Then and Then and Now!

Great Dixter, Then & Now is the title and I suppose “Then, Then and Now” would have been too cumbersome a title for this small volume but it would have reflected the contents more accurately for this is a pictorial tour of the garden illustrated with present-day photographs, others taken by Christopher Lloyd himself and …

Wollerton Old Hall and Connected Thoughts!

The garden which draws you back has obviously something which attracts you. My first visit to Wollerton Old Hall, near Market Drayton, Shropshire, England, was an unfortunate disaster. I loved the garden but was so ill that it was a challenge to enjoy it. I went to hospital in Chester that evening and spent a …

The Maestros and the Alley Cats!

We attended two outstanding talks yesterday at Altamont Plants, part of the Carlow Garden Festival. I could not exaggerate how much I enjoyed both talks and what a wonderful credit the occasion was to Robert Millar, at Altamont Plants, and to Carlow Tourism who are the leading promoters and organisers of the festival. On this …

The Art of Making Gardens

The show garden designer should not stray too far from the garden, we would imagine; it is the aim of his work but also the source of his inspiration and a detachment from the hands-on experience of working in a garden may leave the designer working in a vacuum with the danger that his creations …