Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
General Subjects => Travel / Places to Visit => Topic started by: Giles on April 16, 2009, 06:46:26 PM
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http://www.westdean.org.uk/gardens/index.html and.....
http://www.westdean.org.uk/gardens/this_week.html ....to learn about this super place 8)
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.......well, actually it's the fantastic restaurant that makes it the ideal place to take an elderly doting mother to !
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..... the fantastic restaurant .....
....even better, even better.... ;D
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I would recommend West Dean very strongly. The restored kitchen garden is simply wonderful & the whole place is immaculately kept - mainly by volunteers I think. We have never been in Spring but in late summer/early autumn the fruit in the glasshouses - peaches, nectarines, grapes etc - has one salivating. And the range of tomato varieties.......!
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My first impression from the photos was of the amount of hard work it must be to keep that box hedging so neat.... folllowed shortly after by wondering how fiddly it must be to cut the grass round the trees, between the walls and the mini hedges...... crikey, what a nightmare.... it looks fantastic but I'm glad I gave up that kind of horticultural slavery years ago!
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Last year, I can't remember if it was Luc or Luit who talked of a Serpentine Wall, at an historic house in either Belgium or The Netherlands.
Picture 148 show the Serpentine/Crinkle Crankle wall was a feature of walled gardens in the UK too, for fruit growing.
They've made the path wiggly to follow the countour of the wall.
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Well Giles, when I saw the first batches, you showed here, my first thoughts were: here is such a
wel maintained oldfashioned garden, where wenn I am coming in almost forget to breathe.
These places are often so serene and this place is extraordinary.
The glasshouses, the cold frames and the wonderful fruit trees, all together it is beautiful.
And yes, I showed the crinkled wall in Holland last year. :)
http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=1824.0 (http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=1824.0)
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Giles,
Obviously, a wonderful place; great structure and framework in the veg garden. Those zig zag box hedges are simply fantastic. I would love to have the metal framework on which to train fruit trees.
A great report, many thanks. Paddy
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Thanks for posting these Giles, I too think it is a wonderful garden/place, we went in July 2005 and have been wanting to go back again since, we spent a great deal of time in the glasshouses and didn't manage all of the rest of the gardens in the time allocated :-\
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Thanks Giles I've added it to the Lis tof places to go.
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I'm pleased to say we returned to West Dean last Monday, here are a few pictures showing how it has changed over a couple of months. One of the glories of the garden is this incredible 300 foot long Edwardian pergola. The second picture is taken from the sunken garden at one end which is being rebuilt.
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We were determined to see the Spring Gardens (although they were obviously past their best and parts were replanted). Of course I am a sucker for the Lilium martagon!
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Then we were drawn back to the immaculate walled garden, glasshouses and fruit. There were several trials including chilli peppers and Basil. I loved the cordon currants and succulents - particularly Kalanchoe thrysiflora.
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...and some of these show how the garden has filled up since Giles visited. The red pear, goblet trained, was beautifully presented. The clematis were superb, just at their peak. Roll on the next visit!
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Brian,
Great update on the gardens. I adore the trained fruit. Redcurrants just ripening here and waiting for them day by day - such a unique taste.
Paddy
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Thanks for showing us these Brian !!!
That pergola is stunning !
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Thanks Giles and Brian. I never saw the first tour, so just caught both of them at the same time. Wonderful. 8)