On Thursday 7th August, the garden explorers group enjoyed a lovely afternoon visiting a beautiful garden in Chertsey. We were again blessed with good weather ... we're hoping to make it a full set of rain free garden visits in 2025! That may be indicative of climate change more than anything else - you can see evidence of the eco-friendly hands -off approach taken by owners Jose and Janice to maintaining their lawn in times of drought. Janice has also transformed an area of the garden into a dry rock garden, although she confessed to not sharing husband Jose's affection for cacti. Janice was keen to stress that the garden is at its best in spring, thanks largely to an abundant wisteria by the pond. What a gorgeous image this conjures in the mind - and the group certainly enjoyed viewing the photographs which confirm it. We have vowed to make a repeat visit to see this sight in person. Nevertheless, the flowers that are in bloom at this time of year were in splendid condition ( seemingly unaffected by the lack of rainfall ) and provided plenty of bright, cheery colour long after the spring peak has passed. Of particular note were hydrangeas, dahlias and rudbeckia.
Beyond the planting this garden boasted something to interest everyone-from the Eurasian teals who have made the small pond their home,to the pink canaries in the aviary and even a resident tortoise! Everyone was fascinated by Jose's guitar workshop, a rare chance to see up close how a skilled craftsman assembles this instrument from start to finish. The only thing we couldn't agree on was which cake was most delicious.