GRESGARTH HALL

Gresgarth hall is the home of Arabella Lennox-Boyd, who is a nationally acclaimed English landscape and garden designer. She and her husband Mark purchased the property in 1978 and over the years have made many changes to the gardens. The property lies near the village of Caton, in Lancashire, on a tributary of the Lune called Artle Beck. 12 acres are now under cultivation. The house takes its name from the Norse Gresgarth meaning "Boar Yard" and a copy of the Calydonian boar, found in the Uffizi museum in Florence, takes center stage on the lawn at the front of the house.

The gardens are only open one Sunday a month during the season and as luck would have it we were there for the June 7th open day. This particular day was in aid of the Conservative party so I wasn't surprised to find rather a different crowd from the usual garden visitors. This turned out to be rather a good thing as most people seemed quite happy to hob nob on the lawn or at the tea tables leaving most of the garden spaces quiet.
My photographs don't quite capture the splendid terraces we encountered as we walked round the back of the house. Roses were everywhere, in full bloom, and scaling the walls of the house.

Intimate seating areas filled with catmint, lavender and roses.

The beck encircles the house and can be crossed by the Chinese bridge festooned with clematis. Someone has made good use of willow branches to create a unique seating area around this tree.
This year I was introduced to the handkerchief tree, Davidia involucrata, which is putting on a spectacular performance in England this year due to a cool spell at the start of the year and a very wet spring. We saw it blooming in many gardens.

Looking back towards the house across the lake. 

Every great house has a walled kitchen garden and this one is probably the best I have ever seen.
Through the kitchen garden gate.

I love the wattle fencing used to contain the beds. Usually made used young willow branches but other sapling branches can be used as long as they are supple.

A row of forcing jars. I wonder what was growing underneath them.

Pathways were of a generous size.

I had to put in this foxglove. I have only once had success in my own garden and that was when I purchased the plants in the nursery in the spring. despite having grown from seed and over wintered this biennial, with healthy leaves, they just never flowered.

The pebble pathways were exquisite. I have never seen such fine work. They add such interest to any garden.

Ah! The greenness of it all. The herbaceous border, a must in any English garden. You can just see the pleached limes in the background. Did I expect my garden to be so green when I got back to Texas? In my dreams.

This garden is an absolute must when visiting the north of England. I will be keeping my eye on the open days and will plan my trips accordingly.