When we first came to the Old Vicarage 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 garden was designed entirely by ourselves as were the various buildings, our sole aim has been to try and enhance the setting of our home.

 

One of our great joys is to see the pleasure the garden brings to visitors, 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 rare varieties are difficult or slow to increase, so if you see a plant growing in the garden that you would like, do ask, we may have some tucked away.

 

Our garden lies 1½ miles from the North Sea in an exposed prairie landscape containing large arable fields. Many of the wildlife habitats have long been swept away and we have endeavoured throughout the garden to replace these by the planting of mixed hedgerows, banks, wildflower areas and ponds.

 

The soil here is of excellent quality, a light sandy loam with a neutral pH. Due to the maritime influence the garden suffers little in the way of serious frost damage and we have planted large shelter belts of Pinus radiata, the Monterey Pine, Alnus cordata, the Italian alder and many Eucalyptus. This enhances the garden’s unique microclimate which enables us to grow such a huge range of plants.