THE GLORY OF THE GARDEN
‘May brings flocks of pretty lambs,
Skipping by their fleecy dams.’
(Sara Coleridge, 1802-52)
Cast your mind back a few weeks to the end of March. With a little imagination, we could have been in the middle of summer. Wall-to-wall sunshine blessed our daily rising.
Wednesday the 28th of March was no exception. It was an ideal day to be in the garden, but not necessarily your own. Part of being a gardener is getting pleasure, and learning from, other gardens and gardeners. Visiting other gardens and speaking to other gardeners can give you a real lift. Gardens aren’t just for slaving over; they are for enjoyment.
These large or small patches of land are our paradise on earth. There is some conjecture among the experts as to the exact etymology of the word paradise, (Hebrew par·des′, Persian pairidaeza, and Greek pa·ra′dei·sos,) but essentially they all mean the same thing, a beautiful park or garden.
At 11.00 o’clock, Evelyn and I arrived at the Downes Gardens (situated between Bideford and Torrington) for an interesting day out, courtesy of Richard and Heather Stanley-Baker. We were to enjoy a garden tour, spring garden lunch, and a lecture by the Head Gardener, Nigel Alford.
We began the tour at the front of the house and followed a meandering path into the depths of the garden. Almost immediately, hidden away on the left behind some trees, we discovered two tiny gravestones. They are in memory of Dugald, Serig, and William, family pets lovingly buried in the 1920s and 30s.
A little further down stands the summerhouse (see photo.) It is an interesting copy of the summerhouse at Killerton House, near Exeter, which was once the home of the Acklands. Whereas the Acklands kept a bear in their summerhouse, the Stanley-Bakers aren’t so audacious; they sensibly only serve teas in theirs.
The new Head Gardener, Nigel, has performed some heroic tasks since he came to The Downes. One of the major jobs he undertook was to save the summerhouse from destruction. Brambles had encroached from the garden perimeter to become a menace, having sucked the building into its evil embrace, like an octopus on a mollusc. Over the last six months, he and his team of assistants have removed the four-metre high brambles and cut back five metres to re-discover the boundary fence. Spring lambs, can once again be seen in the adjacent fields.
At the bottom of the garden, nestling under an old Ilex aquafolium ‘Silver Milkmaid,’ stands a memorial stone made of slate selected from the neighbouring, Beam Quarry. It is dedicated to Charles and Helen Stanley-Baker and commemorates the extensive thought they put into the gardens by way of design and planting, for over thirty-five years.
In the spring, there is opportunity to see a magnificent forty-year-old magnolia that glows against a dark green canopy.
Coming up through the gardens, the visitor passes through ‘Silver Birch Alley,’ a lovely stand of Betula pendula. Every year, Helen Stanley-Baker scrupulously scrubbed their barks until they shone silvery white.
From the elevated level of the immaculately manicured tennis/croquet, lawns there are magnificent views across the Torridge valley. For over 60 years, ‘Sandy,’ Richard’s adventurous tortoise, would join the family on these lawns for summer teas, tucking into raspberries and tomatoes.
The Walled Kitchen Garden has plants for sale. For the lovers of sylvan things there is yet more to see. A short walk from the Kitchen Garden takes you to the Upper Arboretum. A little way down the drive there is the delight of the Woodland Walk. If you like bluebells, the woodland walk is the place to see.
Judi Smith of Dunsford (www.judismithcaterer.co.uk) provided a wonderfully delicious garden buffet lunch on the south facing Sundial Lawn (see photos.) If you are contemplating a function, I thoroughly recommend her services.
In the afternoon, Nigel Alford, the Head Gardener, treated us to a garden lecture. Nigel’s place in the gardening world is well known. He won the Young Horticulturalist of the Year Award three times, and owns Hole Farm Gardens (which he opens to the public.) Until recently, Nigel was Head Gardener at Clovelly Court, and now been promoted to Head Gardener at Hartland Abbey, and Downes House. The core of the lecture followed these four gardens through the four seasons.
Nigel took all the pictures, and he captured some lovely spontaneous shots because he always carries his camera with him. Let’s face it, in these days of small, lightweight cameras, there’s no excuse for any of us to miss that perfect shot. In addition, if we follow the regular advice of fellow columnist, Graham Hobbs, we can expect to improve even more.
Nigel will be giving the second of his seasonal garden lectures at The Downes on Sunday the 30th of September. There will the garden tour, lunch, Nigel’s lecture, a gardener’s question time session, and to finish off, afternoon tea. The inclusive cost for the whole day is just £25.00. I recommend early booking because numbers are limited. To find out more you can email Richard and Heather at [email protected] or visit their beautiful website at www.downes-gardens.co.uk
This is a garden that changes with the seasons so there will always be something new and interesting to discover. Just what a garden ought to be.
Meanwhile, if you would like to visit my garden, Cherry Trees (EX39 4BW) will be open on Bank Holiday Monday, the 4th of June from 2 – 5 pm. You can find us in the N.G.S. ‘Yellow Book.’ Most sub-post offices and newsagents will have free copies for you to enjoy. Alternatively, why not visit the N.G.S. website at www.ngs.org.uk
You can contact me on [email protected]
You can visit my website at cherrytrees.weebly.com
Until we meet again next month, happy gardening!
‘May brings flocks of pretty lambs,
Skipping by their fleecy dams.’
(Sara Coleridge, 1802-52)
Cast your mind back a few weeks to the end of March. With a little imagination, we could have been in the middle of summer. Wall-to-wall sunshine blessed our daily rising.
Wednesday the 28th of March was no exception. It was an ideal day to be in the garden, but not necessarily your own. Part of being a gardener is getting pleasure, and learning from, other gardens and gardeners. Visiting other gardens and speaking to other gardeners can give you a real lift. Gardens aren’t just for slaving over; they are for enjoyment.
These large or small patches of land are our paradise on earth. There is some conjecture among the experts as to the exact etymology of the word paradise, (Hebrew par·des′, Persian pairidaeza, and Greek pa·ra′dei·sos,) but essentially they all mean the same thing, a beautiful park or garden.
At 11.00 o’clock, Evelyn and I arrived at the Downes Gardens (situated between Bideford and Torrington) for an interesting day out, courtesy of Richard and Heather Stanley-Baker. We were to enjoy a garden tour, spring garden lunch, and a lecture by the Head Gardener, Nigel Alford.
We began the tour at the front of the house and followed a meandering path into the depths of the garden. Almost immediately, hidden away on the left behind some trees, we discovered two tiny gravestones. They are in memory of Dugald, Serig, and William, family pets lovingly buried in the 1920s and 30s.
A little further down stands the summerhouse (see photo.) It is an interesting copy of the summerhouse at Killerton House, near Exeter, which was once the home of the Acklands. Whereas the Acklands kept a bear in their summerhouse, the Stanley-Bakers aren’t so audacious; they sensibly only serve teas in theirs.
The new Head Gardener, Nigel, has performed some heroic tasks since he came to The Downes. One of the major jobs he undertook was to save the summerhouse from destruction. Brambles had encroached from the garden perimeter to become a menace, having sucked the building into its evil embrace, like an octopus on a mollusc. Over the last six months, he and his team of assistants have removed the four-metre high brambles and cut back five metres to re-discover the boundary fence. Spring lambs, can once again be seen in the adjacent fields.
At the bottom of the garden, nestling under an old Ilex aquafolium ‘Silver Milkmaid,’ stands a memorial stone made of slate selected from the neighbouring, Beam Quarry. It is dedicated to Charles and Helen Stanley-Baker and commemorates the extensive thought they put into the gardens by way of design and planting, for over thirty-five years.
In the spring, there is opportunity to see a magnificent forty-year-old magnolia that glows against a dark green canopy.
Coming up through the gardens, the visitor passes through ‘Silver Birch Alley,’ a lovely stand of Betula pendula. Every year, Helen Stanley-Baker scrupulously scrubbed their barks until they shone silvery white.
From the elevated level of the immaculately manicured tennis/croquet, lawns there are magnificent views across the Torridge valley. For over 60 years, ‘Sandy,’ Richard’s adventurous tortoise, would join the family on these lawns for summer teas, tucking into raspberries and tomatoes.
The Walled Kitchen Garden has plants for sale. For the lovers of sylvan things there is yet more to see. A short walk from the Kitchen Garden takes you to the Upper Arboretum. A little way down the drive there is the delight of the Woodland Walk. If you like bluebells, the woodland walk is the place to see.
Judi Smith of Dunsford (www.judismithcaterer.co.uk) provided a wonderfully delicious garden buffet lunch on the south facing Sundial Lawn (see photos.) If you are contemplating a function, I thoroughly recommend her services.
In the afternoon, Nigel Alford, the Head Gardener, treated us to a garden lecture. Nigel’s place in the gardening world is well known. He won the Young Horticulturalist of the Year Award three times, and owns Hole Farm Gardens (which he opens to the public.) Until recently, Nigel was Head Gardener at Clovelly Court, and now been promoted to Head Gardener at Hartland Abbey, and Downes House. The core of the lecture followed these four gardens through the four seasons.
Nigel took all the pictures, and he captured some lovely spontaneous shots because he always carries his camera with him. Let’s face it, in these days of small, lightweight cameras, there’s no excuse for any of us to miss that perfect shot. In addition, if we follow the regular advice of fellow columnist, Graham Hobbs, we can expect to improve even more.
Nigel will be giving the second of his seasonal garden lectures at The Downes on Sunday the 30th of September. There will the garden tour, lunch, Nigel’s lecture, a gardener’s question time session, and to finish off, afternoon tea. The inclusive cost for the whole day is just £25.00. I recommend early booking because numbers are limited. To find out more you can email Richard and Heather at [email protected] or visit their beautiful website at www.downes-gardens.co.uk
This is a garden that changes with the seasons so there will always be something new and interesting to discover. Just what a garden ought to be.
Meanwhile, if you would like to visit my garden, Cherry Trees (EX39 4BW) will be open on Bank Holiday Monday, the 4th of June from 2 – 5 pm. You can find us in the N.G.S. ‘Yellow Book.’ Most sub-post offices and newsagents will have free copies for you to enjoy. Alternatively, why not visit the N.G.S. website at www.ngs.org.uk
You can contact me on [email protected]
You can visit my website at cherrytrees.weebly.com
Until we meet again next month, happy gardening!