About Brambley Hedge
When we moved to Brambley Hedge we didn’t know exactly how much garden there was due to the amount of discarded materials that had been deposited there, so the first task was to hire a JCB and a lorry to clear away the rubbish, this then left us with a fairly large open space with only 2 roses and an apple tree still remaining to this day. Our aim was to fill this space with as many varieties of flowering plants as possible, but to make it so it was not all visible from end to end. We also wanted a reasonably large kitchen garden area, this was rapidly reduce by half as the flowering plants demanded more space.
Since then we have expanded the range of plants, added height with trees (White barked betula, foxglove tree ) and climbers (roses, clematis) but are still changing the range of plants, some due to weather fatalities, others just for personal preference. However our main aim is to keep the ‘cottage style’ whilst always seeking interesting new varieties. We try to have something flowering for most of the year, starting with several varieties of hellebore, very attractive to bees, and aconites.
Moving on to spring bulbs flowering shrubs, eg Exochorda, early clematis, late spring see the start of the roses and perennials such as lupin, aquilegia and if we are lucky the Paulonia (Foxglove tree) with its scented blue flowers, but this is very weather dependant as the buds set in the previous summer and late frost can easily destroy them. The roses flower throughout the summer right up to the start of winter, along with hardy annuals summer bedding and hydrangeas and our collection of ferns that give colour and structure so something to look forwards to for all seasons.