2011 Events
April
By The Way, Woodfalls and Hale Park
Visit to By The Way home to National Collection of Clematis Montana, followed by a private visit to Hale Park and Tea at Woodgreen Village Hall.
May
Petworth House and Ramster
We had the unique opportunity to be invited by Lady Egremont to view her private walled garden.This was followed by a visit to Ramster a privately owned woodland garden with lakes, ponds and a woodland walk.
June
Shalford House and Little Boarhunt
A visit to Shalford House, which has a 10 acre garden that was created and designed over the last 17 years, highlighting a delightfully hilly setting with waterfalls, streams and ponds. The garden also features a sunken garden and a wild flower meadow.
Little Boarhunt was built and partly converted from old farm buildings by H. Inigo Triggs in 1910-11. This is an Arts and Crafts style garden. Mr and Mrs Davidson-Kelly have been restoring the gardens for 30 years and the Trust had visit back in 1993. This was a chance to see the continuation of their work.
July
Two Gardens in Herefordshire, Weston Mews and The Laskett
The traditionally styled walled garden at Weston Mews held a broad range of plants including roses and many herbaceous beds and borders.
The excursion then included a chance to have a private visit to Sir Roy Strong’s garden, the largest private formal garden created since 1945. Over four decades Sir Roy and his late wife Dr Julia Trevelyan Oman transformed a 4 acre field into a series of stunning garden rooms, vistas, ascents and descents. These include a rose garden, a knot garden, fountains and parterres, as well as a spectacular array of topiary and richly planted herbaceous and prairie style boarders.
Visit to Pelham Place and Meon Orchard
Pelham Place, purchased by the de Laszlo family in 1989 and housing a collection of the works of Philip de Laszlo. The house has undergone considerable restoration, as have the wooded pleasure grounds (noted in the Directory of Hampshire in 1859). A lot of new planting was begun in1997. There are three follies as well as numerous sculptures throughout the grounds.
Meon Orchard contains an exceptional range of rare architectural plants and includes National Collections of Eucalyptus, Podocarpaceae and Araliaceae. This 1½ acre garden was designed and constructed by the current owners. There are hardy and tender plants from around the world, also streams ponds and a large range of planters.
August
A day visit to North Oxfordshire, visiting Pettifers and Broughton Grange
The private garden at Broughton Grange was created by Chelsea gold medallist Tom Stuart Smith. There is an exceptional walled garden with mirror ponds, rills and stepping stones going down three terraces. The planting is a mass of perennials punctuated with yew topiary shapes.
September
Cookscroft and Rymans
A visit of two contrasting gardens. Cookscroft can be described a a modern plantsman’s garden. Started in 1998 this is a garden for all seasons, with woodland, water features, perennial boarders and a Japanese Garden. The garden also contains interesting and unusual plants from the Southern Hemisphere. In contrast Rymans is in a medieval setting and has evolved over time. There is a delightful walled garden, and other gardens surrounding the house with flowering shrubs, roses, ponds and a potage. The gardens are at their peak in the late summer with dahlias, sedums, sages and late roses to mention a few highlights.
October
Talk by Tracey Sheppard FGE at the Winchester Discovery Centre
‘Clearly Obscure’
An internationally known glass engraver and Chairman of the Guild of Glass Engravers. Tracey lives in Winchester close to Hyde Abbey Garden for which she designed the glass panel destroyed by vandals in 2010. Her work can be seen in Romsey Abbey, St Jude’s Southsea and churches in Hurstbourne Tarrant and Brockenhurst to name a few. She has work in the private collection of the HM the Queen and the late Queen Mother. This talk was sponsored jointly by the Friends of Hyde Abbey and HGT.
November
HGT Research Group Annual Lecture
‘Gardening Friends’ – By Marion Mako.
A garden historian and designer Marion Mako has worked both in the UK and the USA, specialising in English herbaceous planting. She has carried out research on private and public gardens, lectured at the University of Bristol and manages private gardens both in the UK and the USA. Her talk looked at passions, influences and shared secrets of well-known Edwardian Gardeners.
December
Christmas Tea Party
The annual round up of the year, with a chance to meet with the other members of the Trust, as well as take part in the raffle and enjoy the photographs from the year’s visits. A talk was given by Lord Selborne, an HGT Trustee, on ‘Where did the apple come from’.
