2010 Events
2010 Events
April
West Green House
A private visit to this wonderful garden which is run by Marylyn Abbott, the renowned Australian gardener. Following Marylyn’s fascinating talk, members were then free to walk round her lovely garden noted for its drama, innovation and humour.
HGT Annual General Meeting
Held in the inspiring setting of the Sir Harold Hillier Gardens at Ampfield. Following the business of the meeting, Jim Gardiner, Chief Curator of the Royal Horticultural Society gave an illustrated talk about his work at Wisley and in his former role of Curator at the Sir Harold Hillier Gardens and Arboretum.
May
Malshanger
A guided walk by Lady Colman and her Head Gardener of Malshanger’s 45 acre park which features a fine collection of rare ornamental trees. Lady Colman is a member of the Trust and is an authority on magnolias. This enjoyable visit ended with tea served in the Club House.
June
Bere Mill and Spring Pond
On a warm and sunny day, Members enjoyed a day visit to two wonderful private gardens in north Hampshire. Bere Mill is on the River Test and had started life as the original Portals paper mill. Rupert Nabarro welcomed us with coffee and biscuits before he gave us an interesting talk on the history of the garden. He also accompanied us around the garden with us and answered many of our questions.
We spent the afternoon a few miles away at Spring Pond. This is a relatively new garden created 15 years ago by Mrs Sheffield, in and around old farm buildings. It is very pretty and includes a newly planted arboretum. This delightful day was completed by afternoon tea before we made our departures.
Garden Gallery, Broughton
Established 16 years ago by Rachel Bebb, the gallery has acquired a reputation for exhibiting sculpture, ceramics and furniture for gardens of the highest quality, all by contemporary artists. Trust members spent a sociable evening sipping chilled wine, eating nibbles and going around this open air gallery set in Rachel’s garden. A truly unique venue.
July
Broughton Downs
Trust members joined the annual walk on Broughton Down, a 60-acre chalk downland nature reserve owned by Hampshire Wildlife Trust and rich in wild flowers and butterflies. This wonderful evening visit was led by Mike Allen, Broughton Reserves’ Officer.
The Coach House and Colemore House
The garden at The Coach House fell into the category of small, but perfectly formed. Mr and Mrs Taylor were there to greet us and after an introductory talk were on hand to identify the many unusual plants we found there. They were also generous in sharing cuttings and off shoots of plants which took our fancy. After lunch at the local pub we went on to Colemore House. This beautiful and immaculately kept garden was started 15 years ago and is still being constantly developed. A structure of garden ‘rooms’ opens up the grounds to stunning views of the countryside. Both of these private gardens in south-east Hampshire were a haven for plant lovers.
August
Dean House gardens
An afternoon visit of this marvelous nine acre garden partly laid out by Colvin & Moggeridge and later by Pamela Schwertz. Members enjoyed a tour by head gardener Julian Blackwell, a talk in the orangery including question time, followed by tea and cakes.
September
Highfield Hollies, the Malt House and Trotton Old Rectory
A day visit to three gardens in east Hampshire. Trust members enjoyed a fascinating tour by Louise Bendall-Duck of Highfield Hollies which has 700 hollies varying from the majestic to the dainty.
The Malt House was an inspiring six acre garden which has a collection of flowering shrubs and over 100 varieties of hydrangeas. Following a tour of the garden, members enjoyed a picnic lunch in the grounds. Trotton Old Rectory, a typical English country garden, provided a marvellous end to the day.
Highgrove House
25 Trust members enjoyed an excellent guided tour of the gardens created by HRH The Prince of Wales. The fourteen gardens are all organic, but different and include the famed wildflower meadow, stumpery, created by the Bannermans, and a woodland garden. A new project is started each year to take the garden in a different direction. The afternoon finished with tea and a quick visit to the very tempting Highgrove shop.
November
The HGT Research Group’s Annual Lecture
This year’s event was held at the Hampshire Records Office in Winchester. Our speaker Katie Campbell gave an enthralling talk on ‘Paradise of Exiles: Anglo-Florentine Gardens Gossip’.
December
Christmas Tea Party and Talk
Members met up for tea, cakes and a glass of mulled wine at our annual end of year event. Chris Bird, lecturer in Horticulture at Sparsholt College gave a talk on the ‘Twelve Days of Christmas’ based on his twelve years’ experience in designing and coordinating Sparsholt College’s display at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show.
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