Somerset Gardens Trust

Events

2010 Events Programme

Our events are, with the Annual Plant Sale, the main way of raising income to support the aims of the Trust.  Do come to our events and bring your friends.  Friends of members pay £1 supplement over the event price; members of the public pay £2 over the event price (both refundable if they join the Trust at that event).

For further information, or to reserve tickets for any of the following events, please download the SGT 2010 Booking Form March to June or contact Commander David Freemantle, tel: 01984 667202 or email: hartwoodhouse@hotmail.com Maps of venues will be sent with tickets.

16th March - Joint Lecture with The Dorset Gardens Trust.  “Normandy Gardens Historic and Modern” by Helen McCabe – 2.30 p.m. at Digby Hall, Hound Street, Sherborne. Tickets £7 to include tea.

Normandy’s houses and gardens reflect France’s history and culture. England’s medieval past is also closely linked with this part of France. Fortified chateaux, moated manor houses, nineteenth century seaside villas and even a Lutyens/Jekyll Arts and Crafts house near Dieppe are among the buildings covered. Wonderful gardens, including two planted in the 1990’s, demonstrate the colours and atmosphere which have inspired writers and painters.

Helen McCabe studied the history of art and architecture in Paris where she lived for three years. She is a writer and lecturer on English and French country house architecture and garden design.

Tuesday 27 April – Coach trip to Exbury and Longstock

Coach Trip starting from Glastonbury 0800, Taunton 0830 and Wincanton 0915. Cost £33.  Bring and Share picnic.

Exbury Gardens were the inspiration of Lionel Nathan de Rothschild. It was his vision, dedication and resources which have created one of the finest woodland gardens in the country. A visitor once described Exbury as “Heaven with the gates open.” It is a garden for people young and old, horticul­turalist or enthusiastic gardener, or just a lover of beautiful places. From botanical rarities to masses of spectacular colour, there is something for all to enjoy – a place to escape from the cares of the world. Lionel de Rothschild was a keen collector of plants, particularly rhododendrons and azaleas. He was also a highly successful hybridizer of many different species and Exbury is still filled with his creations. This has been continued by his sons Edmund and Leopold and grandsons Nicholas and Lionel, who actively continue to develop the gardens to this day. We shall have briefing greeting from the Head Gardener and then an all too short two hours to tour the garden.

We then drive to Longstock and picnic in the grounds before visiting the garden. Longstock Water Gardens were created after John Spedan Lewis acquired the estate in 1946. With the help of botanist Terry Jones, whose keen eye for colour was invaluable when it came to selecting inspired combinations of plants, Spedan Lewis began an ambitious plan of redevelopment. He trebled the garden in size, adding a wealth of detail to the main lake with promontories, islands and bridges. The water­logged soil meant all the work had to be done by hand, and it was ten long years before the project was completed. Longstock’s head water gardener, Jim Saunders – originally Spedan Lewis’s butler -organised the digging and the garden remained under his stewardship until his retirement in 1983. Today there is still a strong sense of continuity: despite some damage caused by the storms of 1987 and 1990, much of Spedan Lewis’s original concept remains unchanged.

30th May 2010 – Somerset Gardens Trust Cannington Plant Sale at Cannington Gardens, Cannington, TA5 2LS – Entrance £3.50.  No booking required.

It will be impossible to replicate Barford, but it has been agreed that we will have an Open Day at Cannington on the Sunday before the May Bank Holiday. Gates open 10.a.m.  For more information about Cannington, log on to their website – www.canningtonwalledgardens.co.uk.

We are asking for a lot of help for this event. Cannington are being very generous and are allowing us to do some of our own catering and to sell plants on behalf of the Trust. We hope Michael Stancomb’s team will provide lots of plants but could members consider this event when doing their own propa­gating and splitting. Clean pots of unusual or well grown specimens, correctly marked, will be very welcome to swell The Trust’s annual income. If you are able to help please contact Commander Freemantle.  If you are unable to help do come and support us in what we hope will become an annual attraction.

Wednesday 9 June – Forest Lodge and Stavordale Priory.  Own cars. Tickets £18.  Bring & share picnic.

Meet for coffee at Forest Lodge the home of Lucy and James Nelson at 10.30 a.m.  Tour of Garden at 11 a.m.  Created since 1966, the south west facing slope on an acid green sand site has been turned into a 2 acre garden. A formal garden of interesting shapes with roses, camellias and an­cient yews leads the eye to a large pond and newly planted woodland garden. At its best in the Spring with good unusual flowering trees and shrubs.

After lunch visit Stavordale Priory the home of Sir Cameron Mackintosh: the Priory was founded in 1243 by Augustinian Priors: the church was extensively restored in the 15th and 16th centuries: most of the medieval buildings date from then. Stavordale escaped demolition during the Dissolution and became a farm for over 350 years. At the end of the 19th century the owner, a Mr FS Sage, commis­sioned the architect T.E. Colcutt to create a “Gentleman’s Residence”. He created a very Edwardian interior and added the wing joining the church and the Prior’s Lodge. The gardens were laid out with high hedges and formal rose gardens. The Priory changed hands often in the 20th century until Dav­id and Georgia Langton purchased it in the late 1970s. Under their inspiration the house and gardens underwent a major transformation and the garden layout today is based on Georgia’s work for over 15 years. The current owners have added buildings such as the Housekeeper’s Lodge and Swimming Pool and in the gardens added the rill, the grotto and extended the lakes.

After Stavordale, Nigel Rowland of Long Acre Plants, a famous woodland plant nursery nearby at Charlton Musgrove has agreed to open specially for SGT members.

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For further information, or to reserve tickets for any of the above events, please download the SGT 2010 Booking Form March to June or contact Commander David Freemantle, tel: 01984 667202 or email: hartwoodhouse@hotmail.com.  Maps of venues will be sent with tickets.