Welcome to our new feature – Member’s Virtual Open Gardens.
Here is a list of the gardens available to visit virtually, just click to access video.
Top of the World - Lindsey Symonds, Vice Chair- Goldsmith Cottage - Belinda Gray
- 2 Norman Cottage - Barbara Richards An Abergavenny workman's cottage circa 1884
On Top Of The World
Lindsay has provided some interesting information below about her garden which you can tour virtually by clicking the link above
Hello everyone and welcome to my garden! I moved here with my family in 2007. The plot is half an acre in a triangular shape, wrapping all around the house. It is on top of a hill, so it is quite exposed and it is on heavy clay.
The previous owners had lived in this house almost since it was built in the late eighties and they had landscaped it around the house with different levels, a pond and stream and a good selection of trees and shrubs. However, it had been unoccupied for quite some time when we bought it, so we had to get it under control first and then start to slowly renovate all the ageing shrubs and trees.
I love flowers and an abundant, cottage garden look so I’ve added loads of perennials to fill all the space around the shrubs and cut down on weeding. If there is any open ground, I will soon fill it but these days I am mostly pulling things out rather than putting them in. Some things thrive here and want to take over - salvias, London Pride, caltha, astilbes, aquilegia, geraniums - they all go crazy here. On the flip side, there are plants I love like Lupins which disappear almost as soon as I put them in. I know I should just go with it, but I haven’t given up trying yet!
My husband and I spend a lot of our free time outside – he’s in charge of the lawn and hedges and I look after the rest but every year we do one or two garden projects together – we have added a greenhouse and vegetable garden, a mini orchard, new paths, hedges and flower beds.
This year we have taken down a rotten shed and hedged in an area beside our garage for the many bins we now seem to have! We’re also sorting out the pond which at the moment just has a lot of newts in it. We introduced fish when we first moved in which thrived for many years but then a heron discovered us and slowly picked them off one by one – it was heart-breaking. Now, our acer has grown so large that we are hoping the herons won’t be able to spot our little pond so we’re going to have another go and we’ve been getting the pond ready. Fingers crossed!
Our next project is to replace some of our vegetable beds which have rotted and renovate the compost area behind the greenhouse which has been overridden by stinging nettles. There is always plenty to do…
I hope you will enjoy looking around and I look forward to having a look around some of your gardens too!
