Island Life Magazine Ltd August/September 2013 | Page 76

GARDENING

It’s sometimes lonely being a
gardener with only plants to talk
to. I find the best antidote is to
visit someone else’s garden...
I recently spent an enjoyable
afternoon touring around Barton
Manor’s garden with Head Gardener
Lester Elliott who has managed
the garden for 30 years. We walked
around the areas open to visitors
attending the Earl Mountbatten
Hospice open days throughout the
year and also the areas that are closed
to visitors.
The 20-acre gardens are on a
scale that is almost unimaginable
to most of us, but despite being
formerly owned by royalty and a rock
impresario, my overall impression of
the garden is of its informal, relaxed
and inviting atmosphere. This is a
garden intended to be enjoyed with
ideas to inspire those of us who
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garden on a more modest scale.
Prince Albert laid out the grounds in
the 1850s, while a walled garden and
terraces were added by King Edward
VII. The walled garden is now home
to a new kitchen garden; raised beds
built from oak sleepers provide the
family with fresh fruit, vegetables and
flowers for the house. The children
have already learned to make a
bee-line for strawberries.
Another recent development is the
improved water garden where Queen
Victoria once skated; it sits in a frost
hollow and water from the lake runs
along a zigzagging rill to a Japanese
style bridge and reflective pool. The
cold does not seem to affect the plants
that are flourishing there, including