OPEN GARDEN DAY 21ST JUNE

Well the day for the open gardens arrived, above you can see the tickets that were sold on the day.
The weather was lovely dry and sunny but not too hot and we were very lucky in that we had one of those days where everything fell into place! The flowers were open , the garden was tidy and presentable.

We had been visited by the committee members the night before and given our number for the gate, the two ladies had asked for a tour as they would be working on the refreshments on the day, so would not get to see anything. We were more than happy to show them round and they were very complimentary about the garden.

So on the day we shut the house up, for security and taking a book and a magazine we sat at the patio table to wait and see if anyone would actually come to visit, we expected it would be a few people here and there with long gaps and waiting.

The garden was enter from the side gate under the carport. So this is the view on entering.

Stepping into the garden you can see the tool shed to the left, the gazebo straight ahead and just make out the pond on the right at the top.

Turning to the right you enter the patio area with brick outhouse covered with roses and clematis beyond the garden furniture.

Turning to the left you are now looking at the rose arch with the raised pond in the foreground.

The rose arch with the statue of Venus in the distance.

Looking towards the gazebo from the rose arch.

The path towards the Flower garden with a view of the flower borders on the left in what we call the first garden or house garden.

Looking back in the first garden towards the rose arch you can see a raised bed made from the broken slabs we found in the wilderness at the end .

Swinging round to the other side you can now see that we have given the gazebo a roof. Inside are shelves with my Auricula's and a patio table and chairs for people to shelter from the sun.

Next is the view from the gateway to the flower garden and the Cloisters beyond.

A view of one side of the flower garden , a padded seat cushion ready for a weary garden visitor or two!

The opposite corner of the flower garden towards the cloisters showing the roses and flowers in bloom.

Another corner of the flower garden by this time we had rounded the corners to deepen the beds to allow us to add more flowers.Here you can see that the honeysuckle in the corner and roses are hiding the trellis.

Then we turn back to the Cloisters with roses both sides and a wisteria on the right. We had added a screening of trellis to the top of this area to give dappled shade on hot sunny days.

Looking back into the flower garden from the Cloisters and beyond through the gate towards the house.

Another view of the Cloisters showing all the lavender and stone planters and gargoyles.

And then turning into the Formal garden no longer a parterre because we have planted roses between the box hedging and a standard rose in the centre.A bench awaits a tired gardener who may wish to rest and enjoy the garden. You can see how full the lavender is now making the pathway appear much smaller than when first made.

A last view from the Lych Gate before we turn and enter what had the year before been a wilderness and was now the raised garden.

So we enter the Lych Gate and then the raised garden beyond.

From the Lych Gate you can see how the garden flowers have come on in just a few short weeks , helping to fill the space with colour and scent.

Walking along you can just about see the corner of the shed by the back gate.

The fruit and veg plot with a net over the cherry tree to stop the birds getting the cherries first, there are also strawberry plants at the bottom of the tree. The veg all starting to grow along with the Tomato's.

Then along the path to the shaded seating area where two comfy seats allowed people to rest in the shade.Unfortunately the neighbour's had still not replaced the fencing but in the end we resolved this ourselves at a later date.

Then from the very back of the garden in the shaded seating area looking back towards the Lych Gate showing that in time the planting should grow to obscure the area so that it is a place you come across by chance having followed the path to it's end.

Well we did not have long to wait for our first visitor a man and his garden designer daughter who had been sent to our garden by the ladies who had visited the night before and soon we had a steady stream of people wandering the garden, sitting and enjoying the flowers . asking what a certain flower was? how long had we been living here? How did we come up with the design? Did Paul make Lych Gates to order? At one point there must have been over sixty people or more from one end of the garden to the other. It was a very tiring but very enjoyable day, in all over 400 people bought tickets and over £6000 was raised for the church. We even had a local lady from the manor ask us if we were in the National Garden scheme! We said No, she said why not!!

Looking back at these photo's for this post, the garden looks so fresh and ordered. Now around 5 to 6 years later the garden has changed in places but the 'bones' of the garden still stand.
The garden is ever evolving as we come up with another idea that we would like to try or some thing has not worked so needs to be re thought.

We hope you have enjoyed this post and will join us for the next for there is always something happening here!!

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