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Barn House Garden

~ A garden set in the Wye Valley

Barn House Garden

Category Archives: National Garden Scheme

NGS Open Day June 2017 and Plans for 2018

30 Friday Jun 2017

Posted by kate@barnhouse in Gardening, National Garden Scheme

≈ 16 Comments

Last week’s grassy wand-waving, aided by your kind well-wishes, seemed to pay off. Despite the iffy weather forecast and localised heavy downpours, Brockweir Common stayed dry for Sunday afternoon’s garden visitors. This year, we have a lot both to be thankful for, and, to think about ….

NGS day gate duty

Mia the cat inspecting the happy troops at the end of the afternoon.

A dry day was a relief to our furry meeters and greeters, as garden visitors are much more inclined to make a fuss of dry dogs 😉.

NGS day 2017 - teas on the terrace

Here comes Brian with his camera.

Nearly two hundred visitors raised lots of money for the National Garden Scheme, Gwent Wildlife Trust, Alzheimer Society and Brockweir Moravian Church. Among the more familiar faces was a lovely surprise – fellow garden blogger Brian and his wife of Our Garden@19.

NGS ticket roll with new gate logo

86 tickets sold to date, paws crossed, many more to come from small groups over the next few months ….

Visitor numbers were a little lower than last year, but this gave us more time to chat with people. Happily, as a newer garden, Greenfields enjoyed the lion’s share (114). The straw poll taken at the gates shows that most visitors are still attracted by what used to be called  ‘The Yellow Book” as well as the county booklets.

NGS road signs

Mia, our furry foreman, testing the signs – the old corrugated ones seem sturdier.

Despite the rebranding, which I wrote about back in March here, proportionally fewer visitors seem to find gardens via the attractive new website or social media. Speaking to other NGS garden owners and our trusty Assistant County Orgainsers, the new stationary may be less effective than we’d like it to be. The feedback seems to be that due the new poster’s background colour and quirky font the lettering is less visible from the roadside, plus there’s less information available to browsers of notice boards. For instance, both Greenfields and Barn House gardens are open by appointment, yet, this is no longer advertised on the posters. Another local NGS garden owner thinks that this sort of thing could be addressed if garden owners had access to the unique font and so were able to create/customise their own publicity material.

Parking field

The hay meadow we use for parking on big NGS days, small groups park on the property or in neighbouring lay-bys.

Maybe it’s going to take a while longer for garden visitors to switch to using the internet, yet, having set up a garden website in 2015 my experience is that this isn’t the whole story. Following the garden’s feature on Gardener’s World in August 2016 Hitesh noticed that our sleepy little WordPress website stats hit the roof causing us to fear ensung gridlock on the lane not to mention mayhem in the parking field. Luckily, the virtual interest translated into a far more manageable 85 visitors spread over the 8 weeks after the programme was aired.

Parking on occasional days is between the gates

Designed as doggie air-locks, two sets of double gates, one shown above, provide parking on occasional days.

Hitesh also pointed out that it’s a bit odd that this is the first year that Askimet hasn’t shown any referrals from the new NGS website.

The maze of tranquil lanes criss-crossing the commons were designed for ponies and traps ….

One way or another, hundreds of intrepid garden visitors have found their way to us since we first opened the gates in July 2013. Over the last 5 years we have hosted an NGS Open Day 8 times, in addition to which 20 groups will have visited by appointment by the end of September 2017. While there has been keen interest in the garden from further afield, such as from Swansea or Bath, it seems unlikely that many regional groups, with a sensible preference for travel by coach, would as happily brave longer journeys by car. Maybe they’ve heard that the secluded Lower Wye Valley’s winding lanes are charmingly pretty but prohibitively narrow?

Plant sales and Portaloo

This year’s plant sales area helped disguise the Portaloo. So far BH takings for Brockweir Moravian Church are £196.

This may be a blessing in disguise. Never mind the country lanes, our country drains wouldn’t cope with large parties without creating an almighty fuss.

Mackenzie Hall

The village hall : an alternative venue for teas as suggested by another NGS garden owner. BH teas on the big day were £80, also for BMC.

I’m considering a low-key opening of the garden in 2018 on a set day for a local charity while offering the garden to groups of 10-30 by appointment on behalf of the NGS. (Interested individuals or organisers considering a group visit are always most welcome, contact details are given on the website’s Visit page.)

Bindweed

Calystegia sepium 😉

For the last 3 years we’ve deliberately opened early in the summer, to show that a naturalistic garden doesn’t look too bad in June, months before ornamental grasses are ‘supposed’ to look good. Why, even the hedgerow bindweed winding its way up the bamboo canes looked rather marvellous to me ….

Update : On the afternoon of Friday 30th June, NGS garden owners received an email from Chief Executive George Plumptre reassuring us that teething problems with the new website, posters etc. would be addressed for 2018.

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A New Look for the National Garden Scheme!

17 Friday Mar 2017

Posted by kate@barnhouse in National Garden Scheme

≈ 31 Comments

Tags

National Garden Scheme

Eagle-eyed garden visitors in search of snowdrops or hellebores may have noticed that the National Garden Scheme has had a face lift. Offically, however, the new brand wasn’t launched until earlier this week at the Royal Festival Hall in London, alongside the announcement of this year’s record donations of £3 million.

National garden scheme launch 2017

Investec sponsor the scheme, hence the zebras awaiting the audience

To top it all, 2017 is the 90th anniversary of the scheme – it must have been quite an occasion. Since its foundation in 1927 the organisation has donated over £50 million to charity and is the most signifanct funder of nursing charities in the UK. If you’d like to see how this year’s donations were distributed you can read about it here.

The new year book

The rebranding was announced to some 3800 garden owners who volunteer to open their gates on behalf of the scheme in the run up to Christmas. The news came in the form of an interesting video presention by our Chief Executive, George Plumptre, and brand consultants from Big Fish. Quite a few changes have been made to freshen up our image and so, we hope, will encourage a wider range of people to visit our gardens. My first glimpse of the 2017 Garden Visitor’s Handbook came earlier this month just as Narcissus pseudonarcissus burst into bloom.

The old and new road signs

Mia, our ever curious cat is always keen to see what’s new in the garden

Last week, our South Gloucestershire County Organisers made their annual rounds to drop off the large pack of publicity material which includes the year book, county pamphlets, posters and signs. Garden owners like me spend time checking that details are correct, but, this year, I was also curious to see how the new look compared with the old. Superimposed upon the new gate logo, in uniquely stylised lettering, is the name ‘National Garden Scheme’ and the word ‘Open’. Significantly, the name has been simplified and the ‘s’ has been dropped in what was ‘Gardens’. The background colour is still yellow but of a richer, warmer hue. Then there’s a raft of playful icons designed to inject personality into the brand, everything from teacups to plant sales ….

New sign for teas 'Fancy a cuppa?'

Ganesha, the god of change and new beginnings presiding over the new sign for teas

Perhaps I shouldn’t mention that albeit ‘trendy’ colloquial contractions like ‘Fancy a Cuppa’ just make me cringe, but, hey ho, they do!

New face of the national garden scheme

The new look of the National Garden Scheme website

Of course, the website has been given the same professional treatment too, and looks to me like a real improvement on what we had before. Let’s face it, in this day and age, website information is probably becoming the main portal for visitors in search of an open garden. In addition, the National Garden Scheme Find a Garden app can be downloaded which saves scrabbling around for a book in the glove compartment of your car.

In celebration of the scheme’s big birthday, there will be a special open garden Anniversary Weekend on 27th – 29th May. Of the 400 gardens that will be opening, 12 originally opened in 1927. Keen photographers might like to check out the competition that will be launched from May 27th, details of which are available here.

Mary Berry in her beautiful garden

© Andrew Crowley, The Telegraph, 13th June, 2015. Mary Berry, the queen of cakes, in her beautiful garden, Penn, which she opened for more than twenty years.

There are some great prizes to be won and, as President of the scheme, the wonderful Mary Berry says “I am looking forward to welcoming the winner to my garden”.

Posters old and new

Posters old (2016 left) and new (2017, right)

Greenfields and Barn House are proud to be opening their gates again this year on Sunday 25th June, as well as by appointment from June to September. The question of how to raise the profile of this marvellous organisation is a good one. Perhaps we shall quiz a few of our garden visitors about this over a cup of tea and slice of lemon drizzle cake?

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Exciting News from the BBC

15 Monday Aug 2016

Posted by kate@barnhouse in Gardeners' World 2016, National Garden Scheme

≈ 81 Comments

Answering the phone on Friday evening, I sighed thinking ‘oh please, not another sales call’. Wrong : the caller was a researcher letting us know the garden will be on Gardener’s World on Friday 19th August, BBC2 at 8.30pm.

Filming Barn House Garden, BBC Gardener's World

Filmed in late October 2015, the footage was to be shown this autumn. Hearing that it had been brought forward was a nice surprise.

NGS logo

Who knows, given that the garden is open until the end of September we may even enjoy a few more NGS visitors?

Abigail Rex image : Hitesh and Kate September 2015

Image © Abigail Rex, September 2015

As confusing as it may seem to viewers, we’re described as a Gloucestershire couple living in a Welsh postcode whose grassy garden was “inspired by living in the Far East”. Given the blurb, I’m hoping for some esoteric ‘dingly-dangly’ music to complete the Bermuda Triangle effect.

UPDATE :

The footage of Barn House Garden is 15 mins into the YouTube video.

If you’d like to see what the garden looked like last October please press play.

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Garden Journal

  • Wordless Wednesday : Veronicastrum virginicum ‘Pink Glow’ August 16, 2017
  • Wordless Wednesday : Hedychium spicatum from Tibet August 2, 2017
  • Wordless Wednesday : Self-seeded Nasturtiums July 26, 2017
  • Wordless Wednesday : A Misted Spider’s Web July 19, 2017
  • Wordless Wednesday : Sanguisorbia tenuifolia var. alba July 12, 2017
  • Wordless Wednesday : Clematis ‘Etoile Violette’ July 5, 2017
  • NGS Open Day June 2017 and Plans for 2018 June 30, 2017
  • Wordless Wednesday : A Bit of Light Relief June 28, 2017
  • Wordless Wednesday : Fascinating Fasciation June 21, 2017
  • ‘Lamprothyrsus hieronymi!’ A Grassy Magic Spell for NGS Day June 19, 2017
  • Wordless Wednesday : Clematis ‘Pangbourne Pink’ June 14, 2017
  • Wordless Wednesday : Paeonia x lemoinei ‘Souvenir de Maxime Cornu’ June 7, 2017
  • Wordless Wednesday : Raindrops on a Favourite Rose May 31, 2017
  • Wordless Wednesday : A Tiny Teatime Treat May 24, 2017
  • Wordless Wednesday : Iris sibirica ‘Tropic Night’ May 17, 2017
  • The Many Charms of a Fine Old Apple Tree April 30, 2017
  • Wordless Wednesday : Tulip Brown Sugar April 12, 2017
  • Wordless Wednesday : Magnolia x soulangeana ‘Rustica Rubra’ April 5, 2017
  • Wordless Wednesday : Magnolia stellata March 22, 2017
  • A New Look for the National Garden Scheme! March 17, 2017
  • Wordless Wednesday : Greeting the Sun March 8, 2017
  • Sesleria autumnalis : A New Grass for the Little Meadow? February 17, 2017
  • Wordless Wednesday : Fluffy Seed Heads February 15, 2017
  • Wordless Wednesday : A Little Bit of Cheer February 8, 2017
  • Wordless Wednesday : Hydrangea paniculata ‘Pinky Winky’ February 1, 2017
  • Wordless Wednesday : Frosted Phlomis January 25, 2017
  • Wordless Wednesday : Windswept January 11, 2017
  • Wordless Wednesday : Crystal Flowers January 4, 2017
  • Getting Ready for a Christmas Break December 19, 2016
  • Wordless Wednesday : Sticky Seedheads December 14, 2016
  • Morning Walks in Helsbury Park December 7, 2016
  • Wordless Wednesday : Persicaria vacciniifolia November 23, 2016
  • Wordless Wednesday : Wind Dancers November 16, 2016
  • Wordless Wednesday : Vitis vinifera ‘Rondo’ November 9, 2016
  • Surprisingly Blue Roundhead Mushrooms November 5, 2016
  • Wordless Wednesday : An acer and its grassy friends November 2, 2016
  • Wordless Wednesday : Something Nasty in the Woodshed October 26, 2016
  • Wordless Wednesday : The Remains of the Day October 19, 2016
  • Wordless Wednesday : Touched with Fire October 12, 2016
  • Westonbirt Arboretum : Walkies in Silk Wood October 4, 2016
  • Wordless Wednesday : Shadows and Sunlight September 28, 2016
  • Wordless Wednesday : Pennisetum alopecuroides ‘Red Head’ September 21, 2016
  • Wordless Wednesday : Curiouser and Curiouser …. September 14, 2016
  • A Room with a View …. September 6, 2016
  • Wordless Wednesday : Moody Blues August 31, 2016
  • The Chatty Gardener August 27, 2016
  • Exciting News from the BBC August 15, 2016
  • Wordless Wednesday : A Sleepy Bee August 10, 2016
  • Wordless Wednesday : Stipa gigantea Going for Gold August 3, 2016
  • Wordless Wednesday : Glowing in the Twilight July 27, 2016
  • Nearly Wordless Wednesday : Ladies in Lavender July 19, 2016
  • Wordless Wednesday : Nasturtiums and Summer Showers July 13, 2016
  • NGS Day 2016 July 5, 2016
  • Wordless Wednesday : Papaver somniferum June 29, 2016
  • NGS Day June 26th 2016 : Gates Open Today from 1-5.30pm June 26, 2016
  • Wordless Wednesday : The Common Spotted Orchid June 22, 2016
  • Wordless Wednesday : Siberian Iris ‘Silver Edge’ June 15, 2016
  • Wordless Wednesday : Hanging by a Thread June 8, 2016
  • Wildlife Wednesday – A Perfect Storm June 2, 2016
  • The Cedar Stump : A Happy Ending May 31, 2016
  • Wordless Wednesday : Happy Wanderers May 25, 2016
  • Wordless Wednesday : After the Rain May 18, 2016
  • Wordless Wednesday : Coming in to land …. May 11, 2016
  • Springtime Sport in the Meadow May 8, 2016
  • Wordless Wednesday : Tulip ‘Orange Emperor’ May 4, 2016
  • A Walk in a Bluebell Wood May 1, 2016
  • Wordless Wednesday : Anemone nemerosa April 27, 2016
  • Wordless Wednesday : Epimedium pinnatum April 20, 2016
  • April is the sweetest month …. April 16, 2016
  • Wordless Wednesday : Viola odorata April 13, 2016
  • Evergreen grasses : to cut or not to cut? April 8, 2016
  • Replacing the Vine Pergola April 3, 2016
  • Wordless Wednesday : Spot the difference March 30, 2016
  • Bringing In the Sheaves March 24, 2016
  • Wordless Wednesday : Hedgerow Treasures March 23, 2016
  • Wordless Wednesday : Soaking up the spring sunshine March 16, 2016
  • Chionochloa : A Case of Mistaken Identity March 12, 2016
  • Wordless Wednesday : Catkins March 9, 2016
  • The story of the big blue cedar February 27, 2016
  • Wordless Wednesday : Welcome signs of Spring February 24, 2016
  • Wordless Wednesday : snow drops February 17, 2016
  • The plight of the honey bee February 14, 2016
  • Wordless Wednesday : Cyclamen coum February 10, 2016
  • Pennisetum alopecuroides : a late winter friend February 6, 2016
  • Wordless Wednesday : Yellow crocus February 3, 2016
  • Touches of Frost January 23, 2016
  • Happy New Year January 3, 2016
  • Pinetum Park and Pine Lodge in winter December 21, 2015
  • Eragrostis curvula : African weeping love grass November 28, 2015
  • Tall purple moor-grass : Molinia caerulea subsp. arundinacea November 7, 2015
  • Autumn musings : Lofty cultivars of Miscanthus sinensis October 30, 2015
  • Filming Barn House garden for BBC Gardeners’ World 2016 October 21, 2015
  • Choosing a dwarf miscanthus October 14, 2015
  • Oudolf Field in Autumn October 7, 2015
  • A Tale of Two Himalayan Fairy Grasses … October 1, 2015
  • Patio pots September 23, 2015
  • Rudbeckia fulgida : flower power September 16, 2015
  • Persicaria great and small September 9, 2015
  • Splendour in the Grass September 2, 2015
  • Pennisetum macrourum : perfect picked, dried or simply left on the plant …. August 26, 2015
  • E.A. Bowles and The Riddle of the Pheasant’s Tail Grass August 19, 2015
  • Hakonechloa macra : Japanese Forest Grass August 13, 2015
  • In search of the perfect pennisetum August 6, 2015
  • A peaceful spot : sitting, staring and drinking tea. July 30, 2015
  • The pot in the seed raised meadow July 23, 2015
  • “A garden isn’t meant to be useful. It’s for joy.” July 16, 2015
  • Misty morning treasure July 10, 2015
  • Learning to love The Pink and Orange Patio July 2, 2015
  • Bamboo : taming the dragon June 26, 2015
  • NGS Day : reasons to be cheerful June 22, 2015
  • NGS open garden day : Sunday 21st June, 2-5.30pm June 6, 2015
  • A seed raised ‘meadow’ May 15, 2015
  • Calamagrostis : a great grass for all seasons May 9, 2015
  • Low maintenance grass-like plants April 19, 2015
  • Miscanthus sinensis : “queen of the grasses” March 14, 2015
  • Easy evergreen grasses February 15, 2015
  • Grasses’ terrace in winter January 26, 2015

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