Ivy Croft Garden

A maturing rural garden with areas of meadow, wood, and orchard, blending with countryside and providing habitat for wildlife. The cottage is surrounded by borders, raised beds, trained pear trees and containers giving all year interest. The garden was started in 1997. Paths lead away from the cottage into less formal areas, set in open grassland. Plantings of willows, grasses, ferns, and snowdrops surround the ecological water treatment system and seasonal pond. Mixed borders lead to a young perry pear orchard, a vegetable garden surrounded by trained fruit trees and an embrionic 'natural wood'. Pleached limes screen the car park and partially surround an area of alpines.