Eventually these delicious vegetables find their way not just to Sarah’s kitchen but to the magnificent new cafe overlooking the potager. Sarah would tell you that the cakes are diet-breaking. And even the loos hide a surprise. There’s no doubt about it. Holt Farm is a ‘must-see’.


Location: Holt Farm Organic Gardens, Bath Road, Blagdon BS40 7SQ. 12 miles south of Bristol, off the A368 Weston-super-Mare to Bath road, between Blagdon and Ubley. Entrance to Holt Farm approximately half a mile outside Blagdon, on the left.


Open for NGS: Sundays 13th June & 26th September, 2pm – 5pm. Visitors also welcome by appointment only, Thursdays only, 17th June – 30th September, 2pm – 5pm.


Admission: £4, children free. Cream teas, and plants for sale. No dogs.


Telephone: 01761 461650


Photographs of Holt Farm Gardens from ‘Ornamental Gardening’ by Sally Gregson. Published by Crowood


...And whilst you’re in the area – Lydeard House gardens


Eleven years ago the historic gardens at Lydeard House were run down and overgrown, the stream and lake silted up, and the once grand pergola in a ruinous state.


Today that is hard to imagine. Thanks to Mr. and Mrs Colin Wilkins, the owners who arrived in 1999, the gardens are once again pristine and a delight to walk in, with a clear stream and lake, the restored pergola draped with climbing roses, and entire new areas of garden being developed.


Lydeard House dates from 1740, with further additions in 1787 and the west wing and clock tower added in the Victorian era. Water is the main focal point of the garden which lies in a small combe, with a lake overhung by a willow tree (another was lost during last winter’s hard weather), and a canal running into it.


Charming 18th century bridges, a single span at the north end, and a second triple arched bridge at the south, add elegance, as does the 163 foot-long pergola dating from 1870 and which runs parallel to the canal.


It’s only from studying the photographs cataloguing the restoration project that one understands how much work was done in such a short time by the Wilkins and a team including Mike, their handyman and gardener. In 1999 it was possible to run across the silted up lake, and even after a major dredging operation, it silted up again.


The remedy was to completely renovate the canal and construct a silt trap. The pergola alongside it was then


The gardens are once again pristine and a delight to walk in, with a clear stream and lake


tackled. At its northern end the edge had to be rebuilt, but Mrs Vaun Wilkins has a good gardener’s eye and instinct for these things and guessed accurately where the curving edge should be.


Now you walk through the long pergola which has 54 climbing roses of the period when it was built, chosen for their gently graduating colour tones, walking past the little pond and fountain and the Victorian ornamental iron garden seats, to the statue at the end and to the clear water, then woodland beyond.


There is a new plantation of specimen trees, a new pond area with a Chinese house, and the woodland walk is being developed with spring bulbs and ferns, hostas and shrubs. The idea is that there will be a circular walk between the pergola and the walled garden.


Mrs Wilkins has had a walled kitchen garden built, a potager with aqua-painted greenhouse and potting shed behind. The old kitchen garden had been far from the house and was sold off years ago, and with the rampant rabbit population, a new walled area was necessary if she was to grow fruit and vegetables.


After three years it is fully productive, with two fine asparagus beds and other beds on a four-year rotation. The walls are lined with colourful plants, and there is another nod to Chinoiserie in the ironwork above two of the beds.


By the house is a parterre of box hedging with herbs, a pond and a fountain, surrounded by a listed late 18th century balustrade in the Hindu-Moorish style. A border by the parterre was replanted in 2007.


Near the parterre and recessed into the retaining wall is a fascinating roofless stone building referred to in earlier documents as The Fernery.


One day that may be restored. That is a project for the future. There are many fascinating little historical insights here, but new areas are being planted as well. It is a garden that is still developing after nearly three centuries.


The gardens are open for a weekend in June in aid of the village hall repairs and restoration (see below), but groups may apply to visit by appointment at other times.


Location: Lydeard House, West Street, Bishops Lydeard, Taunton TA4 3AU.


Open Garden Plus – with music, art and craft exhibitions: Saturday 19th and Sunday 20th June, 1pm – 5pm.


Admission: £3, children free. Home made teas. Limited wheelchair access. No dogs.


Lydeard House the restored pergola draped with climbing roses For more details contact: 01823 430421 Country Gardener 17


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