CONTAINER GARDENING

Ed Flint

If you’ve got limited growing space or just want lots of variety in your garden, planted containers are the way to add instant colour to a bare corner, patio or even balcony. Ed Flint, a lecturer at The English Gardening School, demonstrates how to make the most of your pots through all the seasons.If you’ve got limited growing space or just want lots of variety in your garden, planted containers are the way to add instant colour to a bare corner, patio or even balcony. Ed Flint, a lecturer at The English Gardening School, demonstrates how to make the most of your pots through all the seasons. Following Ed’s talk there will be mince pies, mulled wine and a Seed Swap.

REWILDING YOUR GARDEN

Charlie Harpur

Rewilding isn’t just about beavers and wild boars. Charlie Harpur is head gardener of Knepp Estates, which is at the forefront of the rewilding movement. He explains the ‘active gardening’ practised at Knepp, and tells us how to rewild our own gardens to give nature a chance.

Visit to Polstead Mill

September 4th at 2.30

The garden at Polstead Mill is 11 acres and it has been created over the last 22 years by Lucy and Richard Bartlett. The house dates from 1785 and the mill, millrace, weir and pool leading off the River Box became part of the property in 1947. Trees play a very important part of the structure of the garden and fringe the lawn where the herbaceous borders are. The garden is known for it’s display of Dahlias. There is a wild flower meadow and thriving walled kitchen garden. Numbers are limited to 50 people.

PRICE IS £16 TO INCLUDE ENTRY AND TEA AND BOOKING CLOSES ON 22ND AUG. IN ORDER TO CONFIRM NUMBERS FOR TEA.

Polstead Mill, Mill Lane, Polstead. CO6 5AB Satnav directions are good and parking is in the field opposite.

PLEASE NOTE - BOOKING IS NOW CLOSED FOR THIS VISIT

Visit to The Old Vicarage Wormingford CO6 3AZ

This visit includes a 15 minute talk by the designer Jeremy Allen, followed by a garden tour, then tea and cakes . The numbers are strictly limited to 15, and we have had a lot of preliminary interest, so it is anticipated that it will sell out quickly!

Jeremy and Beverley Allen’s garden surrounding the Old Vicarage in Wormingford has been developed over the last 15 years from a completely overgrown site. It covers 3.5 acres with a structure of mature hedging, new trees and topiary, and contains inspirational perennial and ornamental grass planting. There is a natural pond, water features, an orchard and a productive kitchen garden.

PLEASE NOTE - This visit is restricted to 15 people maximum, and is a Members Only event.

PRICE - £20 to include tea and cakes.

Parking details to follow

Visit to Two Boxford Gardens - Kingsbury House and 2 Holmwood Cottage

As these are two small jewel like gardens, we shall be divided into two groups, A and B. of 11/12 people to visit each garden alternately. We will forgather at the home of our President, Maggie Thorpe, Weavers House, Swan Street, Boxford CO10 5NZ. You will need to drive between gardens.

The owner of Kingsbury House, Stephen Howarth, lived in France and on retiring to Boxford created a wonderful formal courtyard garden with pleached hornbeam hedging, roses, lavender and a magnificent view of the Church.

Neil Bradfield at Holmwood Cottages is a professional gardener who has worked in several famous gardens including Fullers Mill, Highgrove, and Ulting Wick. He has created his own beautiful small garden with some very special plants, grasses, roses and small trees.

After the visits tea and cakes will be available at Weavers House, with Maggie Thorpe.

PLEASE NOTE - This visit is restricted to 24 people maximum, and is a Members Only event.

PRICE IS £10 to include tea.

There is limited parking and car share would be a good option where possible.

ABOUT GARDENS

Robin Lane Fox

This year’s Celebrity Speaker Robin Lane Fox has been gardening and writing about gardens for half a century, including a weekly column for the Financial Times. He oversees the garden at New College, Oxford and his own Cotswold retreat. Author of ‘Thoughtful Gardening’, he has strong views on prairie gardening, wildflower meadows, badgers and much else. Humorous, controversial and occasionally politically incorrect, Robin is never boring.

SECRET GARDENS OF THE SOUTH EAST

Barbara Segall

Garden writer, Barbara Segall takes us on a private tour of glorious gardens in Kent, Surrey and Sussex. From the historic ‘Restoration House’ to the romantic Town House, and Arundel Castles 40 Acres to a 45ft plot in Whitstable , each garden is inspirational. Some are open for the NGS others for private groups. Barbara will introduce us to gardens we’ll want to put on our ‘must visit’ list!

AURICULAS - SPRING'S PAINTED LADIES

Luci Skinner

Auriculas brighten the days of early spring with their jewel-like colours and exquisite detail. In the past they were known as ‘Painted Ladies’, or less romantically Bears Ears. Luci Skinner of Woottens Nursery, which stocks over 400 varieties of Auriculas, will tell us about their history and how to propagate, grow and care for these little beauties. She will bring plants for sale.

THURSDAY 12th July – 2-5pm 2023

By Kind invitation of Peter and Denny Swete

Denny is a well-known garden designer and created this most interesting garden from scratch.   The 17th century cottage now sits in the middle of the five acres made up of gardens, orchard and meadow.

The lawns are surrounded by yew hedging and richly coloured herbaceous borders, which include roses and perennials, leading on to another enclosed area, where there is a dark grey ornamental pool.    The charming potager has fruit trees, an interesting variety of vegetables and cutting flowers,

Cost £12.00 to include Tea and Cake In aid of St. Nicholas Hospice

Minimum of 15 people

Directions – From Steeple Bumpstead take B1057 heading for Finchingfield.   When you reach Cornish Hall End take the first right hand turn signed Great Sampford.   Follow this road for approximately one mile, you pass an avenue of poplars and after a short distance parking will be on the right.

Easton Lodge, Little Easton, Dunmow CM6 2BD Essex

Harold Peto’s gardens

The Gardens of Easton Lodge are the only example in East Anglia of the work of the Edwardian garden designer, Harold Peto. Peto originally trained as an architect and brought to Easton Lodge his passion for Italianate, French and Japanese designs, including many architectural features. Peto’s 1902 designs for the Countess of Warwick included formal lawns, a sunken Italian garden, a yew walk, a treehouse, a glade and a Japanese garden. Today, they continue to form the outline of the Gardens, which the Trust is restoring as funds allow.

 The Italian Garden

Peto’s Italian garden was the centrepiece in his garden design. It includes a 30m long water lilypond, surrounded by stone balustrades, and is set within flower beds and borders. Its wide gracious steps and its paving were from honey coloured Ham Hall stone. The Edwardian planting in the garden provided both structure and colour. The Trust’s volunteers work to ensure that the Italian garden is colourful throughout the seasons. Landsec funded the restoration of the one set of stone steps in use in 2019; and the Trust fundraised and completed the restoration of the balustrade around the lilypond in 2021. The Trust will prioritise further replacement of stonework in the Italian garden as funds permit.

Directions: Little Easton, Dunmow, CM6 2BD. (Use Satnav CM6 2BB). Entrance is on the right about ¼ mile beyond Little Easton Church. Directional signs from Dunmow. What3words for car park – stocky.bulletins.opponent

Arrive 10.30 for 11.00 start of guided tour and history of the gardens and the late owner, The Countess of Warwick. After the tour, tea and cake and the opportunity to explore the gardens until closing at 3.00 p.m. Picnics are welcome.

Entry price includes Tea & Cake.

bookings will close on the 15th May 2023

 Minimum of 12 people

See Event Review

Lucy Hutchings (@shegrowsveg) swapped a career designing couture jewellery for growing heirloom vegetables. She’s passionate about enthusing us all to grow our own food organically with the no-dig method, and shows us how easy it is to become partly self-sufficient. She grows several hundred varieties of fruit and veg in her allotment and back garden, and claims you can too!

Lucy had a show garden at Hampton Court in 2022 and recently appeared on BBC’s Gardener’s World.

She will be bringing plants for sale.

Free to members - guests £5.00