Tag: NGS gardens

Mynd Hardy Plants – return to a favourite nursery.

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date October 16, 2016
2 Comments on Mynd Hardy Plants – return to a favourite nursery.

Jude the Undergardener, aka Mrs Greenbench, and I are not fans of garden centres where things horticultural are disappearing under an avalanche of gifts, fancy foods, pet foods etc etc but we do love our independently run plant nurseries and have a handful of local favourites we visit when we need plants to complete new plantings or just fancy a bit of compulsive plant buying. Mynd Hardy Plants situated in Shropshire’s Corvedale ranks as a top favourite, so we thought you may enjoy coming on a visit with us. The fact that it opens for the National Garden Scheme like we do is an extra bonus.

As soon as we pull up to park the car alongside the outer wall of the walled garden we feel warmly welcome and this warmth increases as we enter through the old doorway. When we take our first steps inside smiles appear.

Mynd Hardy Plants is not simply a nursery it is also a garden, and both aspects are worthy of a visit in their own right. But of course a simple tea shop selling home made cakes and beverages with seats overlooking the nursery and gardens is a real bonus.

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Comfy rustic seats invite us to sit and appreciate the atmosphere of the walled garden.

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It wasn’t just us enjoying our visit, there was plenty of wildlife around. We could see movement throughout the areas of rich and colourful flowering. Bees, Hoverflies and Butterflies were busily feeding on the most simple flowers, the daisies and spires in particular.

There are so many exciting plants and complementary plant combinations at every turn and around every corner at Long Mynd Hardy Plants that the only way to share so much with you is by creating a gallery for your enjoyment. As usual click on the first photo and then navigate using the arrows.

On our last visit we spent time talking with nursery-woman Jill over coffee and cake overlooking the nursery she outlined their ambitious plans and explained what her and her husband had achieved since we last saw them.We expect these plans will be achieved and we look forward to seeing more changes as we visit in the future.

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Jill explained that when they cleared the derelict half of the old walled garden they discovered a range of ancient glasshouses and a long run of cold frames. Eventually these will be restored and will be an amazing addition to the nursery and garden. An old orchard is under restoration too and there will soon be stock beds for visitors to study as well.

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We hope you enjoyed this snapshot of a great little independent nursery and display garden as much as we enjoyed sharing it with you.

Tags garden buildings, glasshouses, hardy perennials, independent nurseries, Mynd Hardy Plants, NGS, NGS gardens, nurseries, old glasshouses, Shropshire, Shropshire gardens, walled garden, walled gardens, Yellow Book, Yellow Book Gardens

colours fruit and veg garden design garden photography gardening gardens hardy perennials herbs meadows National Garden Scheme ornamental trees and shrubs roses Wales Yellow Book Gardens

Another friend’s garden – Holly Cottage

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date July 18, 2016
1 Comment on Another friend’s garden – Holly Cottage

We love visiting small gardens listed in the National Garden Scheme’s famous Yellow book but even more enjoyable is visiting the NGS gardens of friends. So as we drove along miles of narrow lanes winding their way in and out of the counties of Shropshire, Powys and Montgomeryshire we couldn’t wait to arrive at Holly Cottage, the home of Allison and Martin. As we approached the gateway our anticipation levels rose steeply as we spotted beautiful brightly coloured plantings running along the drive banks. The planting here varied and flowed from meadow planting to prairie style plantings and other areas of Alison’s own style. What a beautiful way to welcome visitors with a garden that embraces you so warmly.

Alison met us at the end of the drive and took us up to her home and garden. We had to wait a bit longer to explore the drive side plantings.

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This is also a garden with wide spreading beautiful views affording vistas of farmland leading to distant hills.

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Allison and Martin have built the garden to wrap around the house. The design is such that the garden surrounds the house and feels and looks as if it hugs the house. There is a beautiful link and bond between home and garden. Martin has built borders, walls and terraces in which Alison gardens with flair. A great team!

Wildlife is welcomed into the garden.

We started our tour of the garden in the courtyard behind the house where Allison is developing a collection of delicate Violas. Placed on shelving on a wall means that you can look these little beauties in the face and be engulfed by their scents. Such a clever idea!

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Moving around the side of the house we turned a corner to be greeted by more scent, but this time the scent came to us from shrubs, Philadelphia, Buddlejas, Rosa and more. There was also a richness of colour and texture. We wandered the narrow paths to study every beautiful plant and appreciate the way each plant worked with its neighbours.

Through an archway beneath scented roses we moved into the little front garden enticed by the gentle bubbling sound of water.

Exploring further steps took us around a series of raised beds holding herbs, cut flowers and nursery beds. Scent was evident here too, the warm relaxing scents of herbs. Soft coloured flowers burst from glaucous blues and grey of herb foliage. Temptation made us rub leaves between our fingers to savour the aromas and flavours.

After a break for a chat enriched with tea and cakes, we excitedly wandered off towards the amazing borders clothing the two sides of the long drive.

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The simple and very common Moon Daisy is as beautiful as any rare tropical plant. Against a blue sky viewed from low down they present ethereal shapes, colours and patterns.

To one side tall trees grew skyward from a native hedge and gravel paths invited us to discover the borders of meadowy prairie planting.

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What a beautiful afternoon we enjoyed in Allison and Martin’s garden. We came home with gifts of plants grown from seed by Alison in the greenhouse designed and made by Martin.

The garden at Holly Cottage

Tags flowering shrubs, herb garden, meadows, NGS, NGS gardens, ornamental shrubs, Powis, Powys, prairie gardening, prairie planting, scented shrubs, shrubs, wildflower meadows

flowering bulbs garden design garden ponds garden pools gardening gardens hardy perennials irises National Garden Scheme NGS ornamental trees and shrubs outdoor sculpture sculpture Shropshire spring bulbs Yellow Book Gardens

Another NGS Yellow Book Garden – visiting a friend’s garden.

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date June 2, 2016
3 Comments on Another NGS Yellow Book Garden – visiting a friend’s garden.

Our friend Mary and her husband Bob open their garden for the National Garden Scheme just as we do, so we were determined to go and see her garden this year. A few weeks before her open garden she told us she hoped her tulips would still look good. She had no reason to worry – they were a treat for the eye and lifted the spirits!

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It was a perfect day for garden visiting, bright, warm and so sunny.

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We began our visit with big hugs from Mary followed by our usual tea and cake and found a seat where we could enjoy views over Mary and Bob’s garden. From there we could see interesting plants that deserved a closer look and inviting winding paths and archways. We watched with interest the reactions of other visitors and which plants they made a beeline for. Once suitably refreshed we explored!

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We found tulips throughout the borders some in exciting unusual colours. We enjoyed them all.

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These purest of white tulips were beautifully displayed in their containers which raised them up and gave the afternoon sun the chance to light them up.

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There was a lot more of interest here though than these beautiful tulips. Neither Jude the Undergardener or I are particular fans of evergreen coniferous plants and indeed have just a single alpine Pinus mugo “Mumpitz” in our patch, but the cones on Mary and Bob’s trees caught our attention.

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I think the best way to see the rest of this lovely garden will be to enjoy the following gallery. As usual click on the first picture then navigate using the right hand arrow.

Tags betula, bulbs, conifers, container gardening, flowering bulbs, garden containers, garden sculpture, National Garden Scheme, NGS, NGS gardens, spring bulbs, tulips

fruit and veg garden design garden photography gardening gardens hardy perennials kitchen gardens National Garden Scheme NGS ornamental trees and shrubs outdoor sculpture South Shropshire succulents village gardens Yellow Book Gardens

Another Yellow Book Garden – Tea on the Way

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date May 31, 2016
3 Comments on Another Yellow Book Garden – Tea on the Way

We enjoyed a visit to another garden which appears in the National Garden Scheme’s Yellow Book, the scheme which our own Avocet garden is a part of. We spend many an afternoon visiting our fellow gardeners who open their gardens for charity.

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In mid-May we set off through the Hope Valley near our home and on through South Shropshire through the village of Clun up a narrow lane that got more and more narrow and rougher and rougher until we reached a field designated as a car park for the day. The garden of Guilden Down Cottage awaited a short walk away. We soon realised that we knew of this garden already in its other guise as “Tea on the Way”. The cottage owners serve refreshments to walkers passing by. But on the day of our visit they were open to raise funds for the charities of the National Garden Scheme.

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At the entrance to the garden we spotted produce for sale in a lane side stall.

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We waited to pay our entry fee and order our usual tea and cakes to prime us for our garden exploration! I noticed a beautiful woodstore and beside it a sleepy old sheep dog.

We soon began to realise that this was gong to be an interesting visit, perhaps not so much for the plants but more for its quirkiness and cheerful atmosphere. As we wandered towards a seat on which to enjoy our refreshments we spotted the first quirky artifacts. Even the seat we sat upon was home made and full of character.

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Once refreshed we took off on our exploration and first off found this well planted container. The planting around the front lawn looked lush and was set off by the bird bath.

A flight of stone steps with rustic trellis either side welcomed us into the main garden. Being an organic garden we were on the look out for unusual ideas and gardening methods. As always though we were searching out the plants!

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Some plants were planted in interesting containers or within collections of artifacts.

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The kitchen garden was beautiful with a network of paths made from woodchip entered via handmade gates created using wood harvested from the garden.

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Close to the kitchen garden we found a polytunnel and a fruit cage and some signs of organic principles in action, an insect home, comfrey liquid fertiliser and worm pee fertiliser.

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A few more artifacts and craft pieces spotted at Guilden Down Cottage will end this post nicely.

Tags Clun, container gardening, garden containers, NGS, NGS gardens, organic gardening, organic gardens, plants in containers, South Shropshire, wildlife garden, Yellow Book, Yellow Book Gardens

garden photography gardens gardens open to the public National Garden Scheme ornamental trees and shrubs shrubs Staffordshire water in the garden

A new garden for monthly visits – The Dorothy Clive Garden

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date January 5, 2016
2 Comments on A new garden for monthly visits – The Dorothy Clive Garden

After visiting Trentham Gardens monthly throughout 2014 followed by Croft Castle Gardens in 2015 we searched for another local garden which changes with the seasons and has interest every month of the year.

We have chosen The Dorothy Clive Garden, a forty minute drive from home and a real favourite of ours for years. It is one of the gardens we share with family and friends who come to stay. The garden has a postal address which places it in Shropshire but the garden’s guide book says it is situated in neighbouring Staffordshire. Perhaps on one of our visits we may discover its real location.

The garden guide describes it as “An informal hillside garden.” On its website is an invitation to “Explore this charming English country garden. Enjoy great plants throughout the seasons, delightful views and tasty homemade food.” This sounds just up our street – great plants and tasty food!

The website continues describing the Dorothy Clive Garden as “A place to relax and unwind in an intimate, informal and inspiring setting. Experience a really welcoming and friendly environment.”

So it sounds as if we have chosen our feature garden for 2016 rather wisely.

For now here is a gallery of pics from a previous visit just as a taster.

Later this month we will make our first visit to the Dorothy Clive Garden and then create the first monthly post.

Tags azaleas, dingle, Dorothy Clive Garden, gardens open to the public, insect hotels, National Garden Scheme, NGS, NGS gardens, ornamental shrubs, ornamental trees, rhododendrons, Staffordshire

garden buildings garden design garden designers garden photography gardening gardens hardy perennials Herefordshire meadows outdoor sculpture sculpture Yellow Book Gardens

Montpelier Cottage – another Yellow Book garden

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date October 17, 2015
2 Comments on Montpelier Cottage – another Yellow Book garden

A warm bright day in early September was a great day to visit another National Garden Scheme, Yellow Book garden. Thus we drove once again into our neighbouring county of Herefordshire in search of Montpelier Cottage. The main roads turned into minor roads and the minor roads turned into lanes. The lanes got narrower and narrower until at last we found the yellow NGS sign on a gate into a field which for the day became a temporary car park.

The cottage in its primrose yellow livery felt so welcoming.

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A sense of humour, important in any garden, soon became apparent at Montpelier Cottage.

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The gardeners here are the garden writer Noel Kingsbury and his wife Jo Eliot and they have been developing the garden for ten years. The garden style and plant combinations are experimental looking to find “the border between the wild and the cultivated” being inspired by American prairies and the wildflower meadows of Europe. As we knew Noel Kingsbury had been working closely for many years with garden designers and nurserymen Piet Oudolf and Henk Gerritsen, we were interested to see how this ten year old garden had developed.

As we followed the narrow path towards the back of the cottage the gardens came into view and we knew we were in for a colourful wander. The terrace of stone slabs overlooked the garden and sitting here enjoying a refreshing tea and tasty cake we could get views over most of the garden. Brightly coloured annuals and tender perennials grew vigorously in pots.

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When we had finished our refreshments we soon found a sign which invited us through a gap in a hedge. Alongside the gap a piece of sculpture created from beautiful blue glass caught our attention.

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As in any garden there are certain individual plants that stand out and here at Montpelier Cottage they were this deciduous Euonymous sporting a cerise and orange colourway, the deep ruby flowered Sanguisorba “Red Buttons”, the monochrome bamboo, the Rosa rugosa with big hips and the incredibly tall growing Hollyhocks.

But as with any garden it is the big picture that gives it its own style and presence. At Montpelier Cottage the garden boasted large areas of perennial planting through which paths were cut.

It was too late in the year to see the wildflower meadows at their flowery best so we hope to visit earlier in the year in 2016, but the kitchen garden was looking very productive.

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There are interesting rustic buildings which came into view as we wandered the paths through the garden.

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I shall finish my post about this unusual garden with a photo of a lovely slate sculpture and another piece of creativity by Mother Nature herself, weaving with Ivy stems. The final picture shows a beautiful use of shaped box.

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