Mary Ann Van Berlo has been gardening on this 2.4-acre riverfront lot since fall 2012. The yard was still a construction site when she moved in, so all the gardens were installed after that.
19.07.2023 - 11:43 / theenglishgarden.co.uk
Spanning 22 miles between the towns of Torquay and Brixham, the English Riviera in South Devon takes in secluded coves and sandy beaches, fishing villages with cobbled streets, and dramatic red sandstone cliffs and off-shore stacks. The mild climate here makes for some terrific gardens, too.
For centuries South Devon’s relative distance from major cities, combined with its isolated spots, enabled smugglers who relied on tunnels, caves and complicit pub landlords, to transport their loot. These days it’s ‘grockles’, the local term for holidaymakers, that you are most likely to see on the beaches here, especially around fashionable Salcombe.
This characterful region also inspired two of the great English mystery writers. Dame Agatha Christie was born and spent most of her life in the seaside town of Torquay. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle set his fourth Sherlock Holmes novel, The Hound of the Baskervilles, on exposed Dartmoor.
Gardeners will do well to stop at Dartington Hall, near quirky Totnes, known for its independent shops.
Down the coast, on the other side of the river from pretty Dartmouth, Coleton Fishacre is an RHS-accredited garden. Now in the care of the National Trust, it belonged to the D’Oyly Carte family, which made its fortune staging staging Gilbert and Sullivan operas. The garden is home to tender plants from New Zealand and the Mediterranean which thrive in this mild part of England.
Closer to Plymouth, visit exquisite Mothecombe Gardens, where exuberant planting fills the Lutyens-designed walled garden.
Greenway House near Brigham was Agatha Christie’s family holiday home from 1938. The atmospheric Georgian house is fascinating, while the garden overlooking the River Dart contains glasshouses, a fernery and a
Mary Ann Van Berlo has been gardening on this 2.4-acre riverfront lot since fall 2012. The yard was still a construction site when she moved in, so all the gardens were installed after that.
Georgia, with its varied ecological landscapes, is an ideal place for wild plant enthusiasts. The state, from the mountains to the coast, primarily spans USDA Hardiness Zones 6b to 9a, with pockets of 6a in the mountainous regions and 9b in the coastal plains. This wide range of zones fosters an array of Wild Edible Plants in Georgia that you can also grow in the garden.
Gardening for some provides the daily bread, for others, it’s an escape from reality and for you, it might be your favourite hobby. Nevertheless, a garden decorated to your own preferences will act as a source of inspiration and will provide you a place to gather up your thoughts.
Yes, we’re talking about mint! The breath-saving, tummy-taming, taste-boosting mint. At Fantastic Gardeners, we love this refreshing plant, and why wouldn’t we? It is fragrant, easy to grow, and has many beneficial uses in culinary arts, medicine, and cosmetics.
Winter season doesn’t mean you have to turn your back to your flower garden until spring comes. There is a good number of plants that bloom beautifully even in the coldest of weather. Let’s dig into their world and see which ones you will fancy.
Birds make a great addition to your garden, they’re great to look at and they’re useful as well. For instance, they will eat slugs, snails, aphids, insects and other well-known troublemakers.
“As cunning as a fox who’s just been appointed Professor of Cunning at Oxford University” Blackadder Goes Forth, 1989
This archipelago of some 140 islands basks in the Gulf Stream of the Atlantic. The islands’ powdery, white, sandy beaches and warm microclimate, give them a sense of being much further from the rest of Great Britain than they really are.
All the latest garden news and the best UK garden events to look out for in August.
In Yorkshire we are lucky to have several gardens designed using the theme of a Himalayan Garden. The Hut near Ripon at Grewlthorpe is  ‘The Himalayan Garden’ with all the plants you would expect in such a setting including
Britain has some of the best gardens in the world. The choice of which to visit is far larger than this selective list but at least it gives you somewhere to start planning this years outings.
In the cold wet winter it is a good time to plan where to visit as the year improves. The South West is the obvious place to start your visiting tour of gardens containing exotic plants.