Your hosts: Jenny Cooper & Chris Raateland
35 Willowside Place, Amberley
This is not so much a garden as a balancing act. It is a balancing act between a love of order, and a belief in wildness. Between an obsession with plants, and there only being 24 hours in a day. Between a limited budget and all the lovely things one can order off the internet. And between having an acre of land and wanting the occasional sit down!
9 years ago, this was an exposed sheep paddock. Now we have a stimulating mix of gardens, from the intimate and cool shade gardens, past perennial borders crammed with flowers, through Mediterranean and gravel gardens featuring stunning succulents and architectural plants, and further out to sweeps of tussocks and an iris filled bog garden. We have a gorgeous no-mow meadow, a tiny vineyard, a ‘bee’ garden of natives, and a super productive vege garden and orchard.
We are always trying novel ways to cope with drought and still achieve a lush garden that is a pleasure to wander through. We use the latest research into dry gardening
to keep labour and watering to a minimum.
Blue House Amberley will have a selection of drought and frost hardy plants and succulents for sale, suitable for a wide range of conditions.