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ysgarth Edwardian Rock Garden has been a well-known feature in Wensleydale, North Yorkshire, for more than 100 years, but its status now as a garden freely open to the public is very different from that envisaged by its creator, Frank Sayer Graham. He lived at nearby Heather Cottage and had planned a ‘private rock garden’ – the original sign on the entrance gate remains as testament to his intention. In January 2012 my wife Rosemary and I became the owners. We faced challenges but also opportunities in managing and developing a true rock garden. Until then our only relevant
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Bringing a rock garden back to life experience had been growing a limited range of the more common alpines at home on our rockery, sited on a northfacing slope in a village nearby. Aysgarth Rock Garden is typical of the construction style of the Backhouse THE ALPINE GARDENER
