Tag: garden photography

The Sheffield Gardens – Part 1 – Bramble Wood Cottage

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date December 16, 2019
2 Comments on The Sheffield Gardens – Part 1 – Bramble Wood Cottage

Via the NGS book, The Yellow Book, we had the opportunity to book a weekend up in Sheffield to explore three gardens, owned by members of the “Sheffield School of Planting” who have been encouraging the use of wildflowers and wildlife mixed borders for years now. In particular they have been encouraging local authorities to take a fresh look at their parks and verges, with the emphasis on planting or sowing for wildlife and in many cases reducing maintenance budgets.

The leading figure in this movement is Nigel Dunnett and it was to his garden at Bramble Wood Cottage we made our way first, as it was the furthest from the city centre. As we drove around the Sheffield area we could see the influence of this planting movement.

Nigel met us part way up the pathway that took us through the sloping front garden and welcomed us then explained what his garden was all about and what it meant to him. The planting here was to set the tone for what was to come behind the cottage. Native plants and wildlife friendly cultivated plants intermingled to present soft gently planted borders both sides of the path.

The back garden was a large sloping garden with mature woodland area at the very top which gradually became more cultivated as we moved towards the cottage.

To get the full effect of the garden I will create a gallery of some of the photos taken during our visit. As usual just click on the first photo then navigate with the arrows.

So from Bramble Wood Cottage we drove back into the city and found our next garden situated half way up a steep street of brick-built terraced houses.

Tags garden photography, gardens, grasses, hardy perennials, herbaceous borders, National Garden Scheme, NGS, ornamental grasses, Sheffield

garden design garden furniture garden photography garden seat garden seating gardening gardens

Are You Sitting Comfortably – no 20 in an occasional series

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date July 27, 2019

We reach the milestone post in this occasional series featuring the amazing variety of garden seats we find and enjoy sitting on as we reach no 20.

I will start with a couple of very different seats located very near each other in an NGS garden we visited in May, the gardens of “The Citadel”.

This next set is of seats we found while exploring one of our favourite walled gardens and nurseries in Shropshire, Wildegoose Nursery and Garden.

These next few are from another NGS Yellow Book garden, the wildlife friendly patch at Gorsty Bank just a half hour or so drive from home.

So that is it for this selection of garden seats but another selection will follow soon.

Tags garden photography, garden seating, garden seats, gardening

garden design gardens

Garden Walls and Steps – No 5 in a very occasional series

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date June 25, 2019

This is only the fifth post in my very occasional series all about the garden walls and steps we spot on our garden visits, so here is my latest selection.

This selection of walls consists almost entirely of stone built specimens looking good in informal, modest settings. The first photo shows a natural looking wall that backs a garden pond and looks good in its coat of lichen and mosses. Its companion to the right is again a natural looking wall holding back a raised bed of mixed planting.

This next wall is the home to a collection of insect homes, the residents of which will act as predators and pollinators. The dry stone wall provides homes for wildlife within its structure.

Below are two very different walls, one constructed of stone and surrounds a natural looking water feature, whereas the tall red-brick built wall acts as a retaining wall to formal gardens on the terrace behind.

Ferns love walls and often find homes on them, growing from spores that settled into cracks where they found sufficient moisture and soil to become established.

From photos of walls I shall now move on to share my photos of garden steps, beginning with a variety from Whitlenge Garden and Nursery in Worcestershire.

The first steps are constructed of stones and stone slabs but beautifully decorated by Mother Nature who donated a lovely Primrose. The rest are from recent garden visits we have made this spring. I hope you enjoy the variety of designs and materials that people choose to use.

I hope you have enjoyed this selection of garden walls and steps. I shall start collecting photos for no. 6 in this very occasional series.

Tags garden design, garden photography, garden steps, garden walls, gardening

autumn autumn colours Cheshire garden design garden photography gardening gardens gardens open to the public grasses hardy perennials ornamental grasses ornamental trees and shrubs

Ness Botanic Gardens

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date October 6, 2018

We meet regularly with a group we went to teacher training college with back in 1969 to 1972, for a get together. We often meet up at a garden for morning coffee and lunch, with time to explore in between.

In early October we met up at Ness Botanic Gardens run by Liverpool University. Jude and I had visited several times over the years, so looked forward to reaquainting ourselves with this wonderful garden.

We hoped to get a good show of bark, foliage and berries from their many Acers, Betulas and Sorbus. We were particularly keen on looking at the Sorbus as we are currently seleceting a new one for our Avocet garden. We love so many and hoped this visit would help us choose.

Leaving the visitors centre we could see the strong sharp shadows emanating from trees and lying across the grass. Through these trees we were afforded long views across the lower gardens.

Beds to show the main plant families were cut into the grass and we enjoyed these before following a gravel path down the slope that took us to the wonderfully colourful late perennial borders.

The herbaceous perennial borders shone with grasses and Asters, growing below shrubs and trees displaying signs of autumn, coloured foliage, fruit and berries.

After enjoying these mixed borders we returned to the far side of the garden to explore.

We made our way back to the centre for lunch and then Jude and I carried on touring the garden in search of Sorbus varieties, while the rest of the group made their ways home.

In my next post I shall share the Sorbus discoveries with you.

Tags Cheshire, Cheshire gardens, garden photography, gardens of Cheshire, grasses, Ness Botanic Gardens, sorbus

climbing plants colours fruit and veg garden buildings garden design garden photography garden ponds garden pools gardening gardens gardens open to the public grow your own half-hardy perennials hardy perennials Herefordshire kitchen gardens ornamental trees and shrubs water in the garden

Garden Revisiting Part One – The Garden in a Cider Orchard

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date June 20, 2018

We are so lucky to have so many great gardens that we can visit in a day from home. I thought a week of posts all about revisiting gardens would prepare us well for the warmer weather and get our creative gardening juices flowing again.

There are many in our home county Shropshire itself and we have easy access to Herefordshire and Powys where there are even more. Several of our favourite gardens we like to visit every year or so, so that we can see how they develop over time and change with the seasons. In this occasional series we shall do just that. I shall be featuring those gardens that we like to keep going back to.

For the first of these we travel down the trunk road southwards, the A49 which will take us through South Shropshire and into the Herefordshire border. It is just a few hundren yards from this road that we find the gardens of Stockton Bury which are described as the “Gardens in the Orchard”. The garden was born in 1900 and has never stopped developing. The present gardener, Raymond Treasure has developed it into rich tapestry of unusual trees, perennials and even a few follies, all wrapped around the old farm buildings.

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It is a garden with a surprise around every corner, and however many times you visit this still happens. A living garden!

The mixed borders are rich in perennial plants that the wildlife enjoy.

At any turn in the path you can find a surprise, brightly coloured planting, secret rooms, unusual plants you can’t name,

Please enjoy this special place by browsing through my gallery of photos. There are probably too many but Stockton Bury is such a photogenic location it becomes hard to edit your shots.

Our return visit to Stockton Bury was as special as the first we ever made, full of special plants, secrets and surprises and touches of humour.

Tags apples, foliage plants, fruit and veg, fruit and vegetable growing, fruit., garden photography, gardening, gardens of Herefordshire, ornamental trees, shrubs, Stockton Bury

autumn colours climbing plants colours flowering bulbs garden design garden photography garden wildlife gardening gardens half-hardy perennials hardy perennials irises light light quality log piles logs natural pest control ornamental trees and shrubs roses Shrewsbury Shropshire shrubs South Shropshire spring bulbs succulents trees

My Garden Journal 2017 – November

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date December 7, 2017
2 Comments on My Garden Journal 2017 – November

The penultimate visit to my garden journal for 2017 is here – hope you enjoy it. I began by referring back to a development we started in the garden back in September which we finished off in November. We are very pleased with how it has turned out and look forward to seeing the new plants flourish.

“October continued with damaging winds and days with brown skies and orange sun as we received the effects f Hurricane Ophelia, downgraded to Storm Ophelia as it hit our shores. The last few weeks of October and the early days of November, saw us busy continuing develop our “Oil Tank Garden”.

“We screened the ugly tank with panels of beautiful diamond latticed panels and soon got on with the planting. Always the exciting bit!”

Over the page I continue to describe our development of this border and wrote “Behind the tank we have planted two trees, the Heptacodium mentioned in September and a stunning Sorbus called Joseph Rock with yellow berries in stark contrast to its deepest red autumn foliage.

“Hundreds of miniature daffodils were planted with crocus, Anemone blanda and other small bulbs.”

“A new solitary bee home was sited in the new garden. We gave it a miniature green roof!”

“We soon had a selection of climbers planted to clothe the trellis panels, Roses, Clematis, Honeysuckle and a Coronilla”.

“Behind the tank we planted for wildlife and hedgehogs in particular. We placed a nestbox for hedgehogs among dense planting of ferns and Euphorbias. We added stone piles, leaf piles and log piles.”

Turning over another page I featured some words by Dan Pearson and looked at some autumn flowering plants.

“Taking a look at Dan Pearson’s writings about Autumn in his “Natural Selections” book he wrote,

I want to invite the seasons into the garden, vividly and in layers. I use asters, autumn crocus and gentians at ground level, and shrubs that perform for this season to take the eye up and away, to straighten the back. I weave berrying trees and shrubs into the garden as much for their jewel-like fruit as for the birds which flock down to gorge when the fruit is ready for feasting upon.”

We aim to do exactly the same in our Avocet patch. Below are a few of our Asters which feature in our “Shrub Border”, a border that brings Autumn in.”

“Another herbaceous perennial that features strongly in our November garden are the Salvias. We leave a few to over-winter in the garden but most will be brought into the cool greenhouse.”

Turning over again I take a look at succulents, plants rarely mentioned in the context of the autumn garden.

“When considering Autumn colour, succulents are rarely mentioned, but just check out the photos below of some of our succulents taken in November“

Below are my paintings/drawings of two multi-coloured succulent stems which I created with water soluble pencil crayons.

“Taking succulent cuttings.”

“Final pots of succulents waiting to go into their winter home.”

The final page of my November entries in the Garden Journal celebrates my “Plant of the Month”, which is one of only two Irises native to the UK, Iris foetidissima.

The next visit to look at my Garden Journal in 2017 will be the last one for the year, December.

Tags autumn, autumn colours, clematis, climbing plants, garden photography, garden wildlife, gardening, NGS, ornamental grasses, ornamental trees, roses, salvias, shrubs, spring bulbs, succulents, trees, wildlife

colours fruit and veg garden design garden photography gardening gardens gardens open to the public hardy perennials kitchen gardens National Trust roses Shrewsbury Shropshire The National Trust walled gardens walled kitchen gardens

A Walk in the Park August- Attingham Park – Part 2

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date September 23, 2017
1 Comment on A Walk in the Park August- Attingham Park – Part 2

As promised, I now return to Attingham Park to look at the creative feature and the walled garden. I shall start with the “creative feature” we found and which fascinated us. In the children’s play field which adjoins the orchard we spotted a colourful feature at a distance which demanded a closer look.

Tall willow wands were attached to a wooden fence and they were decorated with coloured wall. Children had written their thoughts about Attingham Park on card labels and tied them to the uprights. We enjoyed reading them greatly.

We wandered through the orchard towards the Walled Garden and first off had a look around the bothy.

The vegetable and fruit crops were looking very fresh and healthy and the staff and volunteers were busy weeding and thinning out the rows of crops.

The most colourful crop of all though was the cut flower section where row upon row of flowers grown to display in the hall or for sale to visitors added stripes of colour to the walled garden.

Wandering through the gateway in the brick wall separating the two sections of the walled garden colour was everywhere we looked whatever direction we glanced in.

So the next visit we will be making for a wander around Attingham Park will be in October when Autumn will be making an appearance.

Tags fruit and veg, fruit and vegetable growing, fruit., garden photography, gardening, grown your own, National Trust, Shropshire

fruit and veg garden buildings garden photography gardening gardens gardens open to the public grow your own hardy perennials kitchen gardens National Trust ornamental trees and shrubs Shrewsbury Shropshire shrubs The National Trust walled gardens walled kitchen gardens woodland woodlands

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

autumn light light quality photography winter gardens

Simply Beautiful 1 – delicacy in the border.

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date November 25, 2016
3 Comments on Simply Beautiful 1 – delicacy in the border.

Sometimes the simplest of things are the most beautiful!

Take one twig!

Pink leaf petioles.

A single flower from the complex head of an Hydrangea sitting on a leaf.

I will be looking out for more such simple beauties and sharing them with you from now on. My new challenge for my Nikon lens!

Tags beauty, close up photography, close ups, flower photography, garden photography, Hydrangeas, petioles, photographing plants, photography, simple beauty, simplicity

birds colours flowering bulbs garden design garden photography garden wildlife gardening gardens hardy perennials light light quality ornamental trees and shrubs Shropshire shrubs spring bulbs spring gardening trees

My Garden Journal 2016 – April

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date May 25, 2016
4 Comments on My Garden Journal 2016 – April

Here we are with my April look at my garden journal. I began as I often do with a look at the weather that was affecting our garden.

“April is known for its showery weather and we hope it is the first frost-free weeks of the year. This will allow us to begin hardening off our delicate plants that have hidden away in our greenhouse and summerhouse. Looking back at my first garden journal I notice that in early April birds were then showing signs of nest building. I wrote …“Spring is here! Sometimes at least. Birds are collecting nesting materials, blackbirds, greenfinches and all the Titmice family.” This year birds are singing and calling well but we have seen no signs of nest building activities. The Titmice have given up their earlier explorations of our many birdboxes. We hope Spring will catch up and get wildlife stirring again.”

Over the page I continue by looking at one member of the Titmice family, the Coal Tit, and I included one of my gouache paintings of these active little birds.

“One of our members of the Titmice family that we enjoy sharing our garden with is the tiny Coal Tit, growing to only 10cm or so in length. They are very lively little birds and most entertaining in the garden. They are frequent visitors to feeders where they enjoy peanuts and mixed seeds. They never stay long on a feeder but remove a morsel of food by rapid beak banging and take it off to eat in a nearby tree or shrub. They hold a nut or seed between their claws and chip away at it, eating tiny pieces.”

On the page opposite I take a look at the bright Tulips in our garden and what they add to it.

“Early April right through to late on in the month the greens of fresh growth are so bright but our multitude of Tulips add contrasting colours. They add their special charm to every part of the garden. Hundreds were planted throughout the Autumn so now we reap the rewards.”

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Tulips and other bulbs continue to be featured on my next couple of pages.

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“The delicacy of these little white species Tulips with their egg yolk yellow centres are so different to the big bright cultivars.”

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“But it isn’t just Tulips! Many other bulbs look equally beautiful scattered throughout the borders.”

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Turning the page we find a much wordier look with an odd photo to illustrate the words, followed by a look at some of our Acers.

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“April is the month when we discover the joy of working in the garden into the evening hours. We are no longer forced indoors at teatime by the poor light. Some days also allow us to shed jackets and even jumpers as the temperatures feel more comfortable. But April can bring surprises such as overnight frosts and this year a very late snow shower. Hail storms chased us indoors on many occasions. But Spring still marches on and gives freshness of growth, new bright foliage on trees, shrubs and herbaceous perennials.”

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“The freshest foliage of all must be from our Acer shrubs. They unfurl their buds and give a multitude of shades of yellow, orange, ruby and green. Even though this happens every year and we look forward to it, the new life of our Acers delights us.”

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I then look at yellow in our garden.

“Throughout the Spring months yellow is the colour that picks up the bright light of the sun best of all the bright colours. This may be why we love Daffodils so much, but many more flowers show off in the brightness of April.”

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“There are also a few pinks that look special in the Spring garden and these are at their best with interestingly coloured and textured foliage as partners.”

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Blossom and the plants of cool shade appear on the final couple of my journal’s pages for April.

“Shrewsbury, our nearest town, is famous for its Spring blossom which lines many of its streets and lanes. In our garden we can equally enjoy the blossom of both ornamental and productive trees and shrubs.”

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“We love the sunshine in the April garden when all around us the garden sparkles and shines. But dip into the cool of the shade and there are gems awaiting us. Foliage is the key where sunlight fails to infiltrate.”

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