When it comes to favourite places in the garden, everyone has their own spot that they love. Since I started working at Beth's, I’ve discovered so many hidden gems that I would have simply overlooked in the past. I’ve only been working at the Gardens for 8 months so I haven’t experienced it through all the seasons yet, but I’m looking forward to discovering new locations here that amaze me.
My all time favourite place in the garden has remained the same since I first visited in 2015, and it will probably forever remain my favourite. Standing under the eucalyptus in the Gravel Garden, looking up and admiring the shape, colour and size of the tree, it's just such a beautiful view. And on a sunny day you could easily fool yourself into thinking you were in Australia! I love that the eucalyptus looks pretty much the same all year round while everything beneath it is continually changing.
A place that often gets missed, but looks absolutely stunning in the autumn, is the reflection garden/ silent space. Last autumn, with the help of the 2023 interns, we built a dead hedge and also planted a variety of bulbs into this area. The view over the dead hedge and through the yellow oak leaves frames the reservoir so perfectly. It looks best with either the autumn morning sunlight streaming in, or in the evening when the reservoir is lit up with the sun going down behind it.
During winter, the Water Garden looks amazing. The different structures of bare trees when you look up are reflected in the different structure of the snowdrops when you look down, especially between the taxodium and the English oak at the right of the Water Garden. I love that you see it so flat and colourless and then can watch it all regrow throughout the year and become green and lush even through the hottest summers.
Before I started working in the garden, I often didn’t notice spring passing by, so watching all the flowers bloom this year has been such a joy! My favourite places in the garden to see these spring blooms has been the Gravel Garden with its sea of blue Scilla sardensis, and the woodland which is covered in all different colours and shapes. My favourite spot in particular has been in between both bridges in the woodland, there is a small path with a big patch of Cardamine quinquefolia that catches the morning sunlight and looks sensational.
I'm looking forward to seeing what the gardens look like during the summer months!
Written by apprentice Hannah
Tricia