Gardens to die for!

Wednesday 25th June was another beautiful day for our garden rambles, the sun was shining and after a substantial English breakfast we set off by coach to Hinton Ampner. Ever heard of it? No I imagine not, but let me introduce you to a very special garden run by the National Trust in the vicinity of Cheriton, not far from the centre of Winchester.

This garden was introduced to us by the head gardener, John.D.Wood who spoke at the first day of the conference and gave us a potted history of the place and the improvements  since he arrived about six years ago . Previously he had worked at Mottisfont under John Wood and absorbed the master's touch. He met us at the bus and gave us a conducted tour of the property. Well he tried but people got distracted and wandered off to explore the various walk ways and paths which lead into surprises and vistas across the farmlands.

This garden was the vision of Ralph Dutton,also known as Lord Sherburne who designed and established the garden after his own plans and ideas . Today you can enjoy the vision he created by taking long walks leading to vistas across the Hampshire farmlands . He constructed a haha so that animals could graze up to his lawns yet seemingly connected to the view . He was also keen on topiary and in front of the house there is a long terrace where his art can be observed .

The rose garden he designed for his mother but the roses did not flourish , they disliked the climate and soils and eventually died off. Mr Dutton was a man of steel and he persevered against the odds until he found the roses that tolerated the area and today you can see old and some quite rare roses happily blooming in various parts of the garden.
A feature was the vibrant ramblers tumbling from huge trees or climbing up supports cleverly placed at the foot of shrubs to encourage their growth upwards. Klifsgate,Wedding Rose,Lykkefund were very special and the scent was delicious.
I am not sure of the spelling but r. Sins Wilsonnia is a rare rambler rose with huge clusters of white blooms and massive leaves for such a rose.It may be the only one in the UK today. Very scented and quite beautiful.

There were other collections too of beautiful Salvia,Viburnum,grasses and dahlias . One long bed of a rose called,A Whiter Shade of Pale was especially striking and made a feature of the garden beside the reflecting pool.
I also enjoyed the hedge which is designed in a cloud fashion,another of John's features and frames a lovely view across the fields where once a battle raged in 1631 or there abouts . Quite a whimsical idea which I got the feeling he enjoyed doing.

We wandered the grounds for some time before coming across the walled garden which John has had restored,what a delight that was with vegetables,fruits and herbs in abundance and served up in the cafe as fresh as you can get. Centre stage was a large scarecrow guarding the young lettuces and greens most at risk of the birds. I hope his trouble is rewarded . The other notable thing in this garden were the fruit trees espaliered along frames,their trunks were amazing,so thick must be very old indeed but still producing fruit for the residents and visitors to the garden.
More delicious shortbread and tea before we left the garden and travelled further along the M3 towards London albeit Guilford as it turned out . Next installment to come.....