Day 6 - Saturday June 7th

Saffron Walden

This is the last day of our trip! Plenty of time to sleep this morning - the departure for today's garden is quite late. This gave us time to have a closer look at the town we have stayed in the last few nights.

After breakfast we went to have a look at Bridge End Garden just a few minutes walk from the hostel. We found out that Saturday ment Market Day, with a lot of stands in the market place selling fish, cheese, bread, vegetables. There was also an flea market with many odd things to see. We also found a charity Church Bazaar selling plants.

The Beth Chatto Gardens

Designer: Beth Chatto
Style: 20th-century informal
Size: 4,8 ha

When Beth Chatto in the 1960:s set out to create a garden on this windtorn place in one of England's most arid areas, there were many challenges to overcome. With both dry and rocky areas, as well as wet clay, conditions were given for a garden with several different characters.

The Gravel Garden is the most recent additions to the gardens. Here there is no irrigation, and therefore the area is planted with plants that should survive on their own in the (usually) fairly dry conditions. At our visit however, the place looked more like a Water Garden with pools of water here and there due to the heavy rainfall.

The rain continued to pour down, so we gave up garden-watching and went to the large and well planned nursery. We browsed through the huge range of plants, adding to our earlier acquisitions as much as we thought would fit in your luggage.

Before returning to the bus and the final journey to the airport, we gathered for scones and a warming cup of tea in the cafeteria. Then it was time to "de-soil" our newly purchased plants and pack them for the journey home.

Thank You Dee! Thank You England! Hope to see You soon again!