Summer garden tour, Cheshire

Abbeywood Gardens

It was raining heavily on the second day of the tour when we arrived at Abbeywood to be met by the head gardener and given a brief talk about the gardens. Abbeywood, with its four and a half acres, is a popular venue for weddings and parties. A beautiful and romantic rose garden greets you on arrival where scented roses climb and scramble over arches and obelisks. Some areas had been designed by David Austin but more recently had been replanted densely to reduce weeding and give a richer and fuller effect. The Exotic Garden was influenced by Great Dixter and was a hit with all of us. Because of the rain we experienced the jungle effect. Bananas, cannas, Pseudopanax (from New Zealand), Tetrapanax, Strelitzia, Lobelia tupa, Brugmansia were just a few in the mass of happy exotics. A Trachycarpus was artistically decorated with Phalaenopsis orchids tucked into the “hairy” trunk along with other bromeliads, presumably for their summer holiday!  The Pool Garden had been replanted to include yellow-stemmed willows and three-tier low hedges of copper beech, yew and Hylotelephium telephium ‘Purple Emperor’ creating a well-balanced effect. A new area of large island beds had been created by the head gardener who is the sole gardener at Abbeywood. His vision and skill to design and plant a new prairie garden were to be applauded. The effects of so many prairie grasses, Genista, Verbascum, Kniphofia, Foeniculum, Persicaria, Lythrum, Campanula lactiflora, blue Eryngium and Salvia nemorosa ‘Caradonna’ were stunning, even in the rain! Delicious cake, coffee and tea were provided here.

Sandymere

It was still raining when we were met by the head gardener who gave us a comprehensive booklet about the making of this 16-acre garden, the home of Sir John Timpson. As we approached the property, the garden was formal with some raised beds and a central modern water feature as well as the blue garden of lavender and salvia in Alex’s garden. Alex, who died in 2016, was the wife of Sir John and a fierce campaigner on behalf of children. Beautifully kept landscaped gardens could be viewed from the terraces. Several small lakes, ponds, rills and streams created a calm, relaxed feeling when exploring. It was good to see ducks, including Muscovy ducks, enjoying the Duck Lake. We met some of the gardeners working in the greenhouses, glad to be doing indoor cleaning of pots on this wet day. We enjoyed the walk through woodland and down steps into the Hosta Garden where a collection of Hosta, Primula candelabra, Astilbe and other moisture-loving plants were a joy to behold. A board walk leads to Alex’s boat house which contains a large pedalo swan – great fun for children and adults. Beautifully designed and crafted rails featuring bulrushes and irises gave an artistic touch. The rill below the main terrace links the main lawn to the hosta and Japanese area. The terrace fronting the house and indoor swimming pool were tastefully planted with roses and pastel-hued herbaceous plants.

Ness Botanic Gardens

The 64-acre Ness Botanic Gardens on the Wirral peninsula, with views of the River Dee estuary, were created by Arthur Kilpin Bulley over 100 years ago and now belong to the University of Liverpool. We were met and given a guided tour by MPG member Nick Lightfoot, who is garden and collections manager at Ness. Nick gave much credit to a retired staff member, Dr Hugh McAllister, who for many years collected plants from all over the world and did research into chromosomes on plant roots.

The old heather garden has recently been planted with specimens from South Africa, California, and the Mediterranean and includes Agapanthus, Santolina, Burkeya, Verbascum, Salvia, Osteospermum, Kniphofia and grasses. On the terraces it was good to see tall stately Echium and Callistemon in full bloom.  Ness holds National Collections of Sorbus, Betula and Malus.

The rock garden had fine specimens of pine, maple and conifer. Some trees carried Red labels which signified “Endangered” and some Blue labels for “Champion trees”. Ness is also used by civil engineering students in their surveying studies. Trials are being done with agricultural plants. Regarding climate change, studies are being done by comparing plants growing on hillsides near Buxton (Derbyshire) in different soil conditions. Archaeology students have an area with kilns where they are researching Bronze Age tool-making. There was much more to see which we didn’t have time for. A delicious lunch was provided.

Briarfield – Two-acre private garden

Liz Carter has gardened at Briarfield since 1976. She gave us an introductory talk about the garden which is on two sites and just below the south-facing Burton Wood. A short walk in the village divides the gardens. Soil is mostly acid sand. Liz has many rare and unusual plants and mature trees including Eriobotrya japonica (loquat), Corokia, Podophyllum versipelle ‘Spotty Dotty’, white Calycanthus, Aeonium, Sequoia, variegated myrtle in bloom and citrus fruit in pots. There was a very productive vegetable and fruit garden with large fruit cages. In pots there was a very interesting collection of unusual lavenders. Wide grassy paths weaving between large beds and borders made it an intriguing and interesting place to be.

Veg garden

Parm Place

On our third day, Jane Fairclough welcomed us to Parm Place in the village of Great Budworth. The village is part of Arley Hall estate and, like most estate villages, beautifully designed. The cottages are well kept with cobblestones around them. Containers dotted along the village bloomed with red annuals all making a pleasing picture of old England. No wonder it is sometimes used by film-makers!

Parm Place’s half-acre garden is rectangular, on loam soil, with south-facing views over farmland towards another village. Colour themed borders were neatly kept as was the manicured lawn. The long west-facing border was a delight being predominantly blue, mauve, and purple with splashes of yellow Verbascum and Achillea. A box parterre containing deep blue lavenders was taking a buffeting from recent wind and rain. It was unusual to see a few standard roses at the end of the garden giving a bit of height near the vegetable plot. Large clumps of Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’ in front of the dark hedge at the east side were quite striking. A central island bed with Alstroemeria ‘Indian Summer’, Verbascum, Achillea, purple Phlox, Geranium Rozanne, dark red Penstemon and short Echium (viper’s bugloss) was most attractive. A small naturalistic pond encouraged wildlife into the garden. Other beautiful and healthy plants included Cerinthe, Dahlia, sweet peas and Agapanthus which were in pots. Coffee, tea and biscuits were welcome refreshments in this lovely garden.

RHS Bridgewater, opened in 2021

We were met and taken to the Paradise Garden which is half of the huge walled garden, the other half being the Kitchen Garden. This area was designed by Tom Stuart Smith. The Paradise Garden is divided into areas of Mediterranean and Asiatic plants. A central large pool with a rill running to a small pool in the Mediterranean area divides the continents and here we were split into groups to be shown around the Mediterranean Garden by a member of staff. Once again colours of blue, mauve and yellow dominated (Eryngium, Catananche, Salvia) with highlights of Achillea and Kniphofia plus tall grasses giving a nice airy feel along with soft grey Artemisia and Santolina plus the lush green Tetrapanax and Abutilon. Our guide gave a good account of plants growing in the Mediterranean House recently planted with various cactuses, succulents including a flowering Aeonium tabuliforme, Frithia pulchra, Crassula ‘Estagnol’, Fabiana imbricata f. violacea from Chile (violet false heath) which were being grown in a mixture of lime, sand, and grit. There is a plan to put tufa on the wall to put plants in. The Mediterranean and fruit houses are heated by biomass and they use biocontrol against pests. The other half of the walled garden is for fruit and vegetables. We then opted to explore the gardens on our own. We had a quick look at hydrangea trials in the Old Frame Yard. After a quick lunch of cake and crisps we were joined by Mona Abboud and Gill Robinson and walked to the Chinese Stream Side Garden where we saw filming taking place in the pagoda. The stream side was quite naturalistic with candelabra Primula, Lythrum, Astilbe, various rushes, maples, azaleas, and cloud-pruned pines. Ascending the steps by the waterfall we came to Ellesmere Lake and views of woodland. The area adjacent to the Moon Bridge Water was laid out with large island beds of prairie planting, e.g. grasses, Veronicastrum, Lythrum which looked good blowing in the breeze. On our way back to the Welcome Building we walked through the Community Grow Garden with Clare Fennessy and Kevin Begley.

Bluebell Cottage Nurseries

This south-facing garden around a cottage in rural Cheshire is owned and run by Sue Beesley. She took on the nursery garden in 2007 after she won the Gardeners’ World Garden of the Year competition. The elongated garden on a slight slope was designed to grow plants that thrive in particular conditions, i.e. right plant, right place. This is a great way to help prospective customers see what plants may suit their gardens. She likes island beds where plants can grow straight instead of leaning forward to the light as they tend to do in borders. These contained tall grasses, fennel, Kniphofia, hardy blue geranium, Helenium and Lychnis.  Perennial Lunaria rediviva caught our eye for its large seedheads. Sue grows plants for shows and designers and is also an adviser at RHS Bridgewater. She has recently had a walled garden built with a moon gate which is used for growing vegetables. Sue was preparing to do a show garden at Tatton Show and had built a moon gate there too to demonstrate growing sun-loving plants one side and shade-loving plants on the other. She has a real flair for putting foliage plants together e.g. banana, Persicaria ‘Red Dragon’ and Hakonechloa. The nursery was like a sweet shop and several MPG members couldn’t resist buying a few little treasures to take home.

Wollerton Old Hall garden

Sadly, it was raining again when we were greeted by the head gardener who gave a brief talk in front of the house where there was a colourful arrangement of pots, before guiding us round the garden. Lesley and John Jenkins have been creating and improving the design since 1983 when they moved to 16th century Wollerton Old Hall which had been Lesley’s childhood home.

This is a high maintenance four-acre garden employing two gardeners, one an apprentice. The layout is a series of 14 connecting gardens, all different, using colour, shape and texture of plants. Lesley continues to create and reshape areas such as the Well Garden which has recently been planted with Hydrangea paniculata ‘Living Infinity’ and 14 yew pyramids.  Blue is used throughout to tone down or uplift other colour themes.  The Lanhydrock Garden with large red and yellow Hemerocallis and tall yellow Achillea was a warm and joyful sight. Clematis and roses of different colours were all looking good as was Anemone ‘Wild Swan’ in the long border.

The rill garden with box balls beside the water and white hydrangeas (Limelight and Infinity) is calming and classical. John Jenkins takes cuttings from the garden which all require potting up – quite labour intensive.

We enjoyed coffee and scones in the cafe before leaving. Another colourful collection of pots stands beside the entrance to the cafe.

This was our second MPG tour and we thoroughly enjoyed all the gardens and company of like-minded MPG gardeners.  Many thanks to Maddy and Geoff Hughes for their brilliant organisation.

Text and images: Gill Fitzmaurice (York) and Katherine Hill (Leeds)