I’m often asked for advice on visiting gardens in the UK.
And the first thing I say is ‘look up the National Garden Scheme.‘
The National Garden Scheme opens gardens around England and Wales to raise money for a range of charities. While grander gardens often open for a special NGS day, the main strength of the scheme is that it encourages beautiful small and middle-sized gardens to open.
This makes it the perfect opportunity to pick up inspiration for your own garden.
And in the last few years, the NGS been expanding its ‘group openings.’ These are collections of private gardens in a district, town or village. For a visitor, they offer a unique insight into how people garden. Most open for just one day a year, but it’s worth checking to see if there is an NGS garden or group of gardens within travelling range on any summer weekend.
NGS group openings vary from around five gardens up to 25 or so, usually all quite close together. So I visited the picturesque village of Stanton in Gloucestershire at the time of its NGS village open day. And I picked out ideas you could borrow for your own garden.
As it’s in the Cotswolds, it’s hilly and all of the gardens had some element of a slope, which they dealt with in different ways.
Disclosure: I’ve had no contact with the National Garden Scheme itself while compiling this post, so this is not sponsored. I’m frequently asked for recommendations for gardens to visit, so I thought a post and video would be helpful.
Elaine and Kevin’s long, thin sloping garden
This is the smallest of the five and is beautifully designed and maintained.
It just shows that you don’t need a big garden to achieve impact.
There is a downward slope away from the house. They have a terrace immediately outside the house, with an arch that leads to a central path. The path leads down to the bottom of the garden where there is another terrace with a pond, a fountain and a bench.
This, too, is framed by an arch.
Liz Philpott’s garden – a clever use of colour for a larger garden
Liz Philpott’s house is off the main high street, but the garden behind it is large and slopes uphill to the open countryside. Apart from terraces immediately outside the house, Jenny has generally gardened with the slope. She’s made the most impact in a large garden by using big blocks of planting colour, which flower at different times.
Jackie Jones-Parry’s garden – look at the trees when visiting gardens!
Jackie Jones-Parry’s house was the farmhouse of a local farm and still has the old farm pond behind it. Where cattle and horses would once have drunk, there are now elegant weeping willows which help soak up excess water.
Jackie’s garden is a wonderful lesson in making the most of your trees.
We are often reminded to think about foliage when planning our borders, but what about your trees? There is some magnificent foliage in Jackie’s garden. There is a copper beech, smartly pruned into a dome. That contrasts with the lively green and long thin branches of the weeping willow.
Choosing the right trees is a key part of making a garden. You need to think about what height they will grow and what their role is in the garden. (There’s a post here on choosing trees for smaller gardens.)
If you already have a tree or trees, it is really worth thinking about whether you can prune or shape them rather than getting rid of them. A mature tree adds depth and character to a garden. It’s hugely valuable to wildlife and helps clear air pollution. And although you can buy mature trees, they are very expensive and you have to make sure you look after them carefully while they get established.
Once you have your trees, then invest in maintaining their shape and health. Jackie’s trees are superbly pruned and maintained, and this is a big part of their success. If you just hack a tree back because, say, a branch is in the way or you want it to be smaller, you could stimulate growth and ultimately achieve exactly the opposite effect. Qualified tree surgeons are a big investment but you will only need them every three to five years. Find out the difference between a tree surgeon, an arborist and a man with a chain saw here. And here’s what you need to know before you book the tree surgeon.
Jenny’s garden – a contrast of formal and relaxed
Jenny’s garden was originally designed by their predecessors in the house and she has been adapting it slowly to her own style. It has a formal parterre close to the house and Jenny has added a contrasting wildlife friendly area tucked around the corner.
Jacqui Tucker’s garden – a mix of structure and wild elements
Jacqui Tucker’s garden is a beautiful mix of structured formality, good planting and relaxed wildness. Self-seeded flowers pop up amongst the mown lawns and well pruned trees.
Once again, garden visitors should pause to admire the trees. Jacqui has a large ancient Tulip Tree on her lawn. Some people might have wanted to clear it away and have a completely open lawn, but the garden would have lost some of its character if it had been chopped down. It frames both the house and garden beautifully. When it flowers, the Tulip Tree is stunning.
An old tree gives your garden a sense of texture and permanence. In a city, it’s common to rip out a house and garden and replace it with the latest fashion.
In the countryside, the pace of change is slower. Of course, you can accommodate a big old tree in more easily in a larger garden, but it still may not be exactly where you would have put it.
But an old tree is especially important for wildlife and no amount of money can replace the look of a mature tree.
See round the Stanton village gardens in video
You can see more of these gardens in this video.
Pin to remember visiting gardens with the NGS
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