East Ruston Old Vicarage
Welcome
ALAN GRAY and GRAHAM ROBESON would like to take this opportunity to
welcome you to our garden here at East Ruston Old Vicarage. Because this is
our
private garden created for our own enjoyment there are no signs to direct you;
there
is however a map and a key index in our brochure.
When we came here there was no garden whatsoever, it was a blank canvas.
This was no bad thing because it afforded us the opportunity to vent our creativity.
Every part of the garden was designed entirely by ourselves as were all the
various
buildings. We have used no outside help and our sole aim has been to try and
enhance
the setting of our home.
One of our great joys is to see the pleasure that the garden can bring to many
of the visitors and that everybody seems to find some part of it that is special
to
them. Throughout the garden you will see many rare and unusual plants growing.
We endeavour to propagate from these in small numbers so that they may be
purchased from the plant sales area. Many of these varieties are difficult
or slow to
increase, hence their rarity, so if you see a plant growing in the garden that
you would
like, do ask, we may have some tucked away for you to purchase as a souvenir
of
your time spent here.
The Old Vicarage lies one and a half miles from the North Sea in an exposed
prairie
landscape containing large arable fields. Many of the wildlife habitats for
birds and
mammals have long been swept away. We have endeavoured throughout the garden
to
replace some of these by the planting of mixed hedgerows, banks, wildflower
areas
and ponds.
The soil here is of excellent quality being a light sandy loam with a neutral
pH.
Due to the maritime influence the garden suffers less from extensive frosts
and we
have planted large shelter belts of Pinus radiata, the Monterey pine, Alnus
cordata, the
Italian alder and many eucalypts. This also enhances the garden’s unique
micro-climate
which enables us to grow such a huge range of plants.