Kate and her family first moved
here ten years ago and quite naturally, having helped to care
for the garden at their old home, their friends at Garden
Affairs came too. Together they have created a
delightful garden.
When they started, the land was a
green field but now it is a well established garden and yet it continues to
change and evolve in some areas as all gardens do.
Please browse the three slide
shows on this page and enjoy a virtual visit to Kate's garden.
The photos were taken on a fairly dull day in June 2007 but we
hope you can see what can be achieved in any garden, be it large or
small.
Kate's garden, at first glance not seeming too large, it can take some time to
fully appreciate its size!
This is a large garden
and there are a variety of other gardens to be found within it.
At the front of the house is an
enclosed courtyard with Hydrangea, Wisteria, Roses and Clematis
all clambering over the walls and around the doors and windows.
When discreetly illuminated at night, it's quite spectacular!
At the back of the house, roses
also
climb the walls and a patio is bordered by a haze of cat mint.
Several planters, are gathered around the back door and are
filled with
daisies and other annuals, all in full bloom in front of an
almost conventional lawn.
This lawn is bounded by herbaceous borders and a rose covered arbor but an
opening in the yew hedge, opposite the house, tempts further investigation.
Through this gap is found so
much more! As you walk through Laburnum arches
leading to more lawns and herbaceous borders with shrubs of
Weigela, Roses and Lilac trees shared with Lupins, Aquilegia and
Iris.
A swinging garden bench is
parked to overlook the tennis court and a formal walk is lined with
the evergreen Elæagnus Ebbingei, standard mop trees, each one encircled by
neatly clipped box hedging.
At the end of the walk some
steps lead down to another surprise - the lake!
This large lake, is home to wild ducks
and moorhens and edged with water loving bog plants, the
beautiful blue Iris, reminiscent of a Monet painting.
A curving hedge of yellow Potentilla invites you to wander beside it and return
toward the house
by a different route, only to discover a lovely Lime tree
walk.
Wherever you look there is
something new and surprising to catch the eye.
Some almost secret
passages lie behind hedges and lead to a seat circling the old oak
tree.
There's a tree house nearby and
then
the parterre dsigned herb garden and the greenhouse.
Everything flows together
gently, there's nothing abrupt as the vistas change and perhaps
most importantly the garden is obviously 'lived in' and enjoyed
by everyone, including children. Which is surely as it should be
and not surprising as the Save
the Children charity is as close to Kate's heart as is her
garden!
