DORSET
DT6 4PF. £ miles E of Bridport. From the A35 to Bridport or Edwardian garden designer Edwin Lutyens.
Dorchester take the turning for Uploders on the S side of the
Home made teas will be available when the garden is opened
main road, going right and right again under the A35. At the
by the owners, Mr. and Mrs Sclater for the NGS on Sunday
Crown Inn public house on the right there are two bends and a
28th March, but dogs are not allowed in the garden. The
private parking notice.
owners point out that for wheelchair users, a strong assistant
Open: Sat. 20th March; Sat. 22nd May. 2pm – 5pm. Visitors is needed!
also welcome by appointment in May/June/July.
Location: Frith House, Stalbridge, Dorset DT10 2SD. 5 miles E
Admission: £3.50, children free. Home made teas. There are of Sherborne between Milborne Port and Stalbridge, and I mile
some steep paths. from the A30. Turn W near the Post Office in Stalbridge, then
Telephone: 01308 485653
follow the signs.
Open: Sundays 28th March & 6th June, 2pm – 5pm.
Chiffchaffs
Admission: £4, children free.
Rightly well known for its all-seasons colour, the pretty garden
Contact: see NGS website, www.ngs.org.uk
around the thatched cottage at Chiffchaffs will be open for
the NGS on 28th March, when visitors will have a chance to
see the spring bulbs and walk along the woodland garden with
And just over the border...
its far-reaching views across Blackmore Vale.
A glory of the garden at Chiffchaffs in spring is the avenue
Apple Court, near Lymington
of Japanese cherry trees in full flower, either side of a wide
Not only is there a series of lovely garden areas to walk through
walkway, the trees underplanted with narcissi.
at Apple Court, but at the end of the visit you can take home a
Later on there will be shrub roses, herbaceous borders and
plant seen in the garden and available in the nursery.
shrubs, an interesting collection of plants that has been carefully
Successive areas of this former kitchen garden delight visitors
designed to make the area seem larger than it actually is. Mr.
at different times of the year. The winter walk has been
and Mrs. Kenneth Potts have lived here since 1977, making a
planted to give colour even in the darkest days of winter, with
garden of variety that is impeccably maintained.
Cornus ‘Midwinter Sun’, red leaved bergenias and the skeletons
Their nursery, Abbey Plants, is run in conjunction with the
of grasses providing contrast.
garden. The nursery is open from March to November,
Wednesdays to Saturdays, from 10am – 5pm with a lunchtime
closing 1pm-2pm. It can also be visited by appointment during
December and February. It specialises in shrubs and flowering
trees, almost entirely propagated by the owners.
The woodland walk has paths running along the upper slopes
here you can look down on magnolias and rhododendrons,
with narcissi, primulas and shuttlecock ferns beneath. Among
lovely old oak trees there are the flowering trees: cherries,
maples, and pieris.
Near the house on a south-western facing slope there are
enclosures for plants, a terrace, stone retaining walls and
paved or gravel paths. At the top of the garden a pergola of
clematis and roses leads to a little kitchen garden.
In spring there are the snowdrops and other bulbs, hellebores
Location: Chiffchaffs, Chaffeymoor, Bourton, nr. Gillingham, and daphnes, giving way to hostas and then on through a
Dorset SP8 5BY. 3 miles E of Wincanton off the A303, at the W myriad of plants and colours in the daylily garden, the cottage
end of Bourton village. garden, the white garden, around the summer house and
Open: from early April to the end of September, Wednesdays
along the salmon and peach borders.
and Thursdays, also the first and third Sunday of each month The sea is less than a mile away, so the garden’s design was
and Bank Holiday weekends, from 2pm – 5pm. partly dictated by the prevailing conditions and the need to
For the NGS, Sunday 28th March and 29th August, 2pm – 5pm.
create shelter for plants against sometimes harsh winds. The
Admission: £3.50, children free. No dogs.
result is a delightful series of interlocking areas with their own
character and also making a microclimate suited to each group
Telephone: 01747 840841
of plants.
Location: Apple Court Nursery and Garden, Hordle Lane,
Frith House
Hordle, Lymington, Hampshire S041 0HU.
This is a particularly peaceful spot in a self contained hamlet, five
Open: 1st March – end of October. 10am – 5pm. Friday/
miles from Sherborne. Frith House, at Stalbridge, has four acres of
Saturday/Sundays & Bank Holidays. Coaches and private parties
gardens around the Edwardian building approached down a long
catered for any day in season – contact phone number below
drive with fine views of the surrounding countryside.
Admission: £4, children under 14 free
There are lakes, mature trees and flower borders, a terrace
by the house edged by a rose border and kitchen gardens.
Telephone: 01590642130
Appropriately for a house of this era, there is a wall fountain
Email: applecourt@btconnect.com
reminiscent of those in so many gardens designed by the Website: www.applecourt.com
Country Gardener
17
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