A seven acre winter garden - the largest of its kind in the UK - has opened at Dunham Massey in Cheshire.
The Winter Garden was created and developed in direct response to visitor requests for access to Dunham Massey's gardens during the normal closed season, (November - March), and reflects the National Trust's aim of extending opening hours at its properties across the country.
Dunham Massey's Head Gardener, Damian Harris, takes up the story:
'The area covered by the new Winter Garden was originally part of Dunham's deer park. At the turn of the 20th century, the area was fenced off to provide enclosed grazing for the resident Stamford family's ponies.
When the National Trust acquired Dunham Massey from the 10th Earl of Stamford in 1976, the old pony paddock had become overgrown, so the area was tidied and re-stocked - but by 2007, trees and shrubs had once again taken hold.
The overgrown area of the old paddock seemed to offer the perfect opportunity for us to develop a winter garden - particularly in the light of visitors wanting to come to Dunham out of season.
Clearing work started in June 2007 and lasted six months. The original woodland feel of the area was maintained by keeping some of the large oak and beech trees, several species of rhododendrons, pieris, bluebells, azaleas and hollies.
We laid 400 metres of new pathways, and were delighted that wood from thinning some of the established oak trees in the paddock was reclaimed and used on the Dunham estate, which saved us around £4,000 in reclamation fees'.
© NTPL / Alan Novelli
The design and planting
The garden's design and its planting schemes were planned with the guidance of one of the UK's leading plantsmen, Roy Lancaster, OBE working in conjunction with Dunham's own garden staff.
The garden contains almost 700 different plant species and a further 1,600 shrubs, which were supplied by many of the country's leading nurserymen, were specifically bred for the Winter Garden. All had to have at least two of the following characteristics of interest: winter bark, flower, fruit, autumn colour or scent and sound. .
Roy Lancaster, OBE summed up the project by saying:
'This promises to be one of the best winter woodland gardens in Britain'.
The planting of the Winter Garden with over 200,000 bulbs was a huge task - and one which Head Gardener Damian Harris and his team of gardeners could not have done without the help of 1,500 local schoolchildren, National Trust volunteers, members and visitors.
The Heinrich family from Manchester visited Dunham in autumn 2008 to help with bulb planting. Jack, aged 11 and Leon, aged 3 did the hard work, whilst Lucca, aged 1 watched closely! The children said:
'It was great getting our hands dirty planting lots of bulbs - and really cool to know they are part of such a huge winter garden. We're looking forward to coming soon with Mum and Dad to see how the garden looks - and hopefully see the patch where we planted our bulbs.'
Autumn
In autumn, garden highlights include the rich red and gold of seasonal berries and crab apples, the red, orange and black of cornus stems, vibrant purple berries of callicarpa, and the delightful purple and white of early winter cyclamen, as well as the glorious autumn colour of Japanese maples in yellows, greens and reds.
Winter
December brings the bright yellow of witch hazel, and fragrances of mahonia, winter honeysuckle and Christmas Box which fill the air with delicate scents. January heralds the first early signs of spring with the delicate charms of the Snowdrop Walk, where clusters of over 12,000 double and single snowdrops and 20,000 narcissi bloom amongst the trees.
Early spring
Late winter/early spring also brings splashes of bright colour from the Camellia Walk, where 50 different types of evergreen and flowering camellias are underplanted with cyclamen. and the brilliance of 10,000 plants in the Cyclamen Grove is a feast for the eye.
During February, the Yellow Meadow, a bright mix of crocus, narcissi and iris, announces the onset of spring proper; whilst in late February, swathes of brilliant blue and purple iris, blue chinodoxa and scilla in the Blue Meadow are a wonderful foil for the multicoloured swathes of dwarf tulips which start to bloom in March. Finally, the glorious scene of thousands of daffodils in March and April bring the Winter Garden's season to a climax .
Winter garden guide
A new Winter Garden guide, detailing highlights in the garden across the autumn/winter season, together with a plant list, is available, whilst Head Gardener Damian Harris has put together some tips on how to create your own Winter Garden – go to the Dunham Massey property pages and click on ‘create your own winter garden’ in the menu list.
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