Tour of the Garden

Below is a plan of the garden, with descriptions of key areas:

  1. GAZEBO WALK You enter the walled garden via the acorn gates. Walk up the wide grass path to the gazebo with herbaceous borders and scented climbers on either side.
  2. HERB GARDEN This is well labelled with two areas- culinary and medicinal. Smaller areas are given to teas and tisanes and the cloth industry. We are not however herbalists and only grow the plants to see. The extensive collection of hardy geraniums surrounds this area.
  3. VEGETABLE GARDEN A wide range of family favourite organic vegetables is grown here in beautiful rich soil. There is a fruit cage and a productive orchard- home to our pigs Rosie and Mabel. The Victorian greenhouse and more modern poly tunnel are fully used.
  4. KNOT GARDEN This is an area of peace in amongst the riot of the rest of the garden. Only 4 beautiful and prolific Quince trees interrupt the knot. Surrounded by a trellis of old-fashioned roses and smaller gems and leading through the laburnum arch to the scented garden.
  5. MAIN BORDERS The central yellow borders fan out either way to our most mature borders full of herbaceous clumps and backed by rampant climbers and roses. A gravel path edged by lavender and hyssop lead you through here.
  6. PATH BEDS These take you down the sweeping lawns from the walled garden to the front gardens. You walk under rose covered arches, past the rockery to the iris beds.
  7. SHRUBBERIES These form a backdrop to the garden. They are varied in shape and colour and contain a huge variety of families.
  8. AVENUE BEDS This is an extensive double-sided series of borders along a wide grass walk. They are backed by a prunus hedge and lead down to the water garden area that still looks rather wild! Beyond this area we have planted a selection of new trees in a small arboretum.
  9. WILD FLOWER BANK This is being allowed to develop on its own with only a small intervention by us. We restrict grazing and cut twice a year. So far we have been rewarded with clovers and vetches mixing with naturalised bulbs and a sea of blue cranesbill. A mown path allows you to wander through and enjoy the butterflies and bees that thrive here.
  10. WOODLANDS These are predominantly beech woods with swathes of wild flowers. Snowdrops, aconites, wood anemonies and carpets of bluebells. We have some rare and exciting trees and even a tree list to help you.