Benvarden Garden has won this year’s Northern Ireland’s top award for a privately owned garden. That doesn’t mean that it’s your average home garden. Far from it. This garden and park belonging to a large property near Coleraine on the north coast. It was a pity that in the past week there has been torrential rain in the area and many of the plants have suffered. The large rose garden was particularly hard hit and the park area was very boggy. But the vegetable garden was the best we have ever seen. Oh to have been able to enjoy the veggies and fruits from this garden. So herewith a few photos to give some idea of this special garden.
Old building at the entrance to the kitchen garden.
In days gone by the kitchen garden ‘boy’ slept in a tiny room at the end of this building. Now it houses the gardener’s tools.
A magnificent rooster
Chooks range freely round the grounds with this fellow as master of the lot.
Vegetable beds in the kitchen garden with espaliered fruit trees on the walls
.
Cabbages with not a white butterfly to be seen – they were perfect.
.
A sheltering bank of trees and shrubs behind the kitchen garden.
.
Attention was paid to combining plants with a variety of textures and a variety of greens with a contrasting coloured plant to give some oomph..
.
Raindrops on Lady’s Mantle – always a delight.
.
Large bumble bees were everywhere enjoying a summer feed.
.
Strong coloured flowers were used judiciously to give relief to what is basically a green garden. But as there are something like 700 greens, a green garden is not at all boring especially when there are so many textures of leaves to use.
.
Foxgloves made a statement against the old wall of the garden.
.
Peonies were hard hit by the rain but this one was in a more sheltered spot.
.
The rose garden was decimated but a few survived in sheltered places.
.
A surviving rose!
.
Another rose surviving in a sheltered spot.
.
This clematis was hidden behind a tree – it survived without a blemish.
.
The rain had no effect on the lily pond in the centre of the rose garden!
.
A rose bower on the path to the tennis court. The court itself was neglected. A Pity.
.
A honeysuckle bower led to the large park area beyond the walled garden.
.
Most of the honeysuckle had survived the rain.
.
A large section of the park lands was reserved ‘private’ for the manor house.
.
The pond area was available to the visitor – but much of the park was too boggy.
.
to enjoy the reflections in the pond was worth the walk on a very muddy path.
.
The only dry path lead us back to the farmyard buildings and cobbled courtyard.
.
Unsafe stairs on old buildings were used for pot plant displays.
And back in the car park, a rambling rose.
We hope you have enjoyed this visit to Benvarden Garden – even on a showery day after a stormy week, it’s still a delight.
J and A
I See You See 
Leave a Reply