Tag: ornamental trees

Looking a little closer.

Recently I purchased of a pack of close-up filters by Polaroid. I longed to use them but the weather thwarted me. After days of waiting the light was good enough so I rushed to attach them to the standard lens of my trusty Nikon DSLR.

These are my first attempts, after the worst were deleted. My failures were mostly trouble with focus. It is difficult to get distance to subject right but trial and error resulted in the following shots. Let me know what you think. I need to do some research now and find out a bit more about using them effectively and efficiently. I shall dig into my photography books and copies of the wonderful “Outdoor Photography” magazines.

First a couple of shots of a Hamemelis “Jelena” followed by looking at the spent seed heads of Echinops, Clematis and Eryngium.

A close shot of this Buddleja illustrates the soft texture of the surface of the leaves. The texture of the Cotoneaster berry with its hard glossy red jacket is in strong contrast with the matt black berries of the Hypericum.

The leaves of the variegated Osmanthus are in every shade of yellow and bronzed green. The similarly spiky edged leaves of Eryngium are dry and grey as old bone.

The next few shots are of the old dessicated flowers of asters. They are so delicate – it makes you wonder how they stand up the strong winter winds.

Taking close up shots of fennel seeds within their seed heads shows the restricted depth of field of the close up lenses. Look closely at the differences and you will find the subtle changes by altering slightly the central point of focus.

The flowers of Mahonia japonica are usually seen in long racemes but a close up lens lets us appreciate them as individuals. I had not realised until I looked at these pics that each little flower is a double form.

We grow several trees for their interesting bark and in winter the low angle of the sun allows us to see golden light brightening it up.

Tansy is such a common flower we rarely take time to have a close look and appreciate its beauty. I tried to show them at their best here but sadly not too well.

Looking at the light playing on sticks and stems brings out their beautiful structure and delicate colours.

Grasses look stunning in any bright light and when studied close up their beauty increases further.

These little shaving brush flower heads expose their softness of texture when viewed in close up with each fine thread catching the light.

I shall finish this selection of my close up photos with the soft pink blooms of our Prunus subhirtella autumnalis. I shall keep trying and play around with the close ups and post again when I get more of a handle on them.

Tags close up photography, grasses, ornamental trees, trees, trees and shrubs, winter, winter garden

allotments birds community gardening fruit and veg garden photography garden wildlife gardening gardens grasses grow your own hardy perennials kitchen gardens light light quality meadows natural pest control ornamental grasses ornamental trees and shrubs photography roses spring bulbs wildlife Winter Gardening

What’s on the Plots? An end of year wander around the allotments.

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date December 23, 2013
4 Comments on What’s on the Plots? An end of year wander around the allotments.

Mid-December often sees the allotment site under snow or at least coated in frost, but not this year. We wandered around today with camera in hand and we were appreciative of the bright clear blue sky overhead. The midday sun cast long sharp shadows and it had enough strength in it for us to feel its warmth.

Having checked the post box for messages, and left a few magazines in the communal hut for others to enjoy, we started our tour at Wendy’s lovely plot. There is always something of interest to see and new things going on. We were not to be disappointed today. The sun caught the bright fiery colours of the willow hedge surrounding her compost heap.

On an obelisk where the soft bark paths cross the striped flag glowed alongside a sparkling glitterball, while this character decorated her shed door. A cranky old monk? Brother Cadfael perhaps when he was dropped by the BBC.

We next moved to the Autumn Garden and our newly planted section alongside our young fedge. The tree here is a Crataegus prunifolia which gives rich red autumn colour and deep red berries which is underplanted with bulbs. The border is planted up with sedum, asters, ferns, some perennial native flora and small shrubs. The cones and catkins of alders are beginning to get their purple hue. Cotoneaster leaves are as red as their berries.

On many plots old crops sit forgotten in places whilst others await being picked throughout the winter. The sprouts will grace a plot holder’s Christmas dinner spread.

Chard leaves on a sunny day are delightful. The reds, yellows and purples of their leaves and stems glow with the sun behind them.

Further along the borders of the Autumn Garden we passed Trevor’s plot where there is always an interesting development to find. Today we discovered his new shed number. He must have problems remembering his plot number or needs to arrange to visit an optician.

In the final section of the Autumn Garden the grass Calamagrostis acutifolia “Overdam” stand tall and to attention and gentle honey scents flow from the lemon flowered Mahonia.

On the shed roof of Plot 68 the massive scarecrow is looking worse for wear after our recent weather featuring heavy rains and strong winds. In the summer he won our annual scarecrow competition. It is hard to believe how he wowed our visitors on our Open Day.

In the first orchard the last fruit hangs on, a golden crab apple. Fennel is already sporting new foliage on Alan’s plot and the last of the Raspberry fruits sit awaiting a hungry Blackbird. Close by in the first Buddleja Border a Shistsotylus bravely blooms on with an early Primula.

The Globe Artichoke in the second Buddleja Border will soon burst and finches will flock in to feed off them, especially Goldfinches and Linnets.

We then took a detour to see what is happening on our own plot, Number 37. The last of the flowers in our wildflower mini-meadow are bravely hanging on and a few of our parsnips have gone to flower producing chartreuse umbrella heads. A few autumn raspberries provide welcome food for Blackbirds.

We moved on towards our old oak tree past plots where winter grown crops await Christmas dinners in members homes, leeks with their glaucous strappy leaves and sprouts behind netting protected against marauding Wood Pigeons.

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This little scarecrow bravely guards overwintering alliums.

The Oak invariably looks wonderfully majestic but on a winter’s afternoon it excels with its long sharp shadows and silhouette of bare branches. In the spring Garden nearby the first bulbs are coming into flower, a pale Muscari, pushing their way through fallen oak leaves.

On Sharon’s plot her frog thermometer shows it is mild for December and near by a lone apple hangs waiting to give sustenance to the Blackbirds.

Glyn’s plot is well covered in a mat of green manures, so no heavy rain is going to leach away the goodness from the soil. Now that is good gardening!

In the Sensory Garden the rose hips sparkle away in the winter sun which glows through the last of the rose bush’s foliage. Grasses here always look good but add extra movement in the gentlest of breezes.

In the big meadow the last of the Red Campion and the Honesty are gamely flowering still. A lone bloom of Rosa Shropshire Lad casts a beautiful fruity scent across the picnic area.

The bunting on Brian’s shed looks faded now but still adds cheer. The sunlight beams through the Dedge and intensifies the flat plate flower heads of the late Achillea.

The Winter Garden is beginning to come into its own with peeling bark, powdery white stems and fluffy grass seed heads.

Moving on into the site extension we find our newest insect hotel still standing after recent strong winds. As usual I have string and my Opinel garden knife in my pocket so tie it back to the fence. The bamboo looks settled in its new home at the end of the proposed Garden of Contemplation. From here we can see the mass of “keys” adorning every branch of our ancient Ash tree.

Our long shadows look out across the site.

In the second orchard the crab apples still have much fruit left on and these give bright patches of colour visible from all over the site.

The stems of the coppiced willows in the Withy Bed shine as they start to show their late winter colour. This is something we are looking forward to. We have 17 different willow here in every colour possible.

We are just beginning to prepare the ground for our new Prairie Garden which we shall make in the new year. This big patch of bare ground promises to become a riot of year round colour. We can’t wait to get started. On nearby plots we spot a patch of another green manure, Grazing Ryegrass and another lone apple on a tree.

On Ian’s plot a big pile of farmyard manure waits the time when he digs it into the soil to add nutrients, humus and structure. It won’t take him long – he is a strong chap.

Returning to the communal hut along the wide path we spot this old beer can acting as a cane top rattling away by the old sweetcorn stalks. On Mandy’s plot this little insect home will be looking after hibernating friendly critters who will emerge in the spring to eat pests such as aphids. Dave’s flags hang sadly atop their poles.

As we returned to the car we noticed the first signs of growth on our spring bulbs. The first leaves of the daffodils have just made their way through the bark mulch. A promise of golden flowers to come. Our wheelbarrows give a big splash of colour in low sunlight.

autumn autumn colours birds climbing plants colours garden photography garden wildlife gardening gardens grasses hardy perennials migration ornamental trees and shrubs poppies roses trees wildlife Winter Gardening

A Garden Bouquet for December

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date December 14, 2013
1 Comment on A Garden Bouquet for December

Already we are almost at the end of the year so here is my December bouquet from our garden,the final chapter in 2013.

It is only mid-December and while in the garden we are treated to the beautiful repetitive piping call of a Song Thrush, already making his territorial proclamation. He must have found a mighty fine territory which he is making sure no-one else can take possession of.

The skies seem full of passing flocks of Redwing and their larger noisier cousins the Fieldfare on migration, escaping their cold food-less summer homes in central Europe. Below them exploring the trees and shrubs of our garden mixed foraging flocks of finches seek out the last of the seeds and berries while amongst them groups of Titmice, Great, Blue, Long-tailed and Coal arrive in hurried flight to explore every nook and cranny of dried stems, tree bark and shrub branches for insects especially spiders.

A few delicate looking soft coloured flowers still hang on determined to be the final blooms of the year. It seems amazing but the odd big bumbling Queen Bumble Bee appears to feed on them.

Berries on shrubs and small trees add extra sparkles of colour but the resident Mistle Thrushes guard them from the migrant thrushes. They are the larder for the colder days to come. The red fruit of the Cotoneasters, Hollies and Rowans will be eaten first and most will have been devoured by the thrushes and Blackbirds before the month is out. The creamy-yellow berries of the Cotoneaster rothschildiana will stay longer being mere second choices. The last to go without fail will be the white berries of the Sorbus, so we can get to enjoy them against dark winter storm clouds before the birds eat them.

At this time of year we can enjoy the dessicated seed heads and old flower heads that have managed to survive the wet times that autumn invariably brings. This year has been so wet that we seem to have fewer still standing than ever before. But a few are putting on a display for us and when covered in a frosty layer or when donning a hat made of snow will look even better. Within them are the remnant autumn leaves as yet to be blown from their branches by blasts of wind.

Signs of next year’s growth are already in evidence like this adventurous bud found on a clematis snuggled between stem and petioles.

Patterns become important in winter as they emerge from seasons hidden away behind plants. So that is the end of my year of garden bouquets for 2013. Perhaps they will return for 2014.

Tags autumn, autumn colours, birds, clematis, dogwoods, fieldfare, foliage plants, garden photography, garden wildlife, gardening, ornamental trees, redwing, seasons, song thrush, thrushes, trees, wildlife, winter, winter gardens

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The National Memorial Arboretum Part Two

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date December 10, 2013

We return in this second post about the National Memorial Arboretum where we left off.

This was a quiet place, full of bird song and the quiet voices of the visitors deeply affected by the sense of the place.

Seats to sit upon

to sit and think

to sit and to remember

lost ones.

Share now a few images of the place to show its variety, its beauty and its sadness.

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We walked slowly up a gentle sloping path giving us a spiral route to the “Armed Services Memorial” with a solemn “wall of names”. The sculptural pieces here were astonishing, powerful and thought provoking.

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Below, the sculpted hand indicates the place where a shaft of sunlight pierces two slits in two walls. They line up on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month each year the time when the First World War ended. It is the time the nation remembers each year the members of the armed forces lost serving their country.

A massive curving wall has carved into it the names of all armed service personel who have died in service since the end of the Second Wall War. To see all these names together illustrates the futility of war so clearly. Worst of all was the huge area left blank as space for those yet to die. The United Nations should hold their meetings here and every Member of Parliament from every nation should spend some time here at the beginning of every session of their parliament. I wonder if it would make any difference?

We found smaller memorials which were more specific and sometimes outside the realms of armed conflicts.

The essential work of the Bevin Boys, the miners who kept the mines open during WW2 was celebrated in these wonderful relief carvings. Powerful just like the Bevin boys themselves.

Men who lost their lives building the railways in the Far East as prisoners of war were commemorated by a garden of many varieties of Sorbus growing around reconstructed sections of railway lines.

A few of the gardens help us remember the loss of lives of those serving the nation but not in the armed services. Here we celebrate the bravery of the men of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution. A sturdy figure carved from stone reflects the strength of character of these people as he looks over a seaside landscape.

One of the most incredible memorials was a tribute to the men of the railways.

We even found a memorial to the soldiers from our home county of Shropshire.

The Jewish Memorial was a truly beautiful piece of art as well as a moving memorial piece.

As the light faded over the memorial arboretum the trees tops began to fill with the sounds of starlings settling down to roost. To the birds this garden is a home giving them shelter, food and a place to nest.

I will leave you with a few deeply moving pictures.

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And finally a picture of the Bazra Wall to illustrate that we never learn. With all the waste of lives over the centuries it still goes on.

Tags arboretum, memorials, ornamental trees, outdoor sculpture, remembrance

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Trees to remember by – The National Memorial Arboretum – Part One

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date December 8, 2013
1 Comment on Trees to remember by – The National Memorial Arboretum – Part One

Wendy, one of our allotment friends, told us all about her visit to the National Memorial Arboretum near Lichfield and she thought we would like to visit too.

I arrived with expectations. I envisioned a collection of trees with large areas given over to formal memorials. These areas I thought would have a cold atmosphere like an empty church and I felt the whole place would possess the deep silence of a “Poppy Day” remembrance ceremony around a village war memorial.

I was so wrong.

It was an amazing place. But not a place to enjoy as such but a place with an atmosphere that you feel deeply. It was such an emotive and wonderful experience that emotions engulf you. It has a its own special atmosphere, an atmosphere that is hard to describe as the right words are impossible to find.

Close to the chapel near the entrance is a small garden with a beautiful armillary sundial at its centre, while the pillars holding up the covered entrance display a sense of homour in the carvings.

We explored the site following avenues of acers and cherries leading to small wooded areas and copses mostly of native deciduous trees. A simple arrangement of closely trimmed berberis spheres form the Garden of Innocents.

As we wander around please join us, as we appreciate the beauty of the trees and the calm of the spaces. There were signs of the recent Remembrance Day Ceremonies throughout the site, some at the base of memorials others blown into hedges and trees.

Amongst the memorials dedicated to various sections of the armed forces were other memorials or areas of celebration. The photos below are of a golden garden dedicated to couples who had celebrated their Golden Wedding Anniversaries. Trees had yellow fruit such as varieties of Malus or golden stems such as the Yellow Ash.

The next memorial was for Polish servicemen who had lost their lives fighting alongside British armed forces.

We moved on through woodlands showing autumn colouring interspersed with memorials until we came across a most disturbing area, called “Shot at Dawn”.

This area was to help us remember the men shot at dawn by their own comrades under orders from commanding officers. We were deeply moved here as the cruelty of man at war and the needless waste of young lives were clearly displayed. How could officers in the First World War believe they had the right to order soldiers to kill their fellow men? The “crime” that these young soldiers were found guilty of was “cowardice” – surely they could be forgiven for fear and for not being willing to kill. The true cowardice here lies with the officers who used their rank and “superiority” to make others kill colleagues. Each post represents a real person and each post holds a small sign. Each post a brother, a son, a father, a best friend ……………..

This was a sad place!

We left in silence and deep anger to find a way marker close by on a pathway crossing through the arboretum which acted as a reminder that we were in the National Forest.

This unusual garden was dedicated to members of the Fairground Entertainers hence the horse from a “Gallopers” fairground ride.

As we turned a corner I stopped in my tracks. We were facing a memorial with the badge I knew so well. As a child I remember seeing it on the front of my father’s army cap. My stomach felt empty and my heart skipped beats. Suddenly it seemed very close to home.

My father survived the war but its effects could be seen hanging over him, the shaking hands, the sudden bouts of anger, changing temperament, the hatred of loud noise and the dislike of time wasting.

Next was the memorial to the paratroopers, a beautiful sculpture displaying strength and bravery.

We shall continue our journey around the National Memorial Arboretum in my next post, but please share a few words we wrote as we sat quietly over coffee at lunchtime.

Peaceful place to celebrate waste

Lives wasted in war

Trees peacefully grow in lines

Celebrating soldiers’ short lives

Trees giving hope for a future

Tags arboretum, memorials, ornamental trees, remembrance, shrubs, trees, woodlands

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First Frost

Our first frost this year came late and it was a one off. The following night stayed well above freezing. Never before can I remember a season so late. First frost in late November is just unheard of. The light that arrived with the frost made everything in the garden look extra special.

Needless to say my camera called to me! Come around the garden – join me in my gallery. Just click on a photo and use the arrow to move on.

Tags autumn, autumn colours, first frost, foliage, frost, garden photography, gardening, grasses, ornamental trees, shrubs

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A Garden Bouquet for November

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date November 24, 2013
4 Comments on A Garden Bouquet for November

I began writing this post in mid-november when we should have been surrounded by the blaze of autumn colour, the hedges and trees should be on fire with the reds and oranges and the autumn migrant thrushes should be gorging on the berries in the hedgerows and gardens. At that time there was little sign of these things happening.

As we move towards the end of November things have changed greatly. We now garden to the sounds of migrant thrushes passing high over head, Redwings, Fieldfares and Mistle Thrushes and a few small flocks are settling in our berried trees. They see us as a stopping off point where they can gorge on the berries and fruits of our Crab Apples, Sorbus and Cotoneasters.

But what will they see when they drop in? Come with me and my camera for a wander.

Tags autumn, autumn colours, autumn leaves, autumn plants, birds, foliage, garden photography, garden wildlife, gardening, grasses, ornamental trees, sculpture

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Telescopes and Trees – part one

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date November 20, 2013
1 Comment on Telescopes and Trees – part one

Telescopes and trees do not normally go together but there is one very special place here in the Midlands where they certainly do. We drove northwards on the A49 making our way into Cheshire in search of Jodrell Bank famous as a space research centre created by Sir Bernard Lovell. He was a man with varied interests trees, cricket and space. Here in Cheshire he indulged in two of his passions trees and space.

We passed through part of the information centre to get to the start of the arboretum trail and we tried to read some of the information panels and studied complicated diagrams. We were instantly lost – the realms of space are not within the realms of our understanding. We both find it fascinating but it all seems way beyond our understanding. At least we tried before moving into the arboretum – trees we can appreciate and understand.

This arboretum holds two National Collections, crab apples and rowans. Malus and Sorbus to be more botanically correct. These are two of my favourite families of trees, if only they had Betulas as well! I would have been in my element!

We had read on the website before coming that the paths can get wet so sensible footwear was advisable. We wore our walking boots and we were so pleased that we had. The paths were so wet often the water was almost to the top of our boots, but it didn’t spoil our enjoyment of a wonderful collection of trees set amidst a natural woodland setting.

A collection of deciduous Euonymus welcomed us as we passed through the wooden gate, their wild coloured berries and bright autumnal leaves were a treat for the eyes.

We wandered through woodland towards a fairly recently created garden designed by Chris Beardshaw. Before entering his garden we found a little collection of Berberis clothed in their waxy red berries which hung in long racemes.

Chris Beardshaw’s garden was designed to reflect the creation of space itself and was a strong design based on spirals and circles with a gentle mound at the centre affording us the opportunity of appreciating these shapes from above. The main planting was willows, grasses and perennials.

Soon after a circular walk around this garden of circles and spirals we discovered the first of the Crab Apples and they were laden with fruit, their miniature apples in sizes varying from tiny beads up to golf ball size.

This golden fruited variety in the two photos below are “Comtesse de Paris” and the red fruited variety below them with fruit reminiscent of the haws of our native Hawthorn is “Mary Petter”. Close by the stump of a felled old tree had been carved into a proud looking eagle. Upon the eagle we spotted a ladybird sunning itself perhaps finding extra warmth on the wood of the stump. Better camouflaged was the Shield Bug we found just inches away.

Malus “Indian Summer” was one of the newly planted specimens probably a cultivar newly developed although some of the old original crab trees were now being replaced as they died off.

But there was much more to this part of the arboretum than the wonderful crab apples, and we discovered interesting trees at every turn in the path and around every clearing, birches, walnuts, whitebeam and maples. In this area of the garden migrant thrushes were busy feeding up after their long journeys. All these crab apples, sorbus and other fruiting trees and nut bearing trees provide a wonderfully rich restaurant for them.

Two trees caught our attention but we didn’t particularly like either of them and they both seemed so out of place in this natural feeling woodland. They were more “novelty features” than attractive trees. First photo is of a strange weeping conifer and the second a columnar Whitebeam.

I shall finish part one of our visit to Jodrell Bank Arboretum with a photo of a lovely golden crab apple with blushed cheeks. My next post will be part two when we shall be on the look out for the second featured group of trees, the Rowans or Sorbus.

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Tags apples, autumn, autumn colours, birds, dogwoods, garden wildlife, gardening, ornamental trees, thrushes, wildlife, winter migrants

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A Garden Bouquet for October

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date October 25, 2013
7 Comments on A Garden Bouquet for October

October this year is a very confused month, with some plants thinking it is already well into autumn and others believing they are still in mid-summer. And some, judging by the number of berries dripping from the trees must be getting ready to feed the winter migrant birds. Come with me for a wander and you will see what I mean.

In the Freda Garden opposite the front door this beautiful Crocosmia with its flowers in orange with an unusual hint of pink continues to flower profusely. By the front door the pots are filling up with bright orange violas giving a cheerful welcome to visitors.

The leaves of the yellow winter flowering Ribes are turning all shades of pink and red while beneath it the perennial wallflower, Bowles Mauve, continues to flower even though it has barely had a rest all year. The lovely yellow Crocosmia sits comfortably alongside the Cotoneaster which is already heavy with berries.

In pots alongside the wood store sit these two Michaelmas Daisies which we bought from the Picton Garden recently and they still sit in pots waiting for us to find a spot for them. On the left is the variety “Coombe Fishacre” and on the right the species “elegans”.

Down the drive the berries of Cotoneasters and Rowan await the arrival of the winter thrushes but we will enjoy their rich red colouring while we can. Opposite them this beautiful blue Aster looks extra blue with the golden hues of the little grasses alongside.

In the Chatto Garden, which looks good every day of the year, the whispy strands of the Stipa tenuissima move in the slightest of breezes behind the rigid dried heads of Bherkeya and the mauve flowers of Verbena bonariensis

Glaucous leaves of this Euphorbia afford a good background for the seed heads of Amaryllis. Close by another Euphorbia, griffithii “Dixter”, dies to a bright pink in stem and leaf.

The sword-like Iris leaves are similarly glaucous and they enrich the deepest pink of Huskers Red Pentstemon. A beautiful combination!

The white stems of Betula utilis jacqemontii “Silver Queen” glow against the evergreen background afforded by the Red Robin. In the same bed two varieties of deciduous Euonymus are changing into reds and pinks and busy white bell shaped flowers of Arbutus, the Strawberry Tree hang in full bunches. We have never seen so many flowers on our Arbutus before so we are anticipating a profusion of “strawberries” later on.

On the grass giant fungi sit like plates, dining plates for the slugs that feast on them.

Autumn colour is particularly well advanced on the Cercis “Forest Pansy”, Stransvesia and Amelanchier. The strange pink flowers of Lobelia tupa appear in a different place each year as they migrate around the Hot Border.

Moving into the back garden via the shade border we find the contrasting leaf shapes of Inula and ferns.

Arriving in the Rill Garden we can appreciate how the remnant flowers of the Pelargoniums match the berries strung out along the stems of the Cotoneaster.

These Ornithogalum are a new plant for us this year – we are so glad we grew them. It seems an awful long time ago we planted the bulbs in their big terracotta pots. In the border behind them the leaves of the Witch Hazel are colouring up nicely in patterns, the Hypericum berries are now shiny black and the Echinops flowers sit stiffly on rigid stems like silvery blue spheres.

Looking down the central path of the back garden the glowing red fruit of Apple Scrumptious still decorate the arch over the path.

I shall feature a few special favourites and then create a gallery for you to enjoy to illustrate what else is going on in the back garden. Schistostylus are a real late autumn flower but can flower at any time, some responding to the first frosts before they show. We have just bought this pale pink one but have enjoyed the red one for years now.

How about this for a Salvia – you can’t get blue much richer or deeper than this! The Persicaria is P. aucuparia Firetail which produces its poker-like flowers for months through the summer and autumn. Some of the flower heads at the moment are a good 3 inches long and an inch wide.

These two umbrella shaped flower heads are very different in habit. The glowing pink Sedum sits low to the ground on floppy glaucous stems while the Vernonia stands proud aloft tall 4 foot rigid stems.

An archway leading to the pool and Japanese Garden is covered in the red leaves of Vitis purpurea and alongside the pool is this willow. The stems of the Violet Willow are covered in a white bloom from now through to the spring when the winter rains return them to deep violet-black.

Now enjoy a wander around the back garden to see what October has in store for us to appreciate.

Tags apples, autumn, autumn colours, autumn gardens, foliage, fruit and veg, garden photography, gardening, ornamental trees

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A Sculpted Landscape – Boughton House

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date September 11, 2013
2 Comments on A Sculpted Landscape – Boughton House

We were planning our journey to the North Norfolk coast to visit a couple of RSPB nature reserves and were seeking somewhere to visit on the way. We came across Boughton House marked on our map so googled it to find our more. We were so glad we did! The buildings were of a beautiful simple architectural style with French influences. Even the stable blocks impressed. Soft gentle lines and delicate grey-brown coloured stone.

We discovered that the grounds around the house were sculpted in the C18 in an unusual manner and recently more landforms were added by Kim Wilkie, a modern landscape architect and one of our favourites.

But to get to the grounds we passed through a courtyard of cobbles and gravel which featured some subtle planting combinations in containers. The strange alien-like fruits belong to the grey leaved plant, which was completely unknown to us.

Off into the parkland and we came across long avenues of lime trees and huge canal features, constructed way back in the C18. These original features were supposed to have been inspired by Versailles.

Of course the problem with all these sloping areas of grass is mowing them. When originally conceived the landowners would not have required their grass to be cut as short as modern gardeners want. So their scythes were perfectly up to the job. The gardeners at Boughton today use ingenious remote-controlled mowers with caterpillar tracks instead of wheels to give extra grip on the steep gradients.

As we reached the far end of these long canals we passed a larger lake and gained views of the house at the far end of a vast expanse of lawn.

The modern landforms fitted so well into the original landscapes that it was hard to see identify where one finished and another started.

This stimulating piece of land art was based on the structure of the spiral in nature such as the framework that gives sea shells their strength. It gave us a feeling of satisfaction as it seemed so settled into the landscape and invited exploration.

Sitting together nearby were “The Mount” and “Orpheus”, two landforms that matched, were based on the same pyramidal shape, juxtaposed perfectly but were conceived and constructed 3 centuries apart.

Kim Wilkie’s “Orpheus” is a hole in the ground which mirrors “The Mount” in both shape and dimensions.

Although it was along way down to the bottom of Orpheus the path that led you there was very gentle and seemed almost level. Without effort we easily found ourselves at the bottom looking into the black water of the square pool.

To understand the scale of the landform, see if you can spot Jude, The Undergardener in the two photos below. Clue – she has a blue-grey jumper on.

Next we climbed “The Mount” which was the exact opposite experience. It afforded us a different perspective on the landscape through which we had walked.

Boughton though had more to offer. After a quick coffee break, with cake as well of course, we explored the more intimate gardens closer to the house. But that is another story for my next posting.