Gardens I Have Visited

This particular Japanese garden was created in 1996 by a local man, Peter Bridges, and was included with the new administration block as an area of quiet contemplation. Japanese Garden Society members discovered it in 2009 in an overgrown state…

Created over 100 years ago, our Japanese Garden is renowned for it’s authenticity around the world, including Japan. Features include a Shinto Shrine, Tea House, Flying Goose Bridge, lanterns, Almond-Eye Bridge and a mound representing a snow-capped Mount Fuji…

I have visited Hidcote many times over the years.The garden is divided into a series of ‘outdoor rooms’, each with its own character.Each garden room provides a new view and range of plants in which to sit and enjoy…

Bressingham Gardens date back to the 1950’s when Alan Bloom converted his 150 acres of land into the largest perennial nursery in Europe. His five acre Dell Garden introduced the idea of planting oval or island…

In the early 1970’s I visited this garden in it’s creative phase. Planted by Adrian Bloom this 6 acre conifer garden has developed significantly over the last 40 years to show how conifers can be laid out and under planted with great success…

The concept for the garden was strengthened that summer when I visited Eheiji a Soto Zen Buddhist monastery (Temple of Eternal Peace) in the western alps of Japan…

In 1996 I re-visited one of the most famous and inspiring gardens in Japan, The Daisen In Shoin temple garden at Daitoku-ji Monastery, Kyoto. I arranged to sit with the Abbot one morning on the meditation platform beside the garden…

During our trip to Japan we were lucky enough to be escorted around Kyoto by an old friend of my uncle Stan, Mr Sumitomo. He took us to visit his family home which was a fabulous traditional Japanese house…