greenbenchramblings

Pentre Uchaf – a high altitude garden

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date February 23, 2020
2 Comments on Pentre Uchaf – a high altitude garden

While holidaying in mid-Wales near Cardigan we enjoyed a visit to a garden high up in the hills, surrounding a cottage called Pentre Uchaf. It took quite a drive to get there following narrow lanes up and down steep hills and along narrow valleys. We were so relieved to get there and started as usual with refreshments.

The walk from the car up to the house treated us to great views looking through the planting of trees and perennials.

The theme of the visit was enjoyment of these views from every part of the garden.

These two little surprise elements added extra interest to our garden wanderings.

As with any garden it is the plants that are the stars! Pentre Uchaf was no exception!

It may have been a difficult drive to find this little garden but it was most definitely worth the effort.

Tags garden views, gardens of Wales, Pentre Uchaf

garden design garden photography gardens gardens open to the public outdoor sculpture sculpture Wales

Sculpture Heaven

The name for this garden was a bit off-putting but once through the gates we warmed to it immediately. This was a collection of outdoor sculpture of all sorts, a huge variety in fact but there was the important element of a garden wander to see all the pieces.

As soon as we entered through the rustic gateway we knew we were in for a treat, as sculpture was placed all around in trees, shrubs, in borders in grassed areas. We made our way across for refreshments and checked out the map to get an idea of a route we could follow and not miss any areas out.

Here is a selection of some of the weird and wonderful characters we met on our wanders.

We were delighted to discover sculptural pieces that were also musical instruments. They were so simple but very beautiful.

This was one of those gardens with a second string to its bow, the sculpture. It made for a good day out!

Tags garden sculpture, gardens of Wales, outdoor sculpture, sculpture, sculpture gardens

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Chatsworth – part two

Back at Chatsworth we now explore further through the gardens and stop to study the two famous water features, the water steps and the tall water spout.

Alongside the top path through the open woodland area, we discovered delicately planted areas, some designed by Dan Pearson and adapted from his Chelsea Best in Show garden dedicated to Chatsworth.

A special and unusual feature here is the Pulhamite rockery and ravine, Pulhamite being an artificial stone created for use in gardens. It all looks so realistic!

So that was our day at Chatsworth. Our next visit may be when the RHS Chatsworth Flower Show is on in the summer. Watch this space.

Tags chatsworth, water features, water in the garden

garden design garden photography garden seat garden seating gardens gardens open to the public grow your own hardy perennials ornamental trees and shrubs outdoor sculpture sculpture shrubs trees walled gardens

Chatsworth – part one

In 2019 we spent a warm and humid mid-July day at Chatsworth House in Derbyshire where we explored the gardens for the whole day, refreshed by the largest ice-cream cones we have ever enjoyed. It is one of the UK’s largest gardens and is full of interesting planting, unusual features and some wonderful glasshouses. These glasshouses are the work of a past head gardener Joseph Paxton. You need a whole day to really appreciate these gardens and you need to plan your day well.

The first set of photos shows the beauty of the glasshouses both old and new at Chatsworth and a beautiful mature specimen of Cedrus atlantica ‘Glauca’ and a subtly planted pot.

We made our way around the glasshouses towards the productive garden, which we knew had been developed since our previous visit and enjoyed some interesting plants and plant combinations along the way.

Sculpture is always in evidence at Chatsworth and there was plenty of interest on this visit, from classical to modern, wood and stone and hidden away throughout the gardens.

And then we came across this amazing seat which is a piece of sculpture in its own right.

Tags chatsworth, cut flowers, garden sculpture, garden seating, garden seats, outdoor sculpture, productive gardening, walled garden

garden design garden photography gardening gardens ornamental trees and shrubs Shrewsbury Shropshire shrubs South Shropshire Winter Gardening winter gardens

My Garden Journal 2020 – January

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date February 6, 2020
2 Comments on My Garden Journal 2020 – January

A new year starts here and along with it a new garden journal in a new book. This year I will restructure the format of my journal so that it includes fewer photos and written reports but more paintings. For my title page I wrote, “A year in the life of our garden in drawings, paintings, photos and maybe a few words.”

Each month I will include paintings and sketches, a flowering plant of the month, a foliage plant of the month and a ‘bark and stem’ plant of the month. So enjoy the January pages of my 2020 garden journal.

The first page of my January entries featured two watercolour paintings of our Witch Hazels, Hamamelis ‘Jelena’ and H ‘Diane’.

Page two sees me looking at the amazing winter flowering shrub, Cornus mas. Each month I will feature a “Flowering plant of the month” and this Cornus is my January choice.

“Scented flowers. Deep red berries. Deeply textured bark.”

I then created two more watercolours of flowering winter plants, one shrub and one climber, Daphne bhuloa ‘Jacqueline Postill’ and Jasminum nudiflorum.

I moved onto look at my ‘Foliage plant of the month” and my choice for January is our little collection of Arum italicum.

My final plant of the month is Cornus ‘Midwinter Fire’, January’s plant of the month for stems and bark, with its “Orange stems, orange ‘snake-bark’ trunks, small white flowers and primrose-yellow autumn colour.”

My January entries in my garden journal end with our “Garden tasks for the month”, so it was “Heads down to lay seep hose through borders, prune large branches of Mahonia and pruning Hypericums.”

So that is our January in our garden. We will visit my garden journal in February to see what went on in that month.

Tags arum, cornus mas, Cornus Midwinter Fire, hamamelis, shrubs in winter, the garden in winter, winter, winter garden, winter gardening, winter shrubs, witch hazels

garden furniture garden photography garden seat garden seating gardens open to the public National Trust ornamental trees and shrubs The National Trust Uncategorized Wales

Are you sitting comfortably – no 14 in a very occasional series

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date February 1, 2020
1 Comment on Are you sitting comfortably – no 14 in a very occasional series

Back with another set of garden seats for you to enjoy. Imagine yourself taking a seat for a rest, to take in the view and appreciate the comfort of the seats themselves.

Firstly let me share a few seats from the gardens at Ivy Croft in Herefordshire, a garden open for its huge snowdrop collection and interesting winter plants.

We recently visited John’s Garden attached to Ashwood Nursery in the West Midlands, and being in February seats became very obvious features. They varied so much in style!

Next I want to share with you seats from the gardens at Erddig, a Welsh National Trust property.

So that is it for this collection of garden seats. More to follow in the future!

Tags Ashwood Nurseries, garden features, garden furniture, garden seating, garden seats, gardens of the National Trust, gardens of Wales, John's Garden, National Trust Gardens, The National Trust, Welsh gardens

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Simply Beautiful – 19

The woodland walk at Attingham Hall Park is one of our favourites and we walk it several time each year.

What a surprise this was! As we wandered along a bark chip path at Attingham Park Jude noticed water in the bowl of an old Beech tree. Closer examination revealed a tiny pond with crisp reflections of the upper branches of the Beech. Simple and beautiful! Simply beautiful!

I imagine that this mini-pond has an important role to play in the ecosystem of the wood, attracting tiny water creatures, providing a bathing place for birds and a drinking place for wildlife.

Tags garden wildlife, trees, water in the garden

garden design garden garden arches garden paths garden photography gardening gardens gardens open to the public half-hardy perennials hardy perennials ornamental trees and shrubs shrubs

Houghton Lodge Hampshire

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date January 27, 2020

While down in Hampshire last September we enjoyed a day out exploring the grounds of Houghton Lodge an 19th century fishing lodge built in a style similar to the later Arts and Crafts style. It is a uniquely beautiful white building surrounded by sweeping striped lawns and fascinating grounds running down to the clear running River Test.

As we took a walk along the banks of a short stretch of the Test a lone trout fisherman cast his fly from the opposite bank hoping in vain for a fish to rise and take his fly. The water was so clear and the stringy water weeds flowed with the water over its stone and sand river bottom giving us the occasional fleeting glimpse of a brown trout.

We were fascinated to find two collections of plants in the walled garden, hostas and dahlias.

But there was far more of interest throughout the gardens here, so here are a few photos of other borders and garden cameos. This proved to be a great find!

Tags dahlias, gardens of Hampshire, Hampshire, hostas, Houghton Lodge, River Test, trout rivers, walled garden

garden photography gardening grasses hardy perennials ornamental grasses

Carex – the grass no garden should be without.

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date January 24, 2020
5 Comments on Carex – the grass no garden should be without.

The Carex family of grasses are evergreen, neat and so useful in any garden. Recently introduced (over the last 5 years or so) varieties add slightly different foliage colours, variegations and patterns. We use them on the edges of borders especially in raised beds where their graceful characters can be best seen.

Today we bought a few more Carex oshimensis cultivars to use as edging along the paths beneath our stepover apples. We chose C. o. Eversheen, C.o. Everest, C.o. Everlime, C.o. Evercream and C.o. Evergold. Their graceful habit and small size will be perfect for the purpose.

I placed the new plants on our Victorian railway bench to photograph them all together, then individually.

I then decided it would be good to wander around the garden and take photos of some of our Carex planted over the years showing where they are growing and what plants are their companions.

So there we are – we love our Carex varietes and feel sure we will find more!

Tags carex, grasses, hardy perennials, ornamental grasses

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Avebury Atmosphere

We have visited Stonehenge and always found it cold and uninviting especially now as English Heritage are messing it up so much. However every time we wander around the village and stones of Avebury we are always mesmerised by their special presence.

We visited in 2019 and again enjoyed it so much. We walked around the outside of the whole ring of stones. It is such a magical place and always makes us feel calm and relaxed.

I took so many photos of the stones either as individuals or in group I thought it best to share them as a gallery including a few shots of the village of Avebury. So follow by clicking on the first pic and navigating using the arrows. So come on a wander discovering the Avebury stones.

Partway way around our circular walk around the stones we came upon a magical tree with obvious special meaning to some. The tree was decorated with ribbons, written thoughts and natural objects in memory of a lost friend. It felt a special place as we stood beneath its boughs.