Click Here for bed and breakfast stay at the gardens!

Hidden Valley Gardens

Introduction

It has always been our dream to ‘retire’ to Cornwall and develop a garden with a nursery open to the public.  Eventually after much searching we moved here in November 1999 with a thousand plants and a 10ft X 10ft greenhouse in a large removal van.  This had to park a mile up the lane to unload, and all our possessions were delivered in small loads.

The gardens needed to be south facing, sheltered from the wind, have a few acres, parking space, and be suitable for B&B.  We also hoped being near the Eden Project would bring garden lovers to the area and guests to our B&B – this has proved to be the case, with over 2 million people visiting Eden in the first year.

The property is a barn conversion that needed extensive works before we could open the B&B.  We had the builders in for over a year, but they just finished in time for opening at Easter 2001. 

The nursery and garden are now taking shape after much hard work.  The B&B and nursery are run single handed by me with some help in the garden.   I specialise in cultivating perennials for sale, which can be seen growing in the garden.   It is not a typical Cornish garden with rhododendrons and camellias, although eventually I hope to develop a woodland garden in one area with various trees and shrubs.  I propagate many of the plants for sale in the nursery from my garden and although I have limited stock it should be interesting.  The garden is well labelled and visitors are welcome to walk around.  There is a new hut I am using as a sales area, where you can serve yourself tea and coffee.  There is also a toilet and picnic tables.

Garden Newsletter December 2007

This year has past just as quickly as others and we have now been here for eight years! Throughout the year we have had many visitors who have enjoyed our peaceful and informal atmosphere away from the crowds, both in the garden and B&B.

The New Year started with great excitement with our first full time member of staff Laura, who helps both with B&B and garden. She started work just a week before we went on our winter sunshine break and we left her in sole charge for two weeks, a fact she has not yet forgotten! She has proved an excellent organiser with a cheerful disposition and has been a great support for me. She has settled into a Cornish way of life including being part of a women’s Gig team which completed in the ‘World Championship’ on the Isles of Scilly.

We also still have our two part time members of staff, Andrew and Shirley, who work tirelessly to keep the garden in shape. Peter, my husband, is still working elsewhere full time but manages to help out especially with the paper work - his speciality in the garden is mowing (!!) and the fruit/orchard - the little orchard is maturing well and the raspberries have been prolific. My parents still continue to visit once a week and undertake all kinds of jobs. Thanks and well done to you all.

Every year is different weather-wise - it is a good job gardeners are adaptable to what nature throws at them. Spring was even earlier with many flowers and daffodils at Christmas, March and April were baking hot with people going to the beach and then when summer did come in June and July we had buckets of rain. However, the plants all did very well and we did not need to water the beds for sometime. The runner beans and Dahlias were particularly good and because we had surplus of dahlias we planted them between the blackcurrant bushes - we didn’t consult Peter about encroaching on this ‘patch’ but they did look rather pretty together! We have also taken over one of Peter’s old fruit rows to plant a Crocosmia collection which flowers in August and number some 40 different varieties. We have stocked the nursery so that you can purchase what you see on display.

Another project this year has been to create a vegetable plot with six raised beds punctuated with bark paths in a Potager style. There is a new seat incorporated in the design from which there is a view right down the garden and distant views of the rolling hills. Each side of the seat is planted with bush honeysuckle which will have perfume and flowers. It will be good to have some lovely fresh vegetables and herbs to cook with and I am looking forward to planning which seeds to buy!

We have been busy this year! The plants we removed to make space for the Potager have been relocated to the newly established shrub border. This leads onto the fernery which we have now extended. This is all part of the newly created garden guide which takes you on a walking tour of the garden. Alphabetical labels have been used, which correspond to the guide, to describe the various beds/areas in more detail.

I have always been inspired by Japanese gardens and love their simplicity and natural style. So another project has been to make a Japanese style area near the large pond. We managed to get some large irregular shaped granite rocks to act as the backbone to this garden - these came from an old quarry near by - each had to be put in place with a large digger, with some very difficult manoeuvres. We also have included two wooden bridges, granite lanterns, and lots of Acers, Ferns, Bamboo and Iris plants. It has much improved a rather neglected area.

Unfortunately, our four National Garden Scheme open days were rather wet so it was a bit of a squash serving cream teas to everybody in the tea hut instead of outside. However, the scones and home made cakes were as popular as ever and we still raised a good sum of money for the charity. It is a good occasion to chat to other garden lovers and meet some of the locals and hear some positive comments, which make all the hard work worthwhile.

While I am on the subject of dates, from 8th -17th May we have the Daphne du Maurier Festival to celebrate her life here in the Fowey area and again we will be serving cream teas in the garden for the whole 10 days. At this time we have many different columbines out in the cottage garden beds and lots of other small treasures to see. There will also be a good selection of plants for sale, as I hope to have time to do a lot more propagating this Spring.

In addition to our B&B accommodation, new for 2008 is our self-catering accommodation - the newly refurbished Garden Studio. It is separate from the house and accessed via external wooden stairs. Ideal for a couple seeking a cosy romantic getaway break. Our excellent maintenance man D.T. will be extending the landing decking at the top of the steps to make an extra balcony area from where you will be able relax outside overlooking the gardens.

We are now looking forward to spring, which comes early in Cornwall. There are lots of great woodland and sub tropical gardens with Camellias and Magnolias out to visit in March/April, as well as, driving or walking through the primrose covered lanes and Cornish hedges. So if you have not been before come and seek us out.
 

Best wishes of the season
Tricia Howard

Click here for Garden Leaflet

Click here for our 2007 plant sales list