A GUIDE TO
EAST RUSTON OLD VICARAGE
1. Plant Sales 2. Entrance Drive 3. Courtyard & Front Door 4. North Garden 5. Dutch Garden 6. Catalpa Garden 7. King’s Walk 8. Red & Purple Border 9. Rose Garden 10. Exotic Garden
11. Thalictrum Garden 12. Woodland Garden 13. Desert Wash 14. Mediterranean Garden 15. Vegetable & Cutting Garden 16. Fruit Cage 17. Diamond Jubilee Walled Garden 18. Hortus Spiralis 19. The Scottish Sundial
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Entrance Kiosk
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Car Park
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20. Apple Walk & St Mary’s Happisburgh 21. Lighthouse View & Winter Garden 22. Clematis Walk 23. Glasshouse Garden 24. Tea Garden 25. Wildflower Meadow 26. Wildlife Pond 27. Lavatories
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6 Green
Court
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The Wilderness
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East Park
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Serpentine Walk bordered by holly hedges in the Wilderness.
Index Entrance Drive & Courtyard Dutch Garden King’s Walk Red & Purple Border & Green Court Rose Garden Exotic Garden Woodland Garden Desert Wash Mediterranean Garden Apple Walk & Happisburgh Church Winter Garden & Lighthouse East Park & Wildlife Pond Diamond Jubilee Walled Garden Vegetable & Cutting Garden The Scottish Sundial Fruit Cage Hortus Spiralis Clematis Walk Glasshouse Garden & Wildlife Meadow Tea Garden House & Garden Nursery & Plant Sale
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4-5 6-7 8 9 10-11 12 14-15 16-17 18-19 20 21 22-23 24-25 26 27 28 29 30 31-32 33 34 35
East Ruston Old Vicarage East Ruston, Norwich, Norfolk NR12 9HN, England Telephone 01692 650432 Facsimile 01692 651246 e-mail erovoffice@btconnect.com website www.eastrustonoldvicarage.co.uk
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We would like to take this opportunity to welcome you to our garden here at East Ruston Old Vicarage. When we first came here there was no garden whatsoever, it was a blank canvas. This was no bad thing because it afforded us the opportunity to vent our creativity. Each separate garden was designed entirely by ourselves as were the various buildings. We have used no outside help. One of our great joys is to see the pleasure that the garden can bring to many of the visitors and that everybody seems to find some part of it that is special to them. Throughout the garden you will see many rare and unusual plants growing. We endeavour to propagate from these in small numbers so that they may be purchased from the plant sales area. Many of these are difficult or slow to increase, hence their rarity, so if you see a plant growing in the garden that you would like do ask, we may have some tucked away for you to purchase as a souvenir of your time spent here. Our garden lies 1½ miles from the North Sea in an exposed prairie landscape containing large arable fields. Many of the wildlife habitats for birds and mammals had long been swept away. We have endeavoured throughout the garden to replace some of these by the planting of mixed hedgerows, banks, wildflower areas and ponds. The soil here is of excellent quality being a light sandy loam with a neutral pH. Due to the maritime influence the garden suffers less in the way of serious frost damage and we have planted large shelter belts of Pinus radiata, the Monterey Pine, Alnus cordata, the Italian Alder, Holm Oak and Eucalyptus. This enhances the garden’s unique microclimate which enables us to grow such a huge range of plants. We would suggest that you view our garden in the sequence set out in the illustrated map of this guide to make sure that you see everything. There are many alternative choices and you may find yourself drawn off course to explore through an archway here or a doorway there, the element of surprise ever beckoning. However you choose to view the garden we do hope that you enjoy your visit. The Rose Garden in early summer. INSET
Alan and Graham.
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Entrance Drive & Courtyard The Entrance Court with the Postman’s Gate.
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The Entrance Drive.
The vehicular entrance to the Old Vicarage contains our interpretation of a municipal roundabout! At its centre a clipped Robinia pseudoacacia ‘Umbraculifera’, around this are eight clipped Ilex ‘Golden King’ and sixteen Yews, again clipped as pyramids. This works as an architectural statement whose formality may be softened with extra planting as and when the mood takes us. The roundabout was enclosed with a variegated Box hedge but then Jimmy Goddard from Steelscapes came to install a steel edge to freshen it up. He showed us some rather fetching steel fencing that he had constructed and captivated by this we removed the Box hedging and asked Jimmy to enclose our roundabout with steel fencing approximately 30 centimetres back from the new steel edge. This allows for a strip of planting in front of the new steel basketwork fence that now encloses the roundabout, which lends an air of modernity to the garden thanks to the skill and artistry of Jimmy Goddard. Moving on we pass through a blue gate, its supports ornamented with gilded spheres and find ourselves in the pedestrian entrance court. The gate here is known as the ‘Postman’s Gate’ because he or she is the only person to use it. Above this gate is a large terracotta coat of arms of the City of Manchester. We bought this many years ago, not because either of us has any connection with Manchester, but for the motto Consilio et Labore. By counsel and labour, roughly interpreted by discussion and damn hard work. Not a bad one for two jobbing gardeners. This area has very gravelly soil and is free draining. Each year we bed this out with a variety of succulents, Aeonium Arboreum ‘Zwartkop’ taking centre stage. Turning to face the front door of the house we proceed through a gate in the wall to the North
Here we enter a green jungle containing palm trees, tree ferns and two particularly good magnolias. Garden. This area is a complete contrast to the entrance drive and courtyard which is hot and dry. Here we enter a green jungle containing palm trees, tree ferns and two particularly good magnolias. Magnolia cylindrica with large white flowers in April, followed by large red seed capsules in September and October and Magnolia ‘Caerhays Belle’ with huge pink flowers 20cms (8inches) across in March which are breathtaking when seen against an azure sky.
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Dutch Garden
We try to be as original as possible with the planting combinations here, sometimes you might find them soothing, at other times shocking but, that’s the fun of gardening. The Dutch Garden is on the South West end of the house. It consists of eight box-edged flower beds that are punctuated with box balls and obelisks. Also here are clipped Hollies ‘Golden King’, box spirals and a pair of stylized Peacocks. The beds are planted twice yearly with tulips for spring followed by summer
Spring bedding in the Dutch Garden.
bedding. We try to be as original as possible with the planting combinations here, sometimes you might find them soothing, at other times shocking but, that’s the fun of gardening. This is the setting for several of our large pots, again planted twice yearly, where you will find original and interesting ingredients as well as the more familiar but, these are often used in unexpected and unusual ways. We always try to have new plants growing on for use in these pots so that they are of a substantial size when first introduced. A teak greenhouse contains the rose ‘Columbian Climber’, it is here because we like to be able to enjoy it as a cut flower during the winter as well as enjoying its swooningly, sweet scent here in the summer. A silver fountain of foliage and flowers grown as a tiered display in containers entirely obscured in late summer.
Silver planting including Centaurea cineraria, Argyranthemum frutescens and Plectranthus argentatus all grown in pots.
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Sumptuous summer pots in the Dutch Garden.
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King’s Walk
Passing through a brick archway with the house on our left we come to the formal lawn on which we find ten sentinel obelisks of yew. This is the only part of the garden designed specifically to relate to the house and is known as the King’s Walk. You will see that this area proceeds from the house via a series of steps to the pavilion which apparently closes this vista. We instigated these changes in levels
to add interest and variety to what otherwise is a largely flat or gently sloping site. The balls on the gate piers we made ourselves, they were cast in a mould in two halves and with their sandwich of terracotta tiles atop their brick piers add to the grandeur of what is a relatively simple architectural design.
The Kings Walk.
Topiary Box on the steps of the Pavilion.
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Summer house in the Red and Purple Border.
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At the centre of this border is a wooden Summer House with a shingle tiled roof where you may sit and tarry a while. We say ‘for now’ because we are well known for our penchant for change but, for the moment we are enjoying this colour scheme. This border has seen many changes, in the beginning it was a dog’s breakfast, a bit of everything. It became a Cottage Border, then a Tropical Border until today’s incarnation, the Red and Purple Border but, do not take the title too literally for if a plant has the merest
Passing through an arch in the hedge past a covered urn into a green court a surprise awaits. Here, in a curved Beech Hedge, two windows allow unexpected views of St. Mary’s Church, East Ruston and the statue of a young man on a rather grand brick plinth. Both ‘borrowed’ views indicating that there is more to see beyond the tall hedges.
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Red & Purple Border ‘for now!’ plus the Green Court
hint of the two main colours mentioned in the borders title, we will use it. It is the overall effect that we need here rather than each and every bloom or leaf being plain red or purple, subtlety is everything. At the centre of this border is a wooden Summer House with a shingle tiled roof where you may sit and tarry awhile taking in the view across the main lawn to the Dutch Garden beyond?
Pots of shade lovers flank the steps thorough to the Green Court.
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Rose Garden
This garden was constructed by digging into a slope in an effort to gain more shelter from the wind. Today, this is the Rose Garden containing many new and ‘Old-Fashioned’ roses in soft shades of pinks, whites and reds. These are closely planted with herbaceous perennials, for we believe that roses should be an integral part of the garden and not grown as a monoculture where all their faults become magnified and very noticeable. Here with their supporting cast of perennials they are elevated and enhanced to another level with an extended season of interest. At the centre of this garden is a square pond enclosed by large architectural blocks of Thuya plicata, this deliberate design feature beckons the visitor on and encourages exploration as not all is revealed in one glance. In the centre of this pond is a sculpture by artist and blacksmith Bill Cordaroy made using stainless steel and glass. On a sunny day watch the play of colourful reflection on the water as you walk around the pond. Having enjoyed the Rose Garden exit beneath a pergola at its western side.
Alan Gray.
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On a sunny day watch the play of colourful reflection on the water as you walk around the pond. The Rose Garden.
Rosa Graham Thomas.
Rosa Rhapsody in Blue.
Rosa Ballerina.
Rosa Etoile de Holland.
Rosa Crimson Bengal.
Rosa Ferdinand Pritchard.
Bluebell Robeson-Gray.
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Exotic Garden
Hardy and tender plants such as Bananas, Tetrapanax and stooled Paulonia give an exotic and foreign feel to this area.
We enter the Exotic Garden through a large, vine-hung pergola and what do we see. Two raised ponds; one containing fish and flowering pots of water loving plants, the other a tall fountain cleverly designed by Giles Raynor to spurt its contents in on itself rather than outwards thus reducing the amount of spray on windy days. The fountain is designed to resemble a ‘twister’ or waterspout that may occasionally be seen off our coast. The raised ponds are edged in dressed lead and make suitable perching places for visitors, but beware lead quickly becomes hot in strong sunshine! The surrounding beds are planted with both hardy and tender plants to give an exotic and foreign feel to this area. Plants such as Bananas, Tetrapanax, stooled Paulonia plus many tenderlings that are bedded annually, grown by us here each year from cuttings. This is esential as many of these plants are not readily available in the general trade. If you see a plant that you like, do ask, we may just have a spare one tucked away.
Musa Basjoo in flower and fruit.
Vitis Coignetiae’s Fiery Crescendo.
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Spectacular fountain by Gile Raynor.
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Woodland Garden High summer with Hydrangeas.
The Woodland Garden is criss-crossed with many gently meandering paths. INSET
Graham Robeson.
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BELOW
Autumn tints.
Woodland gardening is comparatively new to us. Now that our tree planting has grown sufficiently tall we are enjoying the fun and the challenges, not to say the variety of ‘shade’ gardening. The Woodland Garden is criss-crossed with many gently meandering paths. We have endeavoured to give this area as long a season of interest as possible starting in February with early bulbs such as snowdrops and aconites. We have an on-going scheme to plant vast numbers of these every year so that we shall have sheets of yellow and white in years to come. Here also are many rare and unusual trees and shrubs and a vast collection of Hydrangeas that give us colour and interest from June to October when they are joined by a cacophony of riotous autumn colour. On the Eastern side of the Woodland Garden are two further areas of interest, one contains an ever growing collection of hollies, the other concentrating on plants from New Zealand, many of which are rare and unusual.
Forget-Me-Nots and Bergenia.
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Desert Wash
The Desert Wash is designed to resemble parts of Arizona.
The Desert Wash.
The Californian border contains some good specimens of ceanothus with their splendid blue flowers. These are joined by other Californian plants and backed by a protective belt of trees such as Alnus cordata and a variety of eucalyptus to the northern edge. The Desert Wash is designed to resemble parts of Arizona where it probably only rains once or twice a year, but when it does rain it floods and great rushes of water channel through the landscape tossing rocks and stones asunder leaving behind dry channels and islands where succulent plants flourish. The real work in making a garden such as this starts some way below the surface where we break up the sub-soil and Sculpture by Ben Southwell entitled ‘The Tale of the Greedy Worm That Was’.
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Hardy annuals en masse.
incorporate lots of gravel. Then we build layer upon layer of gravel and gravel mixed with soil, the aim being to keep this area very free draining especially during the winter. Many of the plants grown here are able to tolerate some cold provided they remain dry at the root. Over four hundred tonnes of flint of various sizes have been used in the construction of this area so far and the work ongoing with improvements and additional experimental planting. The plants that are growing here include agaves, aloes, puyas, beschonaria, dasylirion, various cacti and other related plants. We are always experimenting and pushing the boundaries.
Aloe aristrata and Carex flagellifera by the bridge.
One of the most thrilling parts of the garden is the cornfield, in its season, which contains a mixture of the cornfield weeds of yesteryear evoking memories of our happy childhood when the world seemed a better place. To quote the late Christo Lloyd ‘One of the most effective deliberate cornfield displays that I have seen is at the Old Vicarage, East Ruston. Here the owners, Graham Robeson and Alan Gray, omit corn cockle from the standard mix. In fact they adjust their mix, varying the proportions of each ingredient according to the performance of the previous display. If, for instance, cornflowers were weak, they add more of that. In some cases they need no seed at all, as there is sufficient seed bank in the soil from previous seasons’. The Cornfield is to the South of the Desert Wash.
‘One of the most effective deliberate cornfield displays that I have seen is at the Old Vicarage, East Ruston’. C HRI S TO L L OYD
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Mediterranean Garden The Mediterranean Garden.
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In early summer this stunning plant produces soaring swan-necked shrimp-pink stems two metres high. The Mediterranean Garden is a series of south facing terraces, each backed by the shelter of heat retaining red brick walls. Two plants in particular cause much excitement here. Echium pininana from the Canary Islands with amazing towering four metre columns of blue flowers so beloved by bees. We also have pink and white varieties of this plant. The other stunner in this garden is Beschonaria yuccoides from Mexico. In early summer this plant produces great swan-necked stems to two metres high featuring the most stunning shrimp-pink stems, the upper portion with bracts
enclosing small lime-green flowers. Both of these plants are monocarpic, having grown to flowering size they bloom, set seed and die. However they leave behind their legacy of seed or offsets. Over a period of time these two plants form colonies which produce some blossom every year. These are joined by palms, grasses, agapanthus and a good selection of kniphofias as well as many other plants. At the heart of this garden is the pavilion and sitting terraces where visitors may relax awhile.
Soaring shrimp-pink stems on Beschonaria yuccoides.
Looking through the pavilion back to the house.
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Apple Walk & Happisburgh Church
The Apple Walk with the borrowed view of St Mary’s Church, Happisburgh.
The Apple Walk borrows the view of St Mary’s Church, Happisburgh sitting on the cliff beside the North Sea around one mile distant. By framing the church with tall Poplar trees, its importance is emphasised so that it appears closer to the garden than it is in reality. Planted with old-fashioned varieties of eating apples trained as espaliers, the Apple Walk is both decorative and productive. However, many of the names of these apples have been lost so we are endeavouring to retrieve them. Edged with a froth of Nepeta mussinii ‘Six Hills Giant’ this area is humming with bees on sunny days. Cut back several times a year to encourage fresh growth and successional flowerings the Nepeta always looks fresh except in the hottest of summers. Walking towards the church, we find a wild flower meadow and a natural looking pond. It is not natural but lined for our water table is some 5.5 metres below the surface and the soil is very free draining. To the eastern side of the Apple Walk we find the Winter Garden.
Espalier trained apples with Narcissus recurvus.
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Another borrowed view, this time on Happisburgh Lighthouse viewed through a porthole cut in the shelter belt. Here think leaf, bark and berry and you’ll get the gist. There are various birches their stems in hues of glistening whites, cool creams and rusty reds. Hollies both plain leaved and variegated in shades of yellow and cream. Dogwoods and Willows for their red, gold and yellow stems. Grasses that have good skeletal form during the winter changing from green to shades of tan and cream.Various coloured phormiums add great architectural form and the groups of eucalyptus trees with their glaucous foliage and prettily patterned trunks in shades of cream, tan and grey make a lovely background. Another borrowed view, this time it is Happisburgh Lighthouse viewed through a porthole cut in the shelter belt; this amusing vista always raises a smile. Leading to the porthole is an avenue of alternating square blocks of Quercus ilex, the evergreen oak and Trachycarpus fortunei, the Chusan palm.
Topiarised shapes and contrasting colours in the stock borders.
Happisburgh Lighthouse seen through a port hole cut in the shelter belt of Monterey Pines.
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Winter Garden & Lighthouse
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Wildlife Park & Bee Border
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The Serpentine Birch Walk.
Wildlife Pond with willow arbour and jetty.
At the southern boundary of the garden is one of our wildlife ponds. This pond contains a large population of golden minnows as well as frogs, toads and newts. In summer the surface comes alive with iridescent hovering dragon and damsel flies. There is a willow arbour enclosing a seat and a jetty where you may sit and watch this bucolic scene unfold before you. Adjacent to the Wildlife Pond we find the Bee Borders, so called for hidden within their depths are two Bee Hives. These belong to Lyn and Guy Pettit and regularly produce lots of delicious honey but they have a more important role to play. The bees act as efficient pollinators throughout the garden, essential for fruit, vegetable and seed production. Opposite the Bee Border is an enclosure with three laid-back Alpacas from South America. Shorn in early summer, local weavers turn their valuable pelts into wool that is in great demand by the knitting fraternity.
Mr Brown the male alpaca.
Bee hives in the Bee Border.
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Diamond Jubilee Walled Garden Leaving the Wildlife Pond via the serpentine Birch Walk of Betula utilis var. jacquemontii ‘Silver Shadow’ we proceed northwards past part of our collection of rare breed poultry and approach the Diamond Jubilee Walled Garden. Here we have designed an area for the production of plants, fruit and vegetables, many of which take advantage of the sheltering walls. This Walled Garden harks back to the days of Cut flowers in the Diamond Jubilee Walled Garden.
The Walled Garden harks back to the days of yesteryear with its traditionalism but, there are modern twists too. yesteryear with its traditionalism but, there are modern twists too, this is very much our creation and as such it will be innovative in its approach to the art of gardening. Here you will always find something new and possibly thought provoking especially in the contents of the decorative flower, fruit or herbs that are grown in pots. On its Eastern flank, there is a small pavillion in which to rest. RIGHT Rose Arch and Glasshouse in the Diamond Jubilee Walled Garden.
Triumphal Entrance, Diamond Jubilee Walled Garden.
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Vegetable & Cutting Garden On the northern edge of the New Walled Garden we find the Vegetable and Cutting Garden. Today this is mainly used as stock beds and borders in an effort to keep the costs of plant production to a minimum. It also serves as a convenient source of cut flowers for the house, tea rooms and for Norwich Cathedral
too where Alan does the flowers several times a year. Here again you will find pots used for decorative and productive effect, the large central pot containing a productive specimen of the fig ‘Brown Turkey’. We try to feature a ‘new’ variety of vegetable annually.
A medley of salads, vegetables and herbs.
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The Scottish Sundial Scottish Sundial with 13 faces or dials.
Scotland is rich in multi-facetted sundials and we seldom, if ever, find two that are alike. However, we acquired our sundial from a country house sale in the south of England. Often seen in the gardens of grand and prosperous houses and castles north of the border they were at their most fashionable from approximately 1625 to 1725. Their exact purpose, apart from telling the time is unknown but they have an element of fun about them consisting of a column surmounted by numerous clock faces, sometimes more than 50. Our sundial has 13 faces set to tell the approximate Greenwich Mean Time. I say approximate for with such small dials, accuracy is doubtful and our forebears were perhaps not overly worried about minutes and seconds. Greenwich Mean Time is one hour behind British Summer Time so bear this in mind whilst viewing and enjoying our column sundial. This is situated opposite the potting shed.
Essential to any good garden is its potting shed.
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Fruit Cage From a chance remark by Alan the Fruit Cage was born. Once the site of a Prairie Garden, (too wild and too weedy!) He said to Graham, ‘Wouldn’t it be nice to grow a Cherry tree without the Cherries being predated by birds. Little did he realise that a Cherry tree would become Cherry trees and that they would reside in quite such a magnificent edifice. However, the Fruit Cage is also an experiment for many of the older, more flavoursome soft fruit
varieties do not travel well so are best picked fresh and eaten as soon as possible. Some varieties of dessert Gooseberry with gorgeous, golden, globular fruits, almost as large as a hen’s egg are in danger of being lost to cultivation for it is impossible to grow them commercially. In addition, in the early months of the year we can thwart the predating Wood Pigeons by growing our Sprouting Broccoli within its sheltering spires.
These look particularly good in the winter, the crisply cut dark green of yew backed by the warm rusty tones of beech.
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Hortus Spiralis This triangular site was once part of an internal shelterbelt in the early days of the garden. Over time the Monterey Pines, (there were five) had grown tall and wide creating unwanted shade, they had to go! Once felled, Andrew the tree feller, made some stalagmites from their trunks. He blackened these using a large blowtorch and then arranged them in a spiral shape in the centre of the triangle. From this initial shape, Hortus Spiralis, (enclosed,
Topiarised shapes and contrasting colours.
winding garden) was born. Three pathways emanate from the centre radiating outwards like a Catherine Wheel. In spring with everything cut back, the whole garden is on view. As summer advances the pathways disappear enclosed by Miscanthus hedges and an air of secrecy pervades. It has a Maze-like quality with each path leading to the centre stalagmites where there is a secret seating area for quiet contemplation.
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Clematis Walk
Leaving the Vegetable garden, we enter the Clematis Walk through a ‘Hornbeam House’. Here are many varieties of Clematis grown in partnership with climbing Roses, on galvanised metal obelisks. At their feet, selections of herbaceous Peonies flaunt their blowsy blossoms in early summer, followed by substantial summer bedding. Enclosed by Box hedging to the front and back, this is a satisfying composition. Shrub Roses fill the areas behind these two rivers of Clematis together with a large specimen of Paeonia lutea var. ‘Ludlowii’ and architectural fountains of silver foliage of Globe Artichokes.
Clematis Vilicella Princess Diana.
Clematis Florida Sieboldii.
Clematis Atragene Pink Swing.
Clematis Louise-Rowe.
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Glasshouse Garden & Wildlife Meadow
LEFT A rose covered dome looking through to sunlit topiary.
Arches of Rosa ‘Maigold’ flank a raised pond in the Glasshouse Garden.
Emerging from a vine covered tunnel we enter the Glasshouse Garden where the large central pot is planted up with imaginative schemes annually as are the surrounding pots so that by summer’s end the pots become invisible beneath a fountain of fabulous foliage and bounteous blossom. In winter they are home to topiarised box shapes. Taking an easterly path beneath an arch of the rose Rosa ‘Maigold’ we enter the middle part of this garden. At its centre there is a circular raised pond with a wide ledge that serves as a perching place with four low pillars each topped with a pot planted for exotic summer impact. Surrounding this are four areas of raised lawn. Here is the entrance to our office which originally was our potting shed. In the final section of this garden is a large glasshouse which houses our ever widening collection of old-fashioned Pelargonium’s, amongst other plants including an imposing specimen of the tree dahlia, Dahlia imperialis from Mexico which flowers at Christmas.
Bachuss the God of Wine amidst exotic Cannas.
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Glasshouse Garden & Wildlife Meadow Fern sculpture by Toby Winterbourne.
Millenium Gates.
The East Park Reached through the Millenium Gates this is an area of some twelve acres that has been planted with formal avenues of the Italian alder, Alnus cordata. These are cut as tall hedges and the various areas they enclose are gradually filling with trees and shrubs, including one area that is a young Pinetum. The whole area is enclosed with shelter belts of the Monterey Pine, Pinus radiata, crutial as our garden is an oasis in an open area of vast arable fields that resemble the prairies of North America. Each year we add to the collection of trees and shrubs here, our aim being to include some of the rarest and most interesting varieties we can find, this is a slow process as many of these are grown from seed. In addition, here is a ‘new’ orchard planted with East Anglian fruit trees, mainly Apples but some Pears too. Originally intended to contain only Norfolk varieties there were insufficient numbers of these so we included trees from the whole of East Anglia. Behind the orchard is a grove of Eucalyptus from the Southern hemisphere. Many of these are not considered hardy in this country but, in shelter such as this they survive. Beneath these is a national collection of Colchicums.
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Tea Garden
Situated close to the entrance, the Tea Garden is convenient for those who arrive early and wish for a light lunch before taking in the garden, or for those who wish to refuel with a delicious afternoon tea mid way through their visit. Here there are some amusing pieces of topiary amidst the clipped and shaped hedges. A Wildflower Meadow containing many early spring flowering bulbs in particular a prosperous colony of Camassias, a North American
Wildlife pond in the Wildflower Meadow.
bulb with spectacular columns of blue flowers leads to a large pond. The pond is home to Moorhens that raise several broods of chicks each year and contains a large stand of the Water Hawthorn with bronze leaves and white flowers. We continually experiment here incorporating many of the more vigorous hardy perennials from the garden that are able to compete in these conditions.
Camassias and Narcissus poeticus backed with Cow Parsley by the Tea Garden.
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House & Garden a brief history
We bought East Ruston Old Vicarage in 1973. It had been empty for the previous two years and there was no garden here at all, just three feet high tufted grass. At this time we were both living in London during the week to enable us to earn our livings. Each Friday evening we undertook the then arduous journey from central London to East Ruston, returning to London the following Sunday evening or at the latest very early Monday morning. This we did for many years, but it allowed us the delight to be able to start gardening which we did with great enthusiasm on an area of some two acres. Over the years, starting in 1989, we have had the opportunity to purchase some of the former glebe land that had originally surrounded the Vicarage plus a bit extra. This meant that shortly after the mid 1980’s when we came to live here permanently we could commence gardening on a larger scale. However at that time it was not our intention to make a grand garden. When it began, the sub-division of our land was influenced by a black and white slide that somebody kindly gave us. It was taken in the 1960’s during the winter and clearly showed the former field boundaries on the ground. It occurred to us then that because of the modern farming methods a huge amount of wildlife habitat had been lost. Hedges, ditches, banks and ponds all swept away and so armed with the ordnance survey map from the 1880’s decided to put back some of this valuable shelter.
And so began the life of the garden that we all enjoy today although at this time our idea was to create somewhere for us to walk our dogs without using the local farmer’s fields, how things have changed. Gradually the original garden that we had created within the confines of our two acres was moved out into the newer land and areas such as the clematis borders were scaled up to become larger and we hope more interesting. It is important to note that the garden here is an oasis in a prairie landscape where farmers have made bigger fields for bigger yields. Within the garden there is a microclimate that allows us to grow many plants that might be tender in all but a few sheltered spots. This we have achieved by the planting of shelter belts mainly of Monterey Pine, Italian Alders, Holm Oak and Eucalyptus. This and the fact that most of the gardens within the whole are relatively small in area helps to keep our main enemy, wind, above head height. Another factor that helps the garden is its maritime influence. The University of East Anglia department of climatology published charts of weather statistics over the last fifty years. One chart shows clearly that on the Eastern coast of Norfolk and Suffolk to within three miles of the sea we experience the same mean amount of frost as Devon and Cornwall, although bending down in a stiff wind in the coldness that is January it does not always feel so! Over the years the garden has grown further and now totals 32 acres. We promise that that is the end of the growth in area, however it will continue to become more ‘finely tuned’. Each winter we endeavour to create new or to improve existing areas and as all of you know, a garden never stands still, it moves on, after all it is a living breathing being. Several years ago we were approached by the Royal Horticultural Society to be a Partnership Garden. This then was an honour indeed, we were among the first six gardens to be asked, a plaudit to us and to our staff. We would just like to point out, though, we do not receive any financial assistance for this. In fact, it is the other way around. We endeavour to help, in our small way, and raise some money for this most excellent charity. The garden here at East Ruston Old Vicarage is entirely funded by ourselves from our own resources. As the garden has increased in size so has the expense in providing plants to fill it, what to do? The first step was to become good propagators, and this we did. Today we propagate the greater number of plants used in the garden and on our plant sales area. Not all, that would be impossible, especially some of the newer and rarer varieties and those that even the experts find difficult.
Visitors to our garden are many and we like seeing them all but, it is perhaps those that are uninvited that give us the greatest pleasure. I have already mentioned the Kingfishers but, other winter visitors are Pheasant, Partridge and an abundance of Woodcock that love the soft layers of pine needles beneath our Monterey pines where their long bills can probe for food during cold and frosty weather. Large flocks of Long-tailed Tits and Goldfinches feeding on the seed heads brighten the dark days of winter too. The numbers of birds and small mammals that now co-habit with us is amazing; we have Goss Hawks nesting in the Woodland Garden where they successfully raise on a yearly basis their young. The silent and somewhat ghostly Barn Owls regularly hunt for prey here and now that we have some owl boxes in situ, who knows, maybe they too will nest and raise their young here. We even had a rather rare species of Bumble Bee using a bird box as home to their colony last year all of which are delightful. We also have the Door Mouse which is becoming incredibly rare. But, what of the undesirables, rabbits are here but not in huge numbers, grey squirrels too again not in large numbers and the dreaded Muntjak deer. A pair have found us and decided that they would like to take up residence. They probably entered the garden when someone inadvertently left the gates open, now it is our task to open the gates again, this time in the hope that we can persuade them that perhaps this garden is not for them and that life really is greener on the other side of the fence! We hope that you enjoy your visit to our garden, which we like to think is unique. Sometimes, when the light and the temperature are right we wonder where in the world we are. Could it be the Mediterranean, the Southern Hemisphere or perhaps South Africa. No, it is East Ruston Old Vicarage within 11/2 miles of the North Sea or German Ocean and it is our own special creation. The result of, as it says on the terracotta gate Consilio et Labore, by council and by labour, or by discussion and hard work from us, to give pleasure which we enjoy sharing with others.
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Schizostylis conccinea ‘Major’ Aeonium ‘Voodoo’ Rosa ‘Maigold’ Clematis florida var. Sieboldiana Echeveria peacockii Berheya sp. From South Africa Imaptiens namcharbarwensis Tropaelum majus ‘Hermoine Grasshoff’
OLD VICARAGE
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Nursery Garden & Plant Sales Our Plant Sales area began life as a pair or trestle tables from which we sold plants we had propagated and were surplus to our needs. Today the Nursery has grown with the garden, but it still contains varieties of plants that are propagated from those growing in the garden, many of which are rare and generally not available elsewhere. When we find new and exciting plants for the garden we always endeavour to propagate from them so we are able to share them with garden visitors. However, there are times when visitors have to be patient as sometimes it may take a few years for us to build up enough stock to sell, hence the reason for the rareness of some plants. Always ask at the plant centre if you have seen a plant that you covet, who knows you may be lucky, we may have the plant of your desire tucked away, if not we may even offer to propagate it for you.
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1. Plant Sales 2. Entrance Drive 3. Courtyard & Front Door 4. North Garden 5. Dutch Garden 6. Catalpa Garden 7. King’s Walk 8. Red & Purple Border 9. Rose Garden 10. Exotic Garden
EAST RUSTON
11. Thalictrum Garden 12. Woodland Garden 13. Desert Wash 14. Mediterranean Garden 15. Vegetable & Cutting Garden 16. Fruit Cage 17. Diamond Jubilee Walled Garden 18. Hortus Spiralis 19. The Scottish Sundial
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20. Apple Walk & St Ma 21. Lighthouse View & 22. Clematis Walk 23. Glasshouse Garden 24. Tea Garden 25. Wildflower Meadow 26. Wildlife Pond 27. Lavatories
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The Wilderness
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Entrance Entrance Kiosk Kiosk 26 26 25 25
Car Car Park Park
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Chia the Bengal Cat
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A gnome from the Secret Garden, see if you can find his twin.
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The Wilderness
A gnome from the Secret Garden, see if you can find his twin.
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Car Park
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East Park Orchard
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B1145 A149 FROM CROMER
B1145
B1150
B1150
BACTON GARDEN ENTRANCE
B1159
NORTH WALSHAM
HAPPISBURGH EAST RUSTON VILLAGE
A149
SEA PALLING B1159
A149
STALHAM A1151
A1151 FROM NORWICH
A149
A1062
WROXHAM
POTTER HEIGHAM
A149 FROM GT YARMOUTH