Tag: garden features

The Tree of Life

During lockdown we were also shielding because of my vulnerable status due to a blood condition and COPD so during that time we were unable to meet up with others. Towards the end of that period we were due to celebrate our 50th Wedding Anniversary with friends and family. Sadly this could not happen but we do have a special gift from Jude the Undergardener’s mother, Sheila which has now taken pride of place in one of our sitting areas.

It is a corten steel relief sculpture of a Tree of Life, which looks wonderful against a newly painted brick wall. It features three birds enjoying its branches.

This beautiful silhouette can be seen along a long view down the central path from the .bottom of the garden. Lovely to look at as we walk up the path back towards the house.

Tags corten steel, garden features, garden sculpture, our Avocet garden, our garden at Avocet, outdoor sculpture

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

garden design garden furniture garden photography garden seating gardening

Are you sitting comfortably – no 13 in a very occasional series.

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date November 23, 2017

More seats to enjoy looking at and to imagine sitting in – enjoy!

This first set is from Bryn y Llidiart, garden set high in the Welsh hills in a beautiful undulating garden with a variety of rich views so every seat enjoys its own special place to look at.

Closer to home is a large country cottage just inside the Welsh border, Hurdley Hall, with a garden full of surprises and one which invites wildlife within its boundaries. Seats allow the visitor to soak up the special atmosphere this garden possesses. Some of the seats invite you to sit and enjoy tea and cakes, others to cool down in the shade and some to enjoy delicious views.

A 4-acre garden set in the beautiful Welsh countryside not far from home and north of us is Aberclwyd Manor is so full of atmosphere. It made us feel so calm and rested, so the many seats were very welcome, although many were too old and rickety to sit on.

Tags garden design, garden features, garden furniture, garden seating, garden seats

garden buildings garden designers garden furniture garden seating gardens gardens open to the public Yellow Book Gardens

Are you sitting comfortably? – part ten of a very occasional series

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date October 22, 2016
3 Comments on Are you sitting comfortably? – part ten of a very occasional series

Here we are – with the tenth post in my very occasional series looking at my collection of photographs of garden seats we discover as we explore the gardens we enjoy visiting so much. We have many seats in our own garden to allow us to sit and enjoy it. Equally we look for seats in every garden we visit to help us sit and fully appreciate what we see.

Here is a selection from a Shropshire Yellow Book garden, Windy Ridge. They show how important it is to place seats in suitable places so that they are in harmony with the plants themselves.

Windy Ridge is a small family garden visited by hundreds of gardeners every year. We will now look at how a much larger garden uses different seats in different ways to suit its own particular circumstances. Hestercombe is a large garden designed partly by Edwin Lutyens and Gertrude Jekyll which is open to the public attracting thousands of visitors each year. The famous Lutyens benches obviously feature strongly as expected. This seat design must be the most famous and recognised of all garden furniture. As well as these benches there is a wide range of unusual ones to be explored, including several in buildings of many styles plus a few in a huge tent shaped like a shuttlecock.

seats-15 seats-18 seats-07

Where will our next selection of unusual, wonderful and strange garden seats come from? We are already searching them out!

Tags garden benches, garden features, garden furniture, garden seating, garden seats

garden design garden furniture garden photography garden seating gardening gardens Shropshire Staffordshire

Are you sitting comfortably? Part 10 in a very occasional series.

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date June 25, 2016
2 Comments on Are you sitting comfortably? Part 10 in a very occasional series.

Here we are back with another selection of garden seats that we have discovered on our visits to two gardens last weekend, one small village garden and a larger garden attached to a nursery. Whatever size your garden is it deserves seats and so do the gardeners. A good gardener chooses seats that fit in where the gardener chooses to place them. Sometimes they simply look good as a point of interest but the best ones provide great places to sit and admire the patch.

This first batch of pics were taken in a Shropshire NGS garden called Ancoirean a small village garden with a big heart.

ancoirean-03 anc-02

A short twenty minute drive away is Ashwood Nurseries where the owner John Massey has developed his own private garden alongside. We were priveleged to be shown around by John and he shared his ideas behind hid creation and explained what it all meant to him. A great couple of hours – inspirational!

The next post in this very occasional series could take us anywhere! Only time will tell. It will definitely be to a selection of beautiful seats in beautiful gardens!

Tags garden features, garden furniture, garden seating, garden seats

garden design garden furniture gardening gardens gardens open to the public

Garden Entrances and Archways – No 2 in a very occasional series.

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date April 1, 2016
1 Comment on Garden Entrances and Archways – No 2 in a very occasional series.

Here we are with another selection of interesting and unusual entrances and archways that we have discovered while exploring gardens.

In this collection of entrances and archways we concentrate on those we found on a February visit to some gardens of Devon. Arches, inviting pathways, pergolas, gaps in hedges and walls, bridges and even an underpass all entice us onward or present us with choices as we explored these Devon gardens.