Posted by ProLandscaper on Friday, October 19, 2012 ? Leave a Comment?
Image from www.thevegetarianexperience.co.uk
Unique is a word that should rarely be used but in the case of the organic gardens at Holt Farm near Blagdon we can make an exception.
The six-and-a-half acres of contemporary organic gardens tucked away on the shore of Blagdon Lake have earned the description as they are the only ornamental gardens in the country to be certified organic by the Soil Association.
The organic status makes them a pretty special place to visit not just for the keen gardener but for those like me who like to potter with a more luck than judgement approach.
The gardens are just over the garden fence from a family business which started life on the farmhouse table and has grown into the Yeo Valley brand.
Yeo Valley, famous for yogurt, butter and rapping farmers, remains true to its roots and is still very much a family business based in its home village.
The gardens themselves are a labour of love for city girl Sarah who moved to Holt Farm when she married Tim Mead, the man behind Yeo Valley and the son of Roger and Mary Mead who farmed there.
Born and brought up in London and a trained dancer, Sarah has spent the last 18 years learning to garden from scratch and she shares her passion for the garden with her enthusiastic and knowledgeable team.
It's her inspiration that has transformed the much smaller garden she inherited into a personal and contemporary haven much admired by visitors who are fortunate to visit what is effectively the family's back garden.
The team is led by head gardener James Cox who has a background in horticulture and worked at Birmingham Botanic Gardens, Antony House and Highgrove House before moving to the Mendips in 2006.
Since arriving at Holt Farm he has introduced many of the organic systems and is proud of the fact that the gardens operate on a closed circuit organic system with the team limiting what is brought into the garden.
His enthusiasm for compost know no bounds and is happy to demonstrate how to make a good compost to visitors and explain just why it is so important to care for plants and soil.
His knowledge and fervour and that of the team at Holt Farm are passed on to visitors who join the popular garden tours throughout the summer where they hey can share tips and new ideas.
The gardens themselves are now significantly larger than the original farm garden and are laid out to create rooms within rooms and even an old Mini parked at the entrance becomes a flowering attraction.
The vegetable garden produces the organic fruit and vegetables which are used in the tea room while the ornamental gardens are full of colour year round.
Even a glasshouse is used not only to house semi-tropical plants but to bring on seedlings for the garden.
There are meadows that are a riot of colour as well as a more formal garden with a beautiful reflective pool and a cool birch grove with a shady winding path.
Sculptures are dotted round and individual ironwork transforms the gates.
James and his team love to share their knowledge and talk about problems encountered by gardeners everywhere.
Even in this garden the team have a continual battle against the common enemy ? slugs. Just like gardeners everywhere they have tried everything to combat the problem from crushed oyster shells, pelted sheep wool which expands in water and dregs from their local Butcombe Beer.
At the moment the most effective treatment is prevention by using copper rings around the plants and now Yeo Valley Organic Garden designer Eileen O'Donnell jokes that they are waiting for abseiling slugs!
The garden tour ends in the gravel garden with views to Blagdon Lake. From the terrace you can view the garden and at the same time watch geese take off across the lake. It is this garden that James recalls there was real effort in removing soil to get rid of the bindweed.
He said: "One of the greatest challenges is that we have to plan about two or three years ahead if we want to introduce new plants into the garden."
The gardens are open on a limited basis from April to October but you can also enjoy a garden tour with James, which not only gives you a privileged insight into the work that goes on in the garden but includes a cookery demonstration by a guest chef, and on the day I visited that was Paul Collins, who was executive chef at The Grove in Hertfordshire.
The tours include a lunch prepared from the ingredients grown in the garden as well as tasty morning coffee and afternoon tea treats.
For more information on garden and tours go here
Original article found here
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Source: http://prolandscapermagazine.com/?p=5738
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