GALLERY: Gardens galore
As the open gardens season hots up, we whet your appetite with a selection of mouth-watering gems to visit during these beautiful early summer weeks in June.
Romance in Slindon
As she prepares to open her garden for the first time, Sue Foley is abuzz with anticipation - and a few jitters.
She needn't have, though, as her lovely, romantic plot surrounding her 17th century flint cottage in the National Trust village of Slindon, is a vision in purples, blues and whites.
"I am terrified, " she laughs, picking bindweed out of the clouds of napeta, gently swaying in the warm breeze, which frame steps onto her walled garden at the back of the house.
This lawned area with its traditionally-wide borders around the wall, packed with delphiniums, aliums, lavender and salvias, with old-fashioned roses trailing above, is just one area of the three quarters of an acre Sue has been lovingly tending for 13 years.
There is also a cornflower-festooned cottagey front garden, a gently sloping vegetable garden with slightly raised beds brimming with soft fruit and summer salad leaves, and a swimming pool area softened with pots upon pots of lavender. The purples and blues flow throughout.
"It is a romantic colour scheme with nothing jarring. The colours stay, although it does get more dramatic as the summer goes on," she says.
The Well House, School Hill, Slindon, opening for National Gardens Scheme (NSG), June 18 and 21, 2-5pm.
Combined admission, 4 (child free) with another Slindon garden, Court Cottage (fine lawns, outstanding views, 'hot' and 'cool' island borders). Teas at Well House. Both gardens new to NSG this year.
Tranquility on the downs
One of the highlights of Sue Wright's peaceful three acres is the panoramic view of the south downs which is breath-taking.
The rolling hills and layers of green on the horizon provide a stunning backdrop to a garden which takes in a woodland carpet of wild orchids, romantic arbours, a lily pond, colour-themed herbacious borders, a kitchen garden, and a huge pleached hornbeam which has become an attraction for visitors.
Sue has been opening her garden for the National Gardens Scheme for five years, and knows the importance of blending it with the wider landscape.
"I love tranquility. I think a garden needs to be natural looking. You can formal bits, but it has to flow with the landscape," she says.
And features, such as old English pear trees growing on a lovely old wall, and a well-placed stone urn, as well as unusual copper structures in the rose-covered walkway, seem very much at one.
Nyewood House, Nyewood, nr Rogate. Opening for NGS, June 13 and 14, 2-6pm, 3 (child free). Visitors also welcome by appointment April to July. 01730 821563.
Other NGS openings...
Rymans
Drink in the heady scent of hybrid musk roses in the walled garden at this picturesque 15th century stone house.
Many unusual and rare trees and scrubs feature in the walled and other gardens. Open June 13 and 14, 2-5pm, 4 (child free), home-made teas. Rymans, Apuldram, Chichester.
Little Hill
See a sunken rose garden, waterfall and rose and grape arbour in these four acres of formal gardens.
Evening opening, June 11, 5-7pm, wine, and afternoon opening, June 14, 2-5pm, teas., 3 (child free).
Little Hill, Hill Farm Lane, Codmore Hill, Pulborough.
Rooms in Westbourne
A lovely labyrinth of corridors and rooms makes George and Avril Hardie's Westbourne garden full of surprises.
And this is the idea behind the delightful maze that leads from a pebble 'room' or a green 'room' to a herb 'room' or a vegetable 'room'.
"It is something that a lot of gardeners talk about - coming around the corner and a new vista opening up," he says.
George, who is the garden's designer to his wife Avril's plantswoman, is also very keen on 'things lining up', so there are box hedges and borders aplenty lending a line or two, with features such as urns at the end of garden corridors.
The effect is intriguing and wonderful - somehow combining the traditions of, say, a knot garden, with contemporary and creative touches - and although George does appreciate sweeping views in a garden, this is much more him.
Wooden gazeboes and a beach hut, which he made himself, lovely benches, coloured walls, a bright chair or two, all catch the eye too.
George and Avril's garden is opening for Westbourne Open Gardens 2009, which attracts hundreds of visitors to the community.
"It is quite something. It transforms the village," says George.
Eighteen gardens - from the formal walled garden to the traditional cottage garden - are opening on Sunday, June 14, with all the proceeds to Westbourne Primary School and the Parish Hall development fund.
The school will be one of the gardens open on the day, where coffees and teas will be available, as well as the chance to buy plants the children have grown themselves.
There will also be a plant and produce sale and a raffle with prizes including a wooden garden seat.
Westbourne Open Gardens, June 14, 10.30am to 5pm. Entrance 6 adults, children under 14 free. George and Avril's garden is at Cooper's Cottage, White Chimney Row, Westbourne.
Tickets can be bought in advance from Candu Computers, Westbourne, or on the day in the village square and at a selection of the gardens. Visit www.westbournevillage.org.
Creativity in Kirdford
This village community has really pulled out all the stops for its Open Gardens and Art Trail this weekend.
From the petite to the panoramic, the fourteen gardens open on June 13 and 14 appeal to all tastes.
There are the small but perfectly formed bijoux plots, the very traditional vegetable and flower gardens, mature and modern gardens, and the sweeping spaces of two farm gardens.
An art trail is running alongside too, with nine artists featured. Their works range from huge abstract sculptures to traditional works on paper and canvas.
This is a fund-raising event for the village recreation ground which is used by the cricketers, footballers and stoolballers, with the open space behind the 9th century church also enjoyed by residents.
A percentage of proceeds - with coffees, teas, light lunches and cakes available on the recreation ground - is also going to Chestnut Tree House, a Sussex-based hospice for children with life-limited illnesses.
Kirdford Open Gardnes and Art Trail, Kirdford, June 13 and 14, 12noon to 6pm, 5 a day or 7 both days.
Artists featured are Gill Lawson (sculptor), Stuart Slade (sculptor), Kirdford Art Group, Annette Olney (pastel on paper), Anna Knights (botanical paintings), Hakan Erkam (eco-sculptor), Kirdford and Plaistow School, The Weald School.
For more details about open gardens around the county visit www.ngs.org.uk.
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Sunday 27 May 2012
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