The garden now.....................

Very little of the original layout remains. An avenue of pleached Whitebeam (Sorbus aria Lutescens) runs the length of the south west side of the garden. Under planted with snowdrops, wild daffodils (pseudonarcissus) and, more recently, tulip witallii, the avenue with its silvery green leaves is a bewitching sight in spring. Don't be fooled though, it is a nightmare to prune later in the year.

The area in the front of the house is designed as a circle, punctuated with box balls of some magnitude , and loosely planted borders. In the centre, a gravel garden surrounded by pleached Hornbeam (carpinus betulus) and under planted with hakenochloa grass, has provided ideal growing conditions for agapanthus, stipa gold fontaene and, the star of the show, acanthus sennii which, after a hot summer, boasts stunning flame flowers.

A recent development is a stumpery planted with ferns, notably the hardy maidenhair fern (adiantum venustum) and a collection of hostas which seem impervious to slugs (for some reason unknown).

A new green wall was added in 2015 which has proved a great attraction but is difficult to maintain. There is also a raised herb garden conveniently just outside the kitchen. A colourful conservatory, on the south side of the house, looks out on a mixed border and circle of box around a weeping pear. The garden is also home to bees, chickens and a dovecote - sometimes inhabited, at other times, not!

Visitors are welcome by appointment or on NGS open days. For details please visit the NGS website www.ngs.org.uk