GARDENS & ARBORETUM

plus see plan outline of the gardens

The Top Pond

The Circle

* a living exhibition of plants

* The 'HAZEL HUDDLESTON' Plant Collection

* a design concept based on informality, low maintenance, and all year round interest

* a garden for today & the future

* a peaceful quiet ambience, a perfect setting

Started in 1998, the gardens are being landscaped and planted in phases – incorporating the many different types of trees, shrubs, perennials, groundcover, climbers, herbs and rock garden plants, in the Plant Collection, currently standing at over 2500 different types. and includes many traditional favourites, as well as some very unusual specimens.

This is a plantspersons garden - with a unique new design, established from 1998. With year round interest - it is a garden to seek inspiration with many interesting features and views to enjoy – a wonderful place to unwind for a couple of hours, in the beautiful tranquil heart of Northumberland.

Visitors catch a glimpse of the gardens as they drive into the Centre, but it is not until you walk through the gardens that you get the full value of the planting schemes. As the seasons progress, the different associations and groupings of plants come into their own. It is hoped the gardens will have something of interest for everyone – the discerning plantsperson and the casual passer-by. Planting design has included all the aesthetic values of plants – flower, foliage, stem, texture, scent, colour, shape – and includes plants of interest for all seasons. A garden would not be a garden, if it did not have water in it somewhere – two large ponds were constructed, with connecting waterway. The heavy soil lends itself really well to moisture loving marginal plants, so favourites such as Hosta, Astilbe, Primula japonica, Filipendula, Polygonum, Ranunculus and of course Gunnera manicata, to name but a few, do really well in the planting scheme. As more and more phases are implemented, and more plants are added to the collection, the more impressive the gardens will become.

The Wild Flower Meadow