Tag: gardens

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

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date November 23, 2014
2 Comments on Are you sitting comfortably? – part four of a very occasional series.

So here we are back with another selection of garden seats. Twenty more special places to sit and rest!

Sometimes you come across a garden seat with a design that sets it out above the rest. These “Eye Seats” in the Piet Oudolf garden at Hauser and Wirth’s Gallery in somerset fit perfectly in that category. They shared their patch of grass with sleek black loungers.

Just occasionally when wandering around a garden you discover a seat that fits into its space comfortably like a favourite slipper. In the community gardens at the Bishops Garden at Wells Cathedral in Somerset we came across a little collection that sat beautifully in a glade of old trees. Elsewhere in the main part of the palace garden we found two very different seats, one traditional wooden bench and a modern very sleek cast concrete bench with carved calligraphy.

When we visited the gardens designed by Tom Stuart-Smith at the family home, Serge Hill, we were interested in the positions in which he placed seats. Each was put where you could best relax or sit and contemplate, a few were very isolated and given a lot of space.

These two seats are in the tiniest garden possible. In fact the garden is just the seats on the path outside terraced cottages in the Yorkshire village of Haworth, famous for its links with the Bronte family. Several of the street side cottages here wrap pots and containers overflowing with plants around the steps from the front doors.

These seats are in a completely different environment, the vast open gardens at Trentham. They are situated in Piet Oudolf’s “River of Grasses”.

Can you spot the wooden bench in the photo below also taken at Trentham. It is hidden away in the amazing Hornbeam arbour here wearing its golden autumn coat.

When we visited the National Botanic Garden of Wales on a wet November day we spotted these beautifully designed chairs. They were well suited to their situation but it was far too wet to try them out for comfort.

Tags garden design, garden seating, gardening, gardens, gardens seats

architecture buildings colours garden buildings gardens gardens open to the public Italian style gardens Wales woodland woodlands

Portmeiron – the work of an eccentric.

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date September 4, 2014
5 Comments on Portmeiron – the work of an eccentric.

We always enjoy spending the day at this crazy, quirky and totally exuberant “garden” on the Welsh coast near Portmadoc. Portmeiron is a village and gardens created by the eccentric Clough William-Ellis who bought the site in 1925 and then spent the following 50 years developing it into what we can visit and enjoy today.

The village is a collection of buildings reminiscent of an Italianate style. Every wall is brightly painted in an array of extravagant colours. Some are hotels or holiday cottages, others restaurants and cafes while others are shops and galleries. It is a busy little place sitting on a strip of land below the Lleyn Penninsula and it fits snuggly between the beach and a wooded slope.

In between the collection of crazy buildings a team of gardeners work hard to maintain patches of colourful gardens. The soil is both shallow and full of stones and the land is on a steep slope so gardening here is a tough challenge. So come through the towering gateway and wander around with us.

Although the Italianate style of the buildings that fascinates at first glance after a while the interesting juxtaposition of colours begins to catch the eye. Colours that you would not think of putting together when choosing paint for your home actually work beautifully.

Although the bright colours dominate every scene once your eyes and mind adjust to them interesting details come to the fore, such as these bright blue ironwork, a relief sculpture alongside a ring, classical figures, the beauty of this stone archway and the vintage petrol pump.

2014 08 13_3598

We took a break from the colourful conglomeration of buildings and ambled along through the wooded slopes above the village itself. Here we discovered ancient trees native and cultivated and an atmosphere of peace, with restful greens and relative silence, broken only by the calls and song of birds.

We followed the woodland path until we found ourselves close to the cliff tops and followed it down towards the shore, where the buildings began again. This time they had a maritime twist to their architecture with white and blue colours dominating.

As the road way climbed upwards we returned to the brightly coloured buildings of the village.

We were fascinated by the interest of some visitors in particular buildings which it appears were featured in a TV series from the 1960’s, The Prisoner, which still has a strong cult following. It adds yet another layer of interest to this utterly fascinating “one-off” place.

Tags architecture, archways, Clough William-Ellis, coastal gardens, colour, colours, gardens, North Wales, Portmeirion, woodland, woodland walks, woodlands

colours garden photography gardens gardens open to the public Land Art outdoor sculpture recycling sculpture

Decorated Bicycle Bits in a Garden?

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date May 22, 2014
2 Comments on Decorated Bicycle Bits in a Garden?

Yes, you have read the title correctly. This post is about decorated bits of bicycles in a garden. These are no ordinary bikes, these are decorated bikes or sometimes just decorated bicycle wheels. We were surprised by the sight of the first of these decorated bikes when we came across it in the grounds of Anglesey Abbey.

We discovered that they were there to celebrate an anniversary of cycling in Cambridge. Each bike or parts of bikes were decorated by knitters!

Just share our enjoyment of discovering them by looking at my photos.

Tags Anglesey Abbey, bicycles, Cambridge, celebrations, cycling, gardens, humour, National Trust

garden design garden photography gardening outdoor sculpture

Garden Art

When we work in the garden we like looking at the bits of broken pottery, metal and glass that we unearth. I presume most of us gardeners do the same. Ever since we first moved to our garden here at Plealey ten years ago we have been collecting together the more interesting pieces without a thought of what we might do with them. Our bucket filled up until recently I thought I would select out interesting pieces that would go together to make a few pictures with.

We chose square white frames to give simple plain backgrounds and I managed to create these three pictures.

Here they are in more detail. I hope you enjoy looking at them – I certainly enjoyed making them. I like their simplicity and crispness. I photographed them outside on the lawn when the sun would add shadow but they have a place waiting for them. We intend to hang them on a wall outside which is painted a pale cream colour.