Waltham Place opens gardens for summer

Featured on BBC Gardeners World, Waltham Place Gardens at White Waltham is open for the summer. 

Influenced by Dutch garden designer Henk Gerritsen, a collaborator of owner Strilli Oppenheimer, the garden embraces a naturalistic philosophy.

Owner and gardner Strilli seeks to work with the nature of the place, adapting and evolving to its ecology rather than producing a decorated garden.

Created as a haven for insect and animal life, fungi and indigenous flora, the gardens feature naturalistic plantings with woodlands meadows as well as an organic and bio-dynamic kitchen garden and farm.

The grounds contain 40-acres of ornamental gardens integrated into an organic farm estate with pastures and woodlands which explores the relationship between garden and nature, and how they can work together.  Gardens include, The Square Garden, with a surprising box-hedge which separates the two garden themes; a gravel garden and a garden with tall tough perennial plants which co-exist with ground elder.

Friarswalk is a mix of tender shrubs, perennials and grasses and Long Border boasts cloud yew hedges, clipped beech, Calystegia and herbacious perennials. Potager contains a mixture of herbs, cut flowers and flowering and perennial vegetables and The Kitchen Garden grows certified organic and bio-dynamic, supplying vegetables for the farm shop and the tearooms.

Stroll through lake and woodlands with camellias, rhododendrons and bluebells. Visit the working organic and bio dynamic farm, with Jersey cows, Jacob and Castlemilk sheep and Tamworth and Berkshire pigs. Home reared meat is available along with wool for knitting from the sheep.

Admission is £5 for adults and £1 for children. Waltham Place Gardens, Church Hill, White Waltham, Berkshire, SL6 3JH, www.walthamplace.com