June Blake's Garden

Head Gardener's Comment

June Blake is a passionate plantswoman who runs a remarkable garden and small rare plants nursery from her home, an early Victorian, steward’s cottage. The gardens extend over approximately three acres and contain an eclectic collection of plants from around the world. The garden includes areas of exciting, bold herbaceous planting and serene stillness including a sublime shade garden of ferns, grasses and bamboos punctuated by enormous granite boulders. There is a shallow, linear reflecting pool with an austere sheet of motionless water set amidst exuberant tropical and prairie planting. The garden’s strong skeleton of wide gravel paths leads the eyes along lush borders with ever-changing combinations of hardy and tender herbaceous and woody plants in huge beds of hot colours and shady retreats retained by dry stone walls. There is an allee of 2.5m Dicksonia squarrosa, to give views of architectural, scultpural, horticultural and pastoral elements within the gardens.