A glistening path in the rain
On the website for Middleton Lodge you can see lots of professional photos of this new beautiful garden.
White, mauve, purple, pink, magenta and green
I visited two weeks ago just to see the garden and here are my photos, some in sunshine and then mostly in the rain. It’s breathtakingly beautiful.
The Fig House in the distance, used for weddings and events
It’s a 2 acre walled garden newly restored and newly planted for instant impact.
Herbaceous planting repeated throughout
The gardener there called it 2 acres of produce, seasonal blooms and wildlife. The food grown there is used in the hotel restaurant and the garden is used for weddings and events.
Abundant planting falling down in the rain
There’s a large area of meadow, buzzing with wildlife.
A meadow for wildlife to help the kitchen garden
The colours were mainly green with mauve, blue, purple, pink and white.
The meadow and me.
There are lots of paths and paved areas for walking and standing as well as grass paths in the meadow. Trees and paths give geometry and structure and the planting was loose and abundant.
Trees and strict geometry give structure
Do visit if you’re up in the Dales. The garden belongs to the hotel so you’d need to be eating or staying there. We just had lunch and so could wander round the garden.
So what could I take away that was relevant to our london cottage garden, tiny by comparison?
Pick a limited number of plants and plant lots of them, repeated around the garden; not one of this and one of that.
Let the paving area be clear and defined – it shows off the fuzzy planted areas if there is contrast.
Oh, and get maestro Tom Stuart-Smith round to sort out your garden!
