Nicholsons Country Gardeners at Broughton Grange

This Thursday the Nicholsons Country Gardeners Club visited Broughton Grange. The Gardens are only open 3 times a year under the NGS scheme, but we were able to have a private viewing in the evening by kind courtesy of the owner. The head gardener Andrew Woods showed us around assisted by the assistant head gardener Alastair. Both were hugely enthusiastioc and obviously passionate about the garden, which is divided up into many zones. There is the more formal parterre with Box and Roses, a stunning Herbacesous border,a woodland garden with peat blocks, a stumpery, 80 acres of Arboretum and a garden designed by Tom Stuart Smith, with it's different levels and a different theme on each level. The views from this part of the garden in the evening are stunning and we were very lucky with the weather.

The tours have been a great success so for those who have not joined the club please do and join us on some great visits and fascinating lectures.

Nicholsons visits Rousham

With our Country Gardeners Club we had a visit to Rousham and were hosted my Charles and Angela Cottrell Dormer who introduced the tour and were kind enough, with their fantastic and energetic head gardener Anne Starling, to show us round these beautiful gardens. The gardens were designed and laid out by William Kent and have remained in the same style and layout ever since.

First Country Gardens Event of 2011

On Thursday the 17th of March we held our first Country Garden Event of the 2011 seaon. This was a talk by the very well known and respected sundial designer and maker David Harber. And followed by a brief introduction to Alitex greenhouses.

David Harber Sundials

I had no idea that Sundials were so beautiful and complex. Not only is the concept of a sundial one of the oldest forms of time measurement in mankind, but the design is hugely involved: each sundial is individually made to be accurate depending on the site it is going in. Depending on the longitude, the sun shines at a different angle and hence the angles of the rings need to be correct to show the shadow - the most accurate sundial is accurate to 15 seconds!!David Harber has spent years perfecting the maths and has not compromised on the beauty and aesthetics of his product. A Sundial is a thing of beauty that is timeless.

Alitex Greenhouses

When you want to see a greenhouse that looks like the old Victorain Glasshouses yet has all the features of a modern greenhouse then Alitex is the make to look at. Hence their accreditaion with the National Trust. Their greenhouses are made of Aluminium - 90% of which is recycled - and are beautifully and sympathetically built.

The next event is on 21st April and has James Alexander-Sinclair speaking.

New Barn at Nicholsons

Nicholsons have just re-erected an old timber framed barn at the main site at North Aston. The barn was originally on one of their clients sites and it was dismantled and carefully re-erected. With a new roof and cladding this will give Nicholsons a perfect barn to use for staff training, staff meetings and for lectures and seminars.

Nicholsons have just launched their Country Gardeners Club with a series of lectures (which will be held in the barn)and visits. Please see the website for further details.