The large and mature, if overgrown, garden was a major factor in deciding to buy the Dell House.  We saw the opportunity to recover what clearly had been a magnificent garden, and to share it with others.  We have cleared vast quantities of ivy, bindweed, brambles and laurel; found and restored paths.  We have had major tree works carried out: felling dangerous trees; cutting out dead wood and scrub to give space and light for the remaining trees.  

November 2014

The area that is now a paved terrace was an uneven lawn and grass bank. In the 70s this had been a gravelled area with adjacent lawn, it seems that the grass encroached to entirely subsume the gravel, which explains some of the curious contours.  In the autumn of 2015 we had this area reworked, creating the paved terrace, beds, lawns and paved paths.  The structural planting was done in spring 2016, with the most of the bank planting done in 2019.

Work in progress November 2015

June 2020 and the planting is getting established

The lower garden where the Wendy House is was 8ft deep in brambles and bindweed when we moved in.  A swing and climbing frame were hidden under the growth, as was the large fallen Poplar trunk.  We spent much of the first autumn clearing, and planted the Silver Birch copse in 2015 and recovered the Wendy House.  We are keeping this part of the garden more natural, and encouraging wildflowers. 

The Lower garden in September 2014

The Wendy house in September 2014

Clearance well underway in November 2014

The lower garden in April 2020

A particular theme of the garden which has emerged is tree carvings.

For more photos of the garden now go to the Gallery