Tag: garden walls

The Sheffield Gardens – Part 3 –

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date November 11, 2019
1 Comment on The Sheffield Gardens – Part 3 –

David Clayden is the third gardener from the Sheffield School of Planting whose garden we visited in the weekend arranged by the NGS. His garden was completely different to the other two but enjoyed by us equally. The garden had a gentle feel to it and it was full of wildlife. It had many features that would attract wildlife including dry-stone walls, green roofs and patches of ferns and grasses.

We found the narrow entrance half way down a steep street of terraced houses, and we got a feeling for the garden as we walked through the tiny front patch.

We then wandered around the side of the house into the back and immediately felt calm and relaxed. With plenty of places to sit including seats on a deck in front of a summerhouse complete with green roof, there were opportunities throughout the garden to sit and observe the planting and soak up the atmosphere.

I will finish this report from the three Sheffield School gardeners home gardens with a selection of more images of this third garden. I hope you have enjoyed looking at these three Sheffield gardens which we visited one July weekend.

Tags dry stone walls, garden ponds, garden walls, green roof, Sheffield, Sheffield School of Planting

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

garden photography

Lichen on a Wall

Lichen always fascinate me, as they sit between two worlds being part algae working in cahouts with various fungi, existing alongside each other in a special symbiotic relationship. Together these two parts of the partnership act very differently to singly.

This complex relationship results in a huge variety of colours, textures, sizes and forms.

When holidaying on Anglesey, an island off the north-west tip of North Wales and separated from it by the wild Menai Straits, we stayed in a bungalow with the garden boundary formed by a stone wall. One stretch of this wall was favoured by lichen, perhaps due to its aspect, the make up of the stone or some other factor.

Here is the group of photos I took while wandering the wall in a gap between rain showers.

Tags garden walls, lichen, symbiosis, symbiotic relationships, walls

architecture garden design garden photography gardens gardens open to the public The National Trust

Garden Walls and Steps – part 4 of a very occasional series

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date November 12, 2017

Back again with another selection of photos sharing with you interesting walls and steps we have discovered during our garden visiting adventures.

Let us start at Powys Castle near Welshpool in the Welsh county of Powys, which is built on such a steeply sloping site that there is the need for many steps to get from one terrace to another or simply to move to the lower gardens.

The first photo shows a flight of curved stone steps below the castle itself, while the second shows plants growing against the sandstone walls at the base of the castle. The next shot shows salvias growing in pots in recesses in the lower redbrick walls below the castle.

Theses beautiful and huge sculpted yew hedges hug the walls. Flights of stone steps drop down from terrace to terrace. Piers finish off the ends of walls and steps and these are richly planted, adding great interest and colour as you leave and enter stairways. Sometimes the walls at the base of the castle are simply are simply sculpted natural stone outcrops, which provide fine backdrops for flowers of any colour.

Balustrades top the stone walls of each terrace and beautiful planters provide perfect finishing touches to the tops and bottoms of each flight of stone steps.

The steps down to the lower garden can be steep and narrow.

Three very differently built steps at Powys in parts of the garden with equally differing characters.

The gardens at Cholmondeley Castle in Cheshire are on much gentler sloping ground s the steps are gentle and softer on the eye. The walls are generally sympathetically planted to give them a much softer look. The steps here are much gentler to walk up as they are so shallow and often sinuously curved.

Tags Cheshire gardens, Cholmondeley Castle, garden steps, garden walls, gardens of Powys, Powis, Powys, Powys Castle

garden design garden photography gardening walled gardens

Garden Walls and Steps – a very occasional series – Part 3

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date September 20, 2017
4 Comments on Garden Walls and Steps – a very occasional series – Part 3

I like creating these little occasional series posts as they given extra elements to look out for when we visit garden, which we do often. So far I have posted about garden seats, entrances and archways then “Garden Walls and Steps”. Here is number three in a very occasional series of posts of “Garden Walls and Steps” for you to enjoy.

See you one of these days for the next in this very occasional series!

Tags garden design, garden steps, garden walls

countryside fruit and veg garden design garden furniture garden photography garden ponds garden pools garden seating hardy perennials Herefordshire Land Art landscapes outdoor sculpture sculpture water in the garden Yellow Book Gardens

Another Yellow Book Garden – Hill House Farm

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date April 19, 2017
2 Comments on Another Yellow Book Garden – Hill House Farm

We love to visit our fellow Yellow Book gardens and then sharing them with you. In this post we will share our visit to Hill House Farm, another Herefordshire garden gem. We visited back in July. We liked the description presented in the NGS book, which enticed us to wander slowly down a long gentle slope through shrub and tree plantings in grass with closer cut paths marking the way down to a wildlife pool 200 feet below. Knowing that the garden had been developing for 40 years already gave added interest, as these gardeners were obviously thinking about and doing things in their garden. All good gardeners will never stop learning!

We love a garden with a warm welcome, inviting paths and steps especially when one flight of steps surrounded by aromatic herbs leads us to a good cup of tea and homemade cakes! Beautifully designed and thoughtfully placed seats help too!

ht-003 ht-001

As soon as we arrived we knew we would enjoy the plants as they seemed to be placed in the best possible places to catch the light to absorb it and increase the intensity of their colours, whether bright or pastel.

ht-004 ht-010 ht-018 ht-020 ht-029 ht-023 ht-026 ht-031 ht-032 ht-027

This garden definitely did not disappoint and delivered extras we were not expecting but always enjoy, outdoor sculptural pieces. I have shown a few pieces from different directions and distances to show how well they sit in their garden environment.

ht-005 ht1-43 ht-033 ht-035 ht1-01 ht-009 ht-012 ht-013 ht-017 ht1-37 ht1-32 ht1-30

ht1-29 ht-005 ht1-27

Stone walls, some tall, tough and imposing others tiny, simply visually supporting and complimenting the plants, created a partnership with wide green swathes of grass pathways led our eyes down the garden invitingly – we just had to follow.

ht-008 ht-016 ht-028 ht1-38 ht1-41 ht1-36 ht-002 ht-006 ht1-40 ht1-42

A stream appeared alongside the path we followed downhill and it accompanied us right down to the pool as the planting changed to reflect the damper air and ground. Rambling wild roses and native shrubs added plenty of colour and texture to the hedges.

ht-025 ht-024

The pool edges and margins were still being developed but there were already interesting plant groupings going on.

This amazing ever-moving glass and metal sculpture hung over the water surface reflecting every moment that a breeze moved the air. I have put 3 pics in so that you can select the one you like best.

ht1-20 ht1-23

Jude the Undergardener always likes a swing in the garden so this poolside play piece delighted her, hanging as it did below a huge ancient oak.

Wandering back up the slope slowly afforded us views of the garden slope and the farm bulding in the distance high up.

And to top it all off this unusual informal garden had a lovely productive garden and the finest views. a great day out indeed!

ht1-28 ht1-02

Tags garden pond, garden sculpture, garden seating, garden seats, garden walls, Herefordshire, Herefordshire gardens, NGS, NGS gardens, outdoor sculpture, Yellow Book, Yellow Book Gardens

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.