find.

The almost circular scars left as a bough breaks away from the main trunk often form eye-like shapes, and on this walk we seemed to see so many. Enjoy a little selection below.

As we searched tree trunks for “eyes” we began to find other shapes and colours as well, some from Lichens and some created by the hands of woodsmen or gardeners. I will leave it up to you to work out how these creations happened.

An added and very unexpected element to our August visit was the discovery of painted stones. This stone decorated with a beautiful little flower we found in a scar of a tree and wondered what it was doing there. We soon discovered the answer by turning the stone over where we were advised to check out “Shropshire Stones” on Facebook. If you want to know more check it out.

Continuing on the creative front we made another interesting surprise discovery as we wandered through the children’s playing field on our way to the orchard and walled garden.

The Walled Garden was so colourful with the main feature being the flowers. We will look at the surprise in the playing field and the walled garden in Part 2.

Tags Attingham Park, Natiional Trust Gardens, National Trust, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, trees, woodland garden, woodland gardens

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A Walk in the Park – Attingham Park July

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date August 28, 2017
2 Comments on A Walk in the Park – Attingham Park July

Here we are back at Attingham Park for another wander, this time to see what is going on in the walled garden and woodland pleasure gardens in July.

We arrived in the rain and carried on regardless. Foliage was glossy with moisture because of the steady drizzle, and large puddles had formed on the path.

The gardener’s cottage garden gave a little colourful cheer to the day, and water droplets hung on flowers and berries. The heritage rare breed cattle in the field at the start of the track ignored the drizzle and continued tearing at the grass heads down.

The walled garden gave protection and the day began to feel a little warmer as the rain stopped.

The beautiful, recently restored, vintage glasshouses are now becoming productive with melons, grapes, tomatoes, chillies and cucumbers.

We particularly liked the amazing textures of this melon and its subtle mix of greens.

As we entered the gardeners’ bothy we could instantly enjoy the fresh uplifting aroma of bunches of freshly picked lavender, and the sight of simple flower arrangements and freshly harvested lettuces.

After taking in the sights, scents and sounds offered by the walled garden we continued on our wanders, following the One Mile Walk trail.

Come with us as we take you along this track in a gallery of photos. As usual click on the first and navigate with the arrows. We will return for another wander in August.

Tags Attingham Park, fruit and veg, fruit and vegetable growing, garden photography, gardening, greenhouse gardening, National Trust, ornamental trees, Shropshire, shrubs, trees, woodland

fruit and veg garden photography gardening gardens gardens open to the public kitchen gardens National Trust ornamental trees and shrubs photography Shrewsbury Shropshire The National Trust walled gardens walled kitchen gardens woodland woodlands

A Walk in the Park – Attingham Park – June

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date July 9, 2017
4 Comments on A Walk in the Park – Attingham Park – June

We made our June visit to Attingham Park early in the month to see how summer was coming on in the walled garden and in the wilder parts of the park along the woodland walks. We enjoyed a view of the cottage garden on our way to begin wandering beneath tall trees towards the walled garden.

The walled garden impressed us so much because it was full of colour, with plants in the double herbaceous border bursting with blooms.

We left the walled garden taking the path through the adjoining orchard, where we sat for a while to enjoy some ice-creams. Fully refreshed we followed the winding paths beneath the trees and between the shrubs, taking the Woodland Walk before taking a short cut back to the parkland, over two bridges and past the hall itself. You may notice that as we crossed over the bridges we enjoyed playing Pooh Sticks.

I thought I could share my photographs via a gallery for you to enjoy. Please click on the first pic then navigate using the arrows. I hope you enjoy the views we enjoyed.

Our next visit to Attingham Park will be in July when we will be well into summer.

Tags Attingham Park, gardens of Shropshire, kitchen gardens, productive gardening, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, Shropshire gardens, walled garden, walled gardens, woodland garden, woodland walks

fruit and veg garden photography garden wildlife gardening gardens gardens open to the public kitchen gardens National Trust ornamental trees and shrubs Shrewsbury Shropshire The National Trust walled gardens walled kitchen gardens wildlife woodland

A Walk in the Park – Attingham Park May

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date June 29, 2017
1 Comment on A Walk in the Park – Attingham Park May

Spring is slowly turning into summer as we enjoy our monthly visit to our local National Trust property, Attingham Park. The walks are getting busier, the volunteers in the walled garden even busier.

Continuing our through the woodland we were attracted to a bright patch of colour beneath the tall mature trees, which turned out to be a clutch of Rhododendrons.

This bright yellow variety, Rhododendron luteum was beautiful with the hints of salmon orange, had the added interest of a rich sweet scent, which could be appreciated from metres away.

Throughout the woodland we discovered signs of wildlife living there.

Wildflowers decorated the grassy patches beneath the trees and alongside the tracks.

I shall finish my report of our May visit to Attingham Park with a gallery for you to enjoy. Click on the first photo and navigate with the arrows.

Tags fruit and veg growing, fruit and vegetable growing, kitchen gardens, National Trust, The National Trust, trained fruit, walled garden, walled gardens, woodland garden

colours flowering bulbs fruit and veg garden design garden photography garden wildlife gardening gardens gardens open to the public grow your own hardy perennials irises kitchen gardens National Trust ornamental trees and shrubs Shrewsbury Shropshire shrubs spring bulbs spring gardening The National Trust trees walled gardens walled kitchen gardens woodland woodlands

A Walk in the Park – Attingham Park April – Part 2

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date May 28, 2017

In this, the second part of April’s report of our wanderings around Attingham Park, I want to feature the flowers of the park , the wildflowers living in the woodland and the cultivated flowers in the borders and walled garden. I will also share pics of the fresh growth of the bursting buds on the trees and shrubs.

Most new leaves that had burst from buds on trees were the brightest of green imaginable.

Some buds had opened to reveal more colours than simply green, they glowed with hints of bronze, browns and purples.

Fresh growth on evergreen trees and shrubs were also bright green, on both conifers and broadleaves.

Beneath the trees and shrubs ferns revealed their leaves in such a beautiful way, unfurling from a tight spiral like slowly unwinding springs. As their shapes change so do the textures.

We found so many plants flowering on our April wanders that the best way to share them with you and illustrate the huge variety so early in the year is by presenting my photographs as a gallery. Please enjoy by clicking on the first photo then navigate by clicking the right arrow.

We will return in May when summer will be in full swing!

Tags Attingham Park, flowering shrubs, gardens in May, gardens of the National Trust, kitchen gardens, May, National Trust, rhododendron, rhododendrons, spring blossom, spring bulbs, spring flowers, spring garden, the garden in May, The National Trust, tulips, walled garden, wild flowers

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A Walk in the Park – Attingham Park April – Part 1

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date May 24, 2017
2 Comments on A Walk in the Park – Attingham Park April – Part 1

We managed to find a day close to the end of April to make our monthly visit to Attingham Park. It was a bright warm day so we knew we would have much to look forward to. As we made our way beneath tall mature trees full of noisy nesting Jackdaws and Rooks we were joined by grandparents carrying out their grandchildren caring duties so the sounds at our level were of laughing youngsters enjoying being outdoors.

There was so much to enjoy, wildflowers in full vibrant colour, fresh green leaf burst in the trees and busy productive growing in the walled garden.

The old Head Gardener’s cottage garden provided a colourful welcome to the park’s visitors.

Enjoy a wander through the walled garden by exploring the gallery below. (Click on the first pic and navigate through clicking on the right arrow.)

We left the walled garden to follow the One Mile Walk, which would take us close to the river and afford us views of the woodland and pastureland beyond. It is a quiet but popular walk. Most visitors here enjoy the peace and the chance to be part of nature.

Bluebells gave clouds of deep blue, a haze of calm and beauty.

The pale colours of fresh willow foliage gave a ghostly feeling to this section of the walk.

Rhododendrons provided surprise splashes of colour in the shadows of the tallest of trees.

Towards the end of our wanderings for our April visit to Attingham Park, the deciduous trees with their bright fresh new foliage and bursting buds gave way to dark needled coniferous evergreens. Their large cones looked like a family of young Little Owls.

In part two of our report on our April visit to Attingham Park I will share with the the pleasure of finding flowers, wild and cultivated, on our wanderings and some pics of fresh foliage growth.

Tags Attingham Park, bluebells, fruit and veg growing, gardens of Shropshire, gardens of the National Trust, kitchen gardens, National Trust, productive gardening, Shropshire, Shropshire gardens, spring blossom, spring bulbs, spring flowers, spring garden, The National Trust, walled garden, walled gardens

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The Weir – a riverside spring garden.

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date May 15, 2017
1 Comment on The Weir – a riverside spring garden.

We took friends and fellow garden lovers, Pete and Sherlie, to visit a garden just a few miles south of Hereford which we have previously visited in spring, the time when it peaks. We knew our friends would love it too! It is a National Trust garden and is a long and narrow garden because of its riverside position.

As we got out of the car the spring bulbs greeted us and set the scene for the discoveries to come.

We followed a path half way up the valley side overlooking the river, and here early flowering bulbs covered the slopes.

All visitors including us were amazed by the delicate pale blue flowers of Scilla italica.

A variety of trees and shrubs cast gentle shade over the valley side.

Please enjoy the rest of our wanderings along the pathways of this valleyside garden, by looking at my gallery. Just click on the first photo and navigate by using the arrows.

It is always a bonus when visiting a garden to find rare and unusual plants. Here at the Weir we enjoyed discovering Lathraea squamaria, Tooth Wort, (photo on left), a parasite living on the roots of woody plants and spending most of its time underground and Trachystemon orientalis with the unusual common name “Abraham-Isaac-Jacob” (on the right)

The finale to our visit was to explore the walled garden which was in the process of being renovated. We looked forward to seeing what progress had been made. As it turned out we soon noticed the restored glasshouse, long herbaceous borders planted up and productive borders were being prepared for sowing by volunteers. The walled garden has a great future ahead of it and visitors to the valleyside will enjoy discovering the walled garden as much as the main valleyside gardens.

Tags daffodils, flowering bulbs, flowering shrubs, gardens of the National Trust, Herefordshire gardens, Natiional Trust Gardens, National Trust, spring, spring bulbs, spring garden, walled garden, walled gardens

autumn autumn colours colours garden photography gardening gardens gardens open to the public National Trust ornamental trees and shrubs photography The National Trust Wales

Bodnant Garden – The Valley Sides

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date April 9, 2017
1 Comment on Bodnant Garden – The Valley Sides

Back here at the wonderful Welsh gardens at Bodnant, we will finish our little series of 3 posts as we take you down the path that contains the colourful collection of Acers and then drops down into the steep sided valley to follow the clear, fast stream.

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We were disappointed to find that the grass paths that we have in the past followed to seek out and enjoy the bright fiery colours of Acers at Bodnant, was blocked off to protect the worn out grass. We did find a way to see the Acer Glade from an alternative track so we couldn’t get up as close and personal. They were still great though!

We shall share our adventures exploring “The Dell”, the deep valley cut by the powerful stream, the Afon Hiraethlyn by creating a gallery of photos shared in the order taken.

That is it for our visit to the National trust property in North Wales, Bodnant Gardens. Perhaps we can do it all over again in a different season and see what we can find then.

Tags acers., autumn, autumn colours, autumn gardens, autumn leaves, dingle, garden in autumn, gardens of the National Trust, gardens of Wales, Natiional Trust Gardens, National Trust, North Wales, stream garden, The National Trust, valley garden, valleys, Wales

colours garden design garden photography gardening gardens gardens open to the public half-hardy perennials hardy perennials National Trust ornamental trees and shrubs The National Trust trees Wales

Bodnant Garden – an autumnal walk around a great garden.

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date April 8, 2017
1 Comment on Bodnant Garden – an autumnal walk around a great garden.

In the first post about our day visit to the Bodnant Gardens not far inland from the coast of North Wales we looked at the special magical nature of the low November sunlight. But there was a lot more for us to enjoy as we explored in a different direction than we usually take as autumn repair work on the grass paths and lawns prevented us following where our footsteps normally tread. This of course paved the way for new discoveries and fresh views.

The plant that we got really excited about was this beautiful deciduous Euonymus dripping with a full crop of berries which in turn were dripping with fine droplets of rain. Euonymus alata “Compactus” bravely combines the darkest possible ruby red almost purple fruits from which burst bright tangerine orange seeds and it looked wonderful. The younger berrying branches sported bright green coats in strong contrast to the older wood, coloured brown and strongly winged with corky ridges giving the whole bush an extravagant look. It also boasts fiery red foliage in the autumn and strangely its weakest point are the flowers which are small and a rather insignificant green in colour.

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This exciting shrub had a lot of competition where catching the eyes of the visitors was concerned.

We love making new discoveries and on this visit to Bodnant we came across some fruit on a shrub which we could not remember having ever seen before and had no idea what it could be, with its tiny acorn-like fruits in two shades of orange. It looked if it would appear a rather dull evergreen shrub for most of the year but it must have flowers at some time which I would guess would be white.

Back to our explorations! So, moving away from the Winter Garden, Jude and I followed gravel tracks which crunched beneath our feet, the sounds of which softened only where we had carpets of fallen leaves to paddle through. We moved into more open areas where we could appreciate views of large specimen trees in the distance as well as beautifully textured and coloured perennials right under our noses.

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Trees in November show off their strong networks of boughs, and judicious pruning of the lower leaves by skilled garden staff add extra power.

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It wasn’t all foliage and tree trunk texture though, there were still late flowering perennials shining through contrasting strongly with the colours of autumn.

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Tags Bodnant, Bodnant Garden, gardens of the National Trust, gardens of Wales, Natiional Trust Gardens, North Wales, The National Trust, Wales

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Bodnant Garden – a magical place in North Wales

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date April 7, 2017

For my last post of 2016 I thought I would share a visit we made to one of our favourite gardens, Bodnant Gardens in North Wales. A great way to celebrate our garden visiting exploits in 2016 and to look forward to visiting many more wonderful UK gardens in 2017.

Bodnant Gardens, a National Trust Property in North Wales, is described as a “glorious garden nestling in the Snowdonia foothills of North Wales and one of the world’s most magical gardens. With its dramatic scenery, historic plant collections, Champion Trees and myriad horticultural styles, it will capture your heart and live in your memory.”

It is just possible for us to get there, enjoy a day wandering and then return on the same day. So this is a day trip we have made many times over the years in different months but never before in November. We were not sure exactly what to expect but our expectations were definitely high. We were not to be in for the slightest disappointment!

After a two hour drive we arrived as mist and drizzle did its best to hide the garden but after our usual half hour sit for a coffee and cake we were pleased to see the beauty of the garden revealed as the autumn sunlight brought the garden to life before our eyes setting the scene for an afternoon of pure magic, which we will share with you in a couple of posts.

Firstly this post will be all about the special nature of the light and how it added extra magic to the scenes unfolding before us.

After showing our membership cards we left the reception and upon entering the garden itself we only managed a few steps before the special light stopped us in our tracks. A long border running alongside a tall stone wall was on fire with the rich colours of late perennial flowers and the red and orange leaves of shrubs. The overnight dew was still hanging on the grass and every droplet became a jewel.

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From the path running along the centre of the hot fiery bed we could look across towards the main garden where the light caught Acer foliage and wispy perennials.

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Individual flowers among this beauty, shone like jewels in a jeweller’s shop window display. Water droplets sat on the red blooms of this Fuschia and Salvia.

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We had plenty of choices of pathways to follow but the choice was an easy one – go where the colours shone the brightest – off in to the newly created Winter Garden beneath a halo or red glowing foliage.

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With so much colour and texture surrounding us it was hard to home in to see the special beauty only to be found by looking closely and deeply searching for the detail.

Bodnant proved itself a most worthy contender for garden visiting late in the year and could well join the little group of special places we visit annually. In part two of my Bodnant posts we will share other parts of the garden with you, the places further afield than the Winter Garden.