15 Gade Valley Cottages

About 15 Gade Valley Cottages

The planting is informal and shows the owner’s particular love of shade loving perennials – many hostas, ferns, ligularias, rodgersias, astrantias, pulmonarias and heucheras. There are also many acers and bamboos.

The garden has seen changes since 2019 due to having to remove a large birch which has made part of the garden much sunnier. Also new paths have been added, the top pond reshaped and the trellis near the house removed to improve vistas. The sunny areas of the garden are planted with asters, dahlias, crocosmia, iris, phlox, hemerocallis and rudbeckia. The garden is planned so that only a third can be seen from the house and the rest reveals itself as you explore many winding paths. There are some unusual shrubs and trees including heptacodium, dipelta and azara.

The pond at the top of the garden is designed to encourage wildlife and has a gentle sloping shallow end to allow access to all creatures. This pond has frogs, toads, newts and a breeding population of goldfish whose numbers are controlled by herons! We have had mallard ducks successfully breeding on the pond for the past five years.

There are seats around the garden, some in shade and some in sunnier positions. The seat at the end of the garden offers lovely views across the beautiful Gade valley and a porthole in the hedge offers a peek into the arable fields behind.