Cool Gardens: A Victorian garden that spans the continents
If you want to treat the family to a whistle-stop tour of the world, you can’t do better than a trip to Biddulph Grange Garden in Staffordshire. It really is a bit mad, and I mean that as a compliment.
This Victorian garden was created by James Bateman for his collection of plants from around the world. He took their placement very literally, creating garden rooms linked by tunnels from area to area. Thanks once again to Gary Welford for the photographs – I can’t talk them with walking poles!
Visit Italy, a Chinese water garden, an Indian temple, a Himalayan glen, a lake, a stumpery and even an Alpine cottage which turns into an Egyptian pyramid!
Yew is used throughout the garden to create ‘rooms’ for the different climatic areas. It’s thought Biddulph Grange was the first Victorian garden to have ‘garden rooms’. Compare Biddulph Grange Garden to another recent visit – Dunvegan Castle and Gardens, Isle of Skye.
Biddulph Grange Garden – National Trust to the rescue
View Bateman’s collections of rhododendrons and trees, including the oldest golden larch in Britain, gathered from China in the 1850s. The Geological Gallery, opened in 1862, is his attempt to reconcile geology and theology.
The garden fell into disrepair until the National Trust stepped in to restore it. I originally visited in the early 1990s, when everything appeared very shiny and new. Almost 30 years on, some areas were undergoing more maintenance work to keep them ship-shape.
If you miss out the long woodland walk, Biddulph Grange Garden is relatively compact. However, for the less able amongst us, beware – there are more than 400 steps to negotiate and many, steep and uneven narrow gravel paths. There is also a fairly flat nature trail around the perimeter with a stunning dead beech tree, left as a wildlife habitat.
The Dahlia Walk
One of the biggest draws at Biddulph Grange Garden is the Dahlia Walk. These showy stars are planted in tiers between huge buttressed yew hedging. At their peak in early September, they are lifted in late October to be replaced with bulbs for a spring display.
Heritage dahlia varieties are mostly used, such as pompons, but modern types, such as collarettes, are included. The shady southeast section contains shade-tolerant perennials such as Ligularia przewalskii, Japanese anemones and toad lilies. The dark yew hedges are particularly dominant in winter, hiding the bare soil and drawing the eye to architectural planting beyond.
Biddulph Grange Garden is open throughout the year, but hours do vary, and access is more limited during the winter – please check the website before setting out. It’s an ideal place to take the kids – quite magical.
Address: Grange Road, Biddulph, Staffordshire, ST8 7SD. For further information, visit www.nationaltrust.org.uk.
