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The Woodland Walk

A mature, woodland garden with a fine display throughout the year.

Explore our woodland walk full of shade-loving bulbs, perennials and shrubs planted underneath a dense canopy of trees. creating an atmosphere of peace and tranquillity. It was originally called the ‘Spring and Winter Garden’ and was a RHS Chelsea Flower Show Silver Gilt Medal winner in 1986. In the spring the woodland blooms with wild British bluebells, snowdrops, daffodils and hellebores.

An explosion of colour follows on from this from an abundance of scented camellias, rhododendrons and azaleas lining the wooded paths. In autumn the collection of Cornus Kousa turn reddish-purple with tight clusters of small white flowers surrounded by four large oval cream bracts - beautiful any time of the year!

Highlights

Our Head Gardener Bernard recommends you particularly look out for this stunning tree; Prunus ‘Tai Haku’, the Japanese giant cherry tree. It became extinct in Japan until one single tree was found in the UK in the 1920’s in Sussex and was recultivated. All the Tai haku’s, including the ones in Japan, are descended from this one single specimen. Our tree is a rare example. It has large white profuse flowers which provide a breath taking arch over the pathway in mid spring and In the autumn it shows us again why we love it by turning coppery orange and red.

Plants to look out for...

Click on a plant to find out more:

Cercis canadensis

Grown primarily for its foliage. A large deciduous shrub or small, often multi-stemmed, tree, growing 4-8m. It has large, heart-shaped leaves, which start deep red-purple and then turn to varying shades of orange, bronze, red and purple in autumn. Small, bright-pink flowers appear in the spring.

Azalea luteum

A bushy, deciduous fragrant and fast-growing shrub, which grow’s up to 4m. It produces yellow flowers in the spring.

Hamamelis x intermedia ‘Orange Beauty’

Common name: Witch Hazel
A vigorous,shrub which grows up to 3m high and can spread 4m wide. With colour changing, oval leaves, which emerge yellow-green flushed with maroon-purple, and then become dark green, and turn yellow and orange in autumn, Fragrant flowers with dark purplish-red sepals and twisted yellow orange petals, which turn purple at the base in winter.

Euonymus europaeus

Common name: Spindle
A spreading, deciduous shrub growing up to 3m. It has narrow, egg-shaped leaves which turn yellow or red in autumn, and produces panicles of small, yellow flowers followed by red fruits.