Open Gardens

Open Gardens and Flower Festival May 2018

A selection of photographs from the 2018 Flower Festival can be viewed here, as can photos from the 2016 Flower Festival.

Sticky Wicket

Sticky Wicket Wildlife Garden will be closed until further notice Sticky Wicket Garden Sabbatical. Pam Lewis writes: "Sticky Wicket Wildlife Garden will be closed during 2008 and thereafter until further notice. Over the twenty years we have been open to the public, regular visitors will have seen Sticky Wicket gradually mature and change. My increasing use of native wildflowers and grasses has allowed the garden less formality albeit one that is deceptively heavy on maintenance. My land will remain a haven for wildlife long after the glory of 20 years of precise garden- making is masked by changes in flora. I shall continue to focus on meadow-making projects, encourage natural woodland re- generation and concentrate on the production of organic food from my small-holding. Most gardens are carved out of wilderness or, as with Sticky Wicket, created from a 'blank canvas'. It is rarely the intention of a gardener not only to allow - and actively encourage - a natural wilderness to evolve. Since the sad death of my husband Peter, I have completed my book, 'Sticky Wicket: Gardening in Tune with Nature', which chronicles the creation and management of the garden and was a tribute to Peter's amazing skill in making my vision a reality (published by Frances Lincoln 2005). Prior to Peter's death in 2004, Frances Lincoln published 'Making Wildflower Meadows' which was an account of our grassland projects up to 2003. I now plan to complete the trilogy to record how nature reclaims the land with just the minimum intervention from its custodian. My challenge is to help this to happen gracefully whilst lightly steering the process, allowing for the effect of changes in weather patterns and monitoring the fluctuations of wildlife and wildflower populations in this exciting 'Wilder Wicket'".

Buckland Newton Open Gardens

Centred around Locketts Lane, Hylands, Providence Row and the church, we enjoyed good weather in June 2012 and had a good range of gardens open to the public as well as two wild flower meadows and our outstanding allotments. Photos of the day can be viewed here.

Duntish Court

The gardens at Duntish Court were open in May 2011 for one of the rare occasions that these gardens are accessible to the public. This was a chance to visit Sue and Mark Douglass's fascinating and extensive gardens at Duntish Court. Originally designed in Georgian times, the garden has a wonderful variety of plants and trees (including a handkerchief tree and a ginkgo tree), a most unusual Georgian Summer House, underground grotto and lake with Monet-style bridge. Cream Teas with splendid Vistas across beautiful countryside on the lawn, and a plant stall made for a wonderful afternoon. Proceeds were in aid of Holy Rood Church Buckland Newton and Pulham Church.