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A Tour of the
Garden
Entrance
To The Garden
The Woodlands
The Front Garden
The Lakeside Garden
A Traditional Bridge
The Barn
The Formal Cottage Garden
The Sheltered Garden
The Plants In The Garden
Opening
Arrangements for the Garden
Before undertaking the tour of the garden you may wish
to learn about some of the design
philosophy of the garden, this is included at the
background
of the garden.
This tour has been designed to assist you learn about
our garden, however no web page can facilitate the
natural feel, the sounds and the smells of this beautiful
garden.
The basalt stone traditional pillars, which "guard" the entrance, were built in 1995 and replicate those
in the immediate vicinity. Sadly similar pillars remaining
in the area are few in number but fortunately the presence
of our pillars has stimulated others to build replicas.
A key design feature
on one of the pillars is a small flat top as opposed
to the rounded or pointed tops. Fairies from the nearby
fairy tree appreciate this opportunity to meet and
dance in comfort!!
The associated gates have also been designed in a traditional manner and are of a flat bar metal type.
Being conscious of the need to encourage wildlife
both our pillars have nest boxes built in.
The four acres of woodland planted 10 years ago
are now at the stage where specific woodland ground
floor is beginning to establish. We have added to this
richness by planting aconites, daffodils, snowdrops,
and bluebells. Other areas will be more cultivated and underplanted with hosta, astilbe etc. In 2004 our woodland
was the host for a nest of beautiful long eared owls
and numerous other birds.
William Robinson strongly believed in establishing harmony
between the house, garden and the countryside. We hope
that our design of the front garden would have met with
his approval. Our favourite rambler rose is a German
raised cultivar called Sommermorgen which is growing
profusely over the picket fence and provides the visitor
with a warm welcome.
The borders to the immediate front of the house consist
mainly of pinks, whites and lavenders creating a calming
effect
The small lake in this garden has been man made and
was established to enrich this area with wildlife and
provide a special feature in this area of the garden.
The surrounding borders are lavishly planted with large
herbaceous plants with some of our favourites being
Stipa gigantia, Eupatorium, Echinacceas and large leaved Hostas.
A number of streams bisect the garden and to emphasis
their existence a number of small stone bridge have
been built complete with nest boxes and these are presently
being used.
Sadly many of our traditional barns have disappeared
from the Ulster countryside but we lovingly saved ours from extinction. The ground floor was originally
used as a byre. The surrounds to the barn were traditional
rough cobbles bedded in clay but these have been painstakingly relaid in recent years.
This is the only area of formal garden and to some extent
was imposed upon us by the nature of the shape of the
space. The link to the countryside has been achieved
with a natural stone wall. Paths have been lined with
a cobble stone edge and box hedging, and to continue
the traditional and natural theme of the garden the
paths have been finished with local grey stone gravel.
This secluded area of the garden has been designed for
quiet contemplation whilst the shelter established here
provides for the growing of more choice plants.
The list is extensive, running to many hundreds, with
something always in flower regardless of the time of
the year. Our favourites for spring are the erythroniums.
All plants are individually labelled in the borders.
The garden is open during normal nursery opening hours but visits for groups can be arranged outside these times.
