IN THIS guidebook
Crook Hall Gardens , a medieval dimension owned by The National Trust , is famed for its Arts & Craft - style garden room , allowing visitors to traverse wind up pathway , explore its renowned Cotoneaster maze and revelry at the unique plantings .
Throughout story , Crook Hall has welcome prestigious poets such as John Ruskin and William Wordsworth , who plant inspiration within its tranquil grounds .
I had the pleasure of chatting with Cal Stewart , the Head Gardener at Crook Hall , to uncover the fascinating account of the gardens and explore the delicious array of springtime flowers .
An Arts & Crafts Garden
“ The garden is pretty modern in its planting but we bring a part in the Arts and Crafts movement or try and repeat what you would have normally associated with that nineteenth - century garden purpose , ” explains Cal .
“ The space is divided up into wads of different rooms , with different colours and palettes to play with and texture to look at .
“ Some of the rooms that we have here , for example , include the Silver and White Garden and the Shakespeare Garden , which are both bright reflection of the carefully planned style of the garden .
“ We do also have some of the more traditional elements too , like our Productive Garden where we show people how to grow food for thought crop and be part of a ego - sustaining world . ”
Spring At Crook Hall
“ bound really is starting to burst into colour at Crook Hall Gardens , ” shares Cal .
“ All the beautiful Tulips and Daffodils are expand and we ’re still carry onto the last of the Hellebores , which are a great source of food for wildlife in winter .
“ We also have some prominent tree heyday come into bloom . One of our historic pear trees is just about finishing its display , but a hebdomad ago it satiate up the wall along the house with aClematis armandii .
“ Magnolias are some of my pet flowering tree that we have , which are currently providing these wonderful , grown blooming this spring .
“ We also have lots of cosmetic cherry trees , which are majuscule for duplicate that tactile property of rainfall in a garden as all those lovely petals drop to the floor . ”
The Cotoneaster Maze
“ One of my best-loved feature at Crook Hall is our famous Cotoneaster snarl , ” shares Cal .
“ The Cotoneaster maze was planted in the twelvemonth 2000 , so it ’s a New feature , but the beautiful thing with maze is that they are ancient in design .
“ We ’ve had labyrinth throughout much of humanity ’s account , but it always brings out the child in all of us .
“ It does n’t matter if you ’re four years former , seven years old , or seventy - eight . you could always associate with a maze , and the the melodic theme of being lost and finding your own way through thing is actually a bit of homage to what we do at Crook Hall – it ’s the inspiration behind it all . ”
Exploring The Rest Of The Garden
“ Ourherbaceous outpouring borderis one of the first veridical splashes of colour you see when you arrive into the gardens , ” explains Cal , as we enter the infinite .
“ I love this mixture of springtime flowering plants in the grade of these wonderful Daffodil and Tulip bulbs and the gentle but vibrant Forget - Me - Nots .
“ I also like that we include wildlife and nature in this boundary line through the addition of a wildlife habitat for creatures like solitary bee , earwig and lacewings to lay up over the winter prison term .
“ It ’s really of import that we look after all the invertebrate that we find here . ”
“ The biggest room we have at Crook Hall are the two position of our walled garden , which is a lovely , sunny field , ” he proceed .
“ The facet here turn over us the chance to really experiment with a cottage garden feel . So again , at this time of year , there ’s batch of brilliant other springtime inflorescence plants .
“ There ’s all the common fountain electric light and then some really unique plant , such as the other anthesis irises and the Erysimum cheiri in the borders . ”
“ I have lashings of favourite areas in garden as you’re able to probably say , but I particularly love the grove that we have here , ” Cal says .
“ There ’s nothing that fit the feeling on a gay spring Clarence Day than walk underneath the flowering apples , pears and cherries and hearing the hoot and the bees relish it as much as I am .
“ I find that in this area I can mull over and unwind , which is something that is so valuable to me . ”
Visiting Crook Hall Gardens
“ We require to ensure that Crook Hall is a special place for everyone to enjoy , ” says Cal .
“ This is a very lowly garden , but with every square in here we make use of it and we try and shew that through very precise and upright practice in gardening , you may do so much .
“ We want this garden to tell stories and ensure that everybody is include and everyone is welcome . ”
To visit Crook Hall Gardens , headspring over tothe National Trust site .
