Photos from Open Garden 2012

See a selection of photos from this year's Open Garden event on Flickr.

Thank you again to everyone who contributed to make the event such a success.

A Huge Thank You...

...to everyone who attended the open garden event this weekend.  We raised over £700 for the Fire Fighters Charity!  So thank you for your donations and positive comments.


Thank you also to all our friends and family who gave their time to help make the event a success - we couldn't have done it without you!


More photos will be published soon.

Sunshine and Flowers!

Perfect weather for the open garden! Come along 21st or 22nd July and make the most of the sunshine. Open from 2-5:30pm each day.

Tea, coffee and home made cakes available in Mrs C's Tea Room.

Entry costs just £3 for adults, children go free. All profits go to The Fire Fighters Charity

Full address: Stone House, Linley Green, Whitbourne, Worcester, WR6 5RG

Time for Tea!

Only one week to go until Stone House Open Garden 2012!  While the weather recently has not been ideal for outdoor pursuits, we've been working on getting our tea room ready, so that our visitors can enjoy the garden whatever the weather.

The tea room is in a new venue for 2012 - we've converted the large shed right in the heart of the garden, which means that visitors can enjoy their refreshments amongst our herbs and sweet peas.


As well as fitting out the tea room, we've gone tea pot and tea cosy crazy, as these photos will testify!  A lot of work has gone into some of these knitted creations, so thank you to all our friends and family who have helped out with this.

We look forward to seeing you on 21st or 22nd July, come rain or shine, for a cup or tea or coffee and a slice of homemade cake!

The Art of Gardening

Less than 3 weeks to go until Stone House Open Garden 2012 on 21-22 July!  We want to keep the garden ever-evolving, as is fitting for a living space, so many projects will go on beyond the open garden event, although we hope that these works in progress will provide interest and inspiration at the open garden event.

Take our living willow sculptures.  There are a number of these around the garden, including a bower, seats and a highly ambitious viking long ship, rolling in the waves of meadow grasses.  Working with willow is always fun and rarely seems to be predictable, resulting in sculptures that literally take on a life of their own.

One piece of art that will be finished for the open garden event is the mosaic wall, designed to provide interest in the central area of the lawn.  The pictures below show progression of this, although you will have to visit the garden to see the finished piece!

A Diamond Weekend!

Stone House garden has started transforming in the last three weeks from its spring subtley into all out summer glory; bright colours set against vibrant greens and (for a while at least!) a beautiful blue sky.

But for now, especially for this weekend, here are some patriotic images from Stone House garden!

A Green and Pleasant Land

The April (and May) showers (torrential rainfall) have meant that the garden is flourishing at the moment. 

The time of year means that much of the colour in the garden comes from bulbs and blossoms.  Tulips look great in the containers on the patio outside the back door, while the more mature apple and crabapple trees have beautiful pink or white blossoms.


These subtle spring pastels are set off by the abundance of green across the garden and surrounding countryside.

While these delicate blooms and icons of new growth take centre stage, the plants that will come into their own during the summer are waiting in the wings - well, the nursery area - ready for their leading roles at Stone House Open Garden 2012. 

Visit Flickr for more photos of Stone House in spring.

Well Well

Owning an old property means some coming across some unusual features in the garden.  Stone House has an old well located not far from the back door.

With clay soil it often feels like the water table is not too far away in this part of the country (the dry summer of 2011 being an exception), but the well is non-the-less a good few metres deep - see the photo below.

Despite the beautiful stonework, it's not a great idea to mix children and animals with deep holes! 

So, the well has been transformed into a stage for showcasing stunning floral displays - the picture above shows the 2011 fountain of flowers, bright blooms all grown in containers.

The great thing about this feature is its flexibility - from year to year, or even season to season, the display can vary.  Even without plants, it serves as the perfect seat to relax and contemplate the surrounding countryside.

Thinking about how this area will look for summer 2012 is just one of the quite pleasurable challenges we have facing us at this time of year as we plan for our Open Garden.

Piecing it Together

Mosaic has become a bit of a feature in the garden.  The seat on this picture was built from breeze blocks, then covered in cement before having thousands of irridescent tiles stuck to it.  Despite its solid foundations, the seat is luxuriously comfortable, mirroring the effect of those shimmering tiles, and provides the ideal rest spot amongst the bright summer flowers surrounding the patio area.

Further mosaic work is underway to liven up a plain wall within the lawned area of the garden.  This wall has proved something of a blank canvas, prompting imaginative ideas ideas for its covering, ranging from pastiches of famous paintings through to acting as a backdrop for glass or metal sculptures.  However, continuing the mosaic theme should result in a stunning treatment for the wall adding extra interest to the lawn area.  There is also scope for some metaphysical musings about the symbolism of mosaic - building the bigger picture piece by piece, creating order from disorder, fragmenting reality.  Wherever this goes artistically, it is sure to showcase yet more mosaic innovation.

Looking Back - Open Garden 2011

The inaugural opening of Stone House Garden in July 2011...turned out to be a beautiful weekend (this photo probably doesn't do the weather justice!) with the garden in full bloom and looking its best. Garden tours went down well, as did tea and cake!  Also raised over £300 for The Firefighters Charity.

See more photos from Stone House Open Garden 2011 opening on Flickr