Manor House, at Lower Blandford St. Mary, is a new open garden for the NGS. It has already been open this season, in April, when visitors had an opportunity to see the stunning spring bulbs.
Owners Mr and Mrs Jeremy Mains are continuing to develop and make changes to the four-acre garden by the fine old Jacobean house (not open). The large shrub borders have a varied collection of plants to spot and admire. The old walls are adorned with climbing roses.
Apart from all the ornamental garden areas there is a working fruit and vegetable garden, with an abundance of produce at this time of year.
Location: Manor House, Church Lane, Lower Blandford St. Mary, Blandford, Dorset DT11 9ND. A quarter of a mile east of Blandford, signed off the A350 to Poole from Blandford Forum ring road, Tesco roundabout.
Open: Sunday 20th June, 2pm – 5pm, and Friday 18th June, 6pm – 8.30pm.
Teas available at the afternoon opening, wine at the evening opening.
Admission: £3.50, children free, and £4.50 entrance fee for the evening opening.
Note for wheelchair users: there is a gravel entrance. Website:
www.ngs.org.uk
Plantaholics who always find a spot to shoe-horn another plant in
Robert not only coppices the wood but makes sheep hurdles from the chestnuts, weaves the willow and hazel. You can wander in the coppice wood and see the hedges that have been laid.
“It’s all done by us, to feed us, keep us warm and delight the spirit,” explains Jacqui.
“We are wild-life friendly, from putting up nest boxes to providing a large compost heap for the grass snake to lay her eggs in. We see large snakes and tiny glow worms.
“And we’re rewarded by the sights and sounds of birds from the raven to the goldcrest.”
Pottery, jewellery and crafts will also be on display, with a lace demonstration on the first opening date, 27th June.
Location: North Cottage and Woodview Cottage, Tisbury Row, Tisbury, Wiltshire SP3 6RZ. Twelve miles west of Salisbury. From the A30 turn north through Ansty, taking a left turn at the T-junction towards Tisbury. From Tisbury take the Ansty road, and the entrance to the cottages is near the junction signed Tisbury Row.
North Cottage and Woodview Cottage: delightful cottage gardens will interest anyone who likes a relaxed, informal way of gardening, with the accent on wildlife and animal husbandry
North Cottage and Woodview Cottage
Just over the border in Wiltshire, these delightful cottage gardens will interest anyone who likes a relaxed, informal way of gardening, with the accent on wildlife and animal husbandry.
You’ll find free-range bantams, rare breed sheep, a Guernsey house-cow and horses in the fields by the gardens at Tisbury, twelve miles from Salisbury, that have evolved in an organic way.
Owners Jacqui and Robert Baker, and Diane McBride, are plantaholics who always find a spot to shoe-horn another plant in. Flowers, fruit and vegetables are grown on the four-acre smallholding, with added interest in the ponds and sculptures.
Jacqui is a potter, and her pottery at the bottom of the garden gives the gardens their artistic ornaments. She takes her inspiration from the animals and plants that abound here.
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North Cottage and Woodview Cottage co-owner Jacqui is a potter, and her pottery at the bottom of the garden gives the gardens their artistic ornaments
Country Gardener
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