Clemley House Garden

Tarvin Gardening Society visit to Clemley House Garden

There is a really good feeling when a plan comes together. There's an especially good feeling when a plan that was set up for 2020 and had to be shelved because of the pandemic is re-instated and is a huge success in 2021! Add to the mix the fact that, we had accidentally chosen what well may have been the very best evening of the summer and you may begin to understand how fortunate the members of Tarvin Gardening Society really were!

Our visit was to Clemley House Garden in Duddon. The house has been owned for some years by Sue and Tom Makin, a couple with an ambition to establish a two-acre, organic cottage garden which is managed by vegan, no dig, fully-organic, wildlife supporting methods, wherever that has proved possible. Their success in becoming 'wildlife friendly' has been recognised by the garden receiving a Gold Award from Cheshire Wildlife Trust. The garden is absolutely stunning, with herbaceous borders, shrubs, roses and ornamental trees as well as annuals and wildflowers to provide colour and support wildlife on a year-round basis. For Sue, weeding is optional because her plants cover most of the soil and any very evident weed need only be removed if it doesn't "earn its keep" by flowering and thereby feeding insects. All of the berries, hips and seed heads produced on plants are left (especially in the meadow) and this attracts flocks of feeding birds, such as Goldfinches, in Autumn and Winter. The garden has many nesting and roosting boxes for birds and bats, including well-used barn owl boxes, as well as a badger sett. There is an orchard, several wildlife ponds, a large wildflower meadow (with a lake and well-established yellow rattle plants controlling the growth of the grass), fruit areas, gravel and shade gardens, a rose pergola, a gazebo, a summer house and a shepherd's hut! Unsurprisingly, it was difficult to see the whole garden in the time available!

No visit such as this would be complete without a cup of tea or coffee and a piece of cake and Sue Makin had really excelled herself with her baking. I can vouch for the chocolate cake with home-made tayberry jam filling! The whole evening was a huge success and Clemley House Garden deserves to be on everyone's list for a visit. Mere words and a few photos really don't do it justice!

Ed: Click on photos to enlarge