Spring Garden visits
When spring arrives each year and gardens are blossoming the KVGG is very active. This year has so far been no exception.
We began the month of October with a visit to the pre-school grounds, to look at the proposed alterations to the garden format. There are wonderful ideas, some of which are to establish a vegetable garden that the children can work in, some herbs for perfume and different tastes and suitable greenery under the play areas that at the moment get a lot of shade. These should create a haven for the pre-schoolers and provide hours of learning and fun. The Garden Group is offering ideas and contacts and hopefully some plants when decisions have been made; this is a garden in progress and we are really happy to play our part.
Then we spent a delightful morning looking at two gardens where the homes are for sale. We were all very impressed.
We began at Louise and Peter Morgan's garden just near the village; it is amazing what they have achieved in just fourteen years, starting from scratch. With about 10 acres that go right to the junction of the three water courses it is hard to believe that this much peace and tranquillity can be found so close to the village centre. The garden is restful, colourful, well maintained and designed. Of course there are changes as trees grow too large for their space and others don't do so well in this changing climate, but the overall plan for lawn paths that lead from one area to another, each with a name, has formed a garden where it is a delight to explore, with bird baths and statues and garden bric-a-brac artfully placed around corners.
Then we drove to Pat and John Spencer's 8 acres on Kangaroo Valley Road. Here the eye is drawn down from the house to the wonderful view that seems to cover the whole valley. Pat has turned a slope behind the house into a garden with lovely stone walls and riotous plants full of colour and vigour. There are many natives here and many have been self-seeded. The orchard is thriving and the dam perfectly manicured; raspberry plants are protected from the wildlife and are flourishing in the vegetable garden.
Thank you to these generous people for sharing their gardens and their ideas, before they move elsewhere.