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About Hill Top Farm
David has lived here for over 30 years, no less. He was a moving spirit in the original opening of Avon Dassett gardens some 30 years ago. As well as gardening, here and elsewhere, he also grows plants for sale – as displayed at the entrance.
Walking towards the house the visitor passes a succession of beds. One is refreshingly full of annuals such as lobelia and ageratum as well as Heuchera, which is clearly a favourite. There are also plenty of tubs.
Further along is a mixed border and then a series of closely grouped conifers. These include the ‘Ellwoodii’ form of Lawson cypress, juniper, and the Hinoki cypress. Groupings like this are a general feature of garden and show the long-term growth habit of conifers originally bought as dwarfs.
Some of the garden at the rear is devoted to vegetables – potatoes, peas, runner beans and others. These are flanked by a rich herbaceous border which includes mint, the prairie mallow (Sidalcea), mint, yellow loosestrife, veronica and the obedient plant Physostegia virginiana. Plants like Knautia macedonica, once a fashionable novelty, are now widely seen in plantings like this.
Towards the back of the plot is a sturdy pine, probably a form of Pinus nigra.
On the opposite side of the fence is a field with a number of self-standing shrubs – berberis, forsythia, cotoneaster, buddleia – and a cherry tree. This area is an integral part of the garden.
The greenhouse area is significant, as one would expect of a grower, with good plants on display. In this area too there are further beds of vegetables and flowers and a dense wall of conifers, some likely to be removed. The soil in this part of the garden is red ironstone, as opposed to the Warwickshire clay found elsewhere.
Here is a garden with no pretensions. It is not manicured but everything is in good heart. It is old-fashioned in the best sense of the word, reflecting years of gardening experience. The healthy plants for sale are a bonus.
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