Tuesday 16 June 2015

A Garden Safari

I'd never been on a Garden Safari before, but I saw this one advertised, rang a friend to see if she was interested in joining me - and off we went. 
It was in and around a small village not far away, the weather looked reasonable - and we had a lovely afternoon out.  I hope you enjoy the photographs.

This was the first garden - and the first time the owners had taken part in a Safari, so were understandably nervous; the husband said he hadn't been able to sleep for the last two nights!
I love the Wedding Cake Tree on the right . . . but the Rose bed on the left was visited by deer just a month ago and all the buds and tips were eaten. More Rose bushes were bought and planted, then on the night before the Open Day, the deer came back and did it all over again - no buds again.

 There were 7 gardens altogether, some manicured and immaculate, some real working gardens, more like allotments; some were easy to negotiate and some were on very steep hillsides which needed lots of energy to view, let alone to do the gardening. All were a credit to their hard-working owners but  I'll let the photos tell the story -



 A very cleverly camouflaged tap -


 A lovely view across the River Tamar -





This was a very welcome sight after all that walking! A cup of tea and a slice of Lemon Drizzle cake, please!

A table with a view to die for.

This beautiful tree takes up almost the whole of a tiny front garden  - but the owners weren't around to ask what sort of tree it was. Behind the cottage was a very unexpected HUGE garden built on a steep hillside.




The herbs planted between these steps gave off a wonderful perfume as people brushed past them -

Narrow paths kept leading on to unexplored areas -

 - and there were seats strategically planted for admiring the views and taking a breather.




 We admired the complexity of the slate paths, which must have taken hours of back-breaking work.







9 comments:

  1. What beautiful gardens!!! So many lovely details. It must have been wonderful to visit them. The owners should all be very pleased and proud! xx

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  2. What a treat! I can imagine being very nervous, but they had no need to be. How sad that the deer ate the rosebuds.

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  3. Hello, and thanks for visiting my blog! You live in an amazing area. I "googled" Bodmin Moor and the photos just amazed me. Lucky you to have such a place to ramble.

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    1. It is a wonderful area and we're not far from the sea, either, so have the best of both worlds. The weather on the Moor can be a bit bleak and wild at times - rain and high winds - but somehow the garden survives with only a few casualties. I have learned to plant tall things like Delphiniums and Hollyhocks in amongst established tall things for protection and I hunt nightly for those pesky slugs!!!

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  4. A wonderful safari, we are lucky in this country with the gardens that are open to visit during the year. I like the old tree that looks as if it has fell over but is still growing.(Or has it been trained?)

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    1. It's an ancient tree that has needed supporting and trimming in the past; it has thrown up extra branches and grown into that shape. A real character, isn't it?

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  5. Your photos are wonderful. I love peeking at other people's" gardens! I like the rock gardens and the steps.

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  6. what a GORGEOUS place!!! i LOVED the tree chair!!!!

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  7. I wanted to pinch that! It would add a real talking point to my garden.

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