Marwell Magic

A week or so ago I had the great pleasure to open the new formal garden at Marwell Wildlife Park, near Winchester. Marwell is a surprising place, more than a zoo it enables the visitor to see wild creatures from all over the planet in surroundings as similar to their native habitat as possible. A visit to Marwell is an experience and an education thanks to the dedicated and energetic team responsible for running it. In this environment everyone looks at the animals first, and plants and gardens play a support role. But this does not mean that Lance Ingram, Head of Grounds and Plants considers his role any less important. Thanks to his enthusiasm for the job he is working to increase the standards and profile of plants alongside the animals.

The ambitious project to create a new formal garden adjacent to Marwell Hall has been designed and executed by Lance and his team. It is inspired by the style of gardening and plants grown in the 16th and 17th centuries, adapted to todays plant pallette. It is entirely appropriate to the magnificent backdrop of Marwell Hall and has transformed the grounds around the hall to an attraction in the heart of the park. The planting only started last winter - formal yew and box hedges provide the backdrop surrounding roses, dianthus, iris, lilies and heritage vegetables. The formal vegetable garden is certainly going to be of great interest both to experienced gardeners and new gardeners inspired by the interest in grow-your-own. White carrots? Green tomatoes? - why not. Maybe some of these historical varieties will have a new lease of life with our constant search to find something new on our plates.

Herbs used for medicinal purposes and historical roses such as Rosa gallica 'Officinalis' - The Apothecary's Rose are a welcome reminder of the important role that plants and gardens have played in our lives through the centuries.

Personally I am particularly pleased to see the creation of a garden built to last - a new heritage garden that will be part of Marwell for years to come. So much in todays gardens is here today and gone tomorrow - this is real gardening and a great tribute to the great team that built it. I really look forward to seeing their next project.

Brideshead Revisited

Last week I embarked on a Hillier Gardening Club holiday to North Yorkshire - our first trip to that neck of the woods. We have been running Hillier holidays for over 10 years now and have many regular travelllers. There were 44 on this tour and I had previously travelled with 40 of them - so really its like going away with a group of friends. We set off early, picking up a few of our number at Newbury, thn on to Kelmarsh Hall in Northamptonshire. This was a lovely garden with an amazing walled garden surrounded by rose gardens and broad herbaceous borders. Fortified with a good lunch we headed on to our base - The Old Swan at Harrogate for our three night stay.

The following morning Parceval Hall at Wharfedale involved splitting the group onto two smaller coaches to negotiate the tortuous roads to the garden. It was noticeably cooler twhen we got off the coach - particularly as the weather had been so warm. However that only sharpened the appreciation of the wonderful air and magnificent views across the moors. We then went on to the magnificent Newby Hall for lunch and the afternoon.

Newby is a remarkable garden with so much to see. The longest mirrored herbaceous borders in Europe are worth the trip on their own. The rose garden was at its peak. The Acer griseum and other treasures in Wilson's corner were an unexpected treat. But everyones favourite was Sylvia's garden - a square sunken garden in a soft cocktail of pink, silver lilac and blue. Everyone loves a girlie garden!

Our next day was one of contrast. The morning in the private garden of Lady Clarissa Collin. A real garden and a real plantsman. We all loved Wytherstone and found treasures we hadn't seen before introduced by that enthusuasm and passion only demonstrated by a real plantman. Lady Clarissa joined us for lunch at the local farm shop - Beadlam Grange. They did us proud and set us up for our visit to Castle Howard. I must admit to being a real Brideshead fan - the TV series. So it was a great treat to be able to drive past the lake, catch that stunning view of the house and remember that haunting theme which played such a part in so many peoples lives a few years back. The gardens are good, but not remarkable. The landscape and scale of the whole is breathtaking and all of us quickly fell under the Brideshead spell.

Our last day in Yorkshire was spent visiting Harlow Carr - the RHS garden just outside Harrogate. The new education centre and garden has just opened and our guide proudly explained the green building and their objectives in encouraging the young to garden. Sarah was in charge of the main floral borders in the garden and I must say these are a work of art - a fusion of herbaceous border and prairie planting. The standard of horticulture was high and the garden is not too big so its possible to revisit areas that have caught your eye in passing. The presence of Betty's Tea Shop on site also made up for our lack of time to indulge in the original branch in the town centre.

After Harlow Carr - the long journey back to Hampshire. Plenty to talk about - lots of gardening chat. Some excellent geology from Prof. Peter Fookes and honorary Hillier with whom I have had the pleasure of travelling on a number of occasions. A Hillier holiday may be short - but you come back feeling that you have been away and seen a lot. We loved Yorkshire and this is a tour that we will definitely run again. Hopefully off to the Channel Islands next year - How about it?