A trip out of the Cotswolds to see snowdrops in two Leicestershire gardens.
One of the perks of my job is the chance to visit gardens ‘out of hours’. Seeing a garden when it’s closed to the public gives a completely different experience. A recent trip with the Garden Media Guild not only gave me the chance to look around Belvoir Castle and Easton Walled Gardens when they were closed to the public, in the case of Belvoir it was also before its garden season starts.
Although it was cold when I left the Cotswolds, I hadn’t expected to see snow but there was more than a dusting in Leicestershire. It gave a magical quality to the grounds at Belvoir Castle, home to the Duke of Rutland.
There’s a project underway at Belvoir to restore the gardens and parkland after the discovery of plans by Capability Brown in the castle’s archives. The design was never fully realised as Brown died before it could be finished.
Work has included clearing woodland undergrowth, opening up vistas and planting thousands of trees to created the parkland landscape Brown envisaged. In addition , the rockery has been rebuilt and lakes dredged.
Lots of acid-loving trees and shrubs have been planted and there was a lot of colour even in mid-February.
A group of daphne was particularly beautiful – both for the flowers and the scent.
Another area to be revamped is the rose garden. Originally designed by Harold Peto, this has seen the old roses replaced in recent years. It looked good even in winter.
“It will be the best rose garden in the country by the time I’ve finished with it,” head gardener Tom Webster told us.
And there were snowdrops. Possibly not on such a vast scale as we get in some of our Cotswold snowdrop gardens but still a lovely sight on a winter day.
After a fascinating guided tour of the castle, which doubled as Windsor Castle in Netflix’s ‘The Crown’, and fortified by a very good afternoon tea, it was onward to Easton Walled Gardens. While the trip was originally just to Belvoir Castle, Ursula Cholmeley of nearby EWG had offered the chance to add her garden to the day. It’s somewhere that’s long been on my ‘must visit’ list so, naturally, I took up the offer.
The garden has been owned by the Cholmeley family since 1561 and a massive restoration project of the 12 acres started in 2001 after the house and garden fell into dereliction, not least because it was requisitioned during the war.
Looking at the garden now it was hard to believe that when Ursula and her husband took over the grounds were a mass of self-sown trees and brambles.
Today, there’s a strong design framework that made the garden interesting even with only winter flowers for colour.
The garden team were busy pruning the fruit trees into these great shapes.
There were snowdrops . . .
. . . lots of hellebores . . .
. . . and some great combinations of plants.
The tiny iris were particularly lovely.
I also liked the way the frosty weather picked out the moss on boundary walls.
Easton Walled Gardens is particularly known for its sweet peas and holds a festival in July. I think I may need a return trip.
Belvoir Castle opens to the public on March 15. For details, visit the website.
Easton Walled Gardens is open for snowdrops until February 23. The main garden season starts on March 1. Full details are on the website.
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