Wednesday, 1 July 2015

Lullington Open Gardens

It was the weekend and, for a change, the weather was glorious. 

It was the time of year that the villagers of Lullington, a village not too far away, open their gardens to the public. 

The rest of the family were going so I managed to get Martin to agree to tag along. It's not really his thing and his knees are giving him some real gip at the moment so he's not really that keen on walking very far. 

We all met up at the cricket club car park and started out with a wander round the church to look at tables full of random farm and kitchen paraphernalia and a bit of a WW2 exhibition. 

We then started out on our walk round the village, to have a sneaky peek behind the back gates of those who were brave enough, and had worked hard enough, to put their gardens on show. 

There were 12 gardens open for viewing in total, along with a vintage car display, a few plant stalls and plenty of opportunity for refreshments along the way. 

The gardens were a real mixture of everyday ordinary to really lovely but all had something to just pique your interest, be it a good view, an interesting plant or a lovely shady spot to rest our
legs. 

Garden number 5 was a real treat. Though it is a fairly small garden it was jam packed full of interesting things to look at with some really lovely planting. 
On the forecourt of the garage next door, there was a real good display of vintage cars to keep the boys entertained. 
It was then round a couple more gardens, before heading through the field, with lots more vintage cars on display and some very nice hot dogs and burgers, which went down a treat in the warm sunshine. 
On to Garden number 8 and the front was beautifully planted with a lovely display of delphiniums and lupins framing a lovely view of the village church across the field. The back was really pretty too. 
It was then into garden number 10 and the high point here had to be the views across open countryside beyond. 
This is the second time that we have visited the open gardens in Lullington. The last time was two
years ago. We all remembered visiting Garden number 11, as the family had literally only just moved in and the garden, whilst lovely, needed a lot of work. It was lovely to visit again and see how it is progressing. Lots has been done in the top half of the garden and it is looking really pretty. There is still work to be done in the bottom half, which the family are planning on using as an allotment. 
The next garden had some really lovely views of the church and a bit of an antiquity ...... a manual lawn mower.  The climbing hydrangea was a real beauty.
Another garden and another really pretty view of the church. This one also had a very nice wrought iron garden swing ..... now I could quite fancy one of those.
Garden number 14 was also lovely. It was huge and was entered via an arched walkway. We saw the most beautiful peony and the vegetable beds were a sight to behold. All far further on than
ours are at home. 
From here it was quick wander round the green before heading to the village hall for a well needed drink and a sneaky piece of cake ...... The ladies did say they were all calorie free so I didn't feel too guilty.  

















Finally we were on to the last garden of our visit and the highlight of this one, again, had to be the lovely view of the church, framed by a really pretty clematis. 
We were then back where we began, at the church, and it was back to car and the treat of the air conditioning as we headed back to our own little piece of garden at number 27. 
Whilst Martin isn't keen on looking round other peoples gardens I just love it. It's a real chance to have a good wander round a pretty little village and to get inspiration for our own garden and, sometimes, to think that ..... You know what ...... We ain't doing too bad at all.

And finally ....... not that I'm in the least bit religious, but I did like this plaque that we spotted on our wanderings.









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