Gardening Magazine

Ashe Park Visit

By Mwillis
Jane and I have recently become shareholders in a vineyard! It is a new business formed from the relics of the Wineshare club that we had been members of since the 1990s. We have always loved the wines from Domaine du Grand Mayne and we were very disappointed when Wineshare folded, but last weekend we went to hear about how a new business has "risen from the ashes" as they say. How appropriate that the HQ of the company is based in the grounds of Ashe Park, near Basingstoke (conveniently only about 20 miles from where we live)!

Ashe Park visit

Ashe Park


This post is not about a shareholder meeting. It is about the gardens of Ashe Park. We didn't know this before we went, but the gardens are often opened to parties of visitors in order to raise money for charity, and they are also opened as part of the National Gardens Scheme, of which I wrote last week. After the formalities of the shareholder meeting (followed by lunch and wine-tasting), we were allowed to roam around the gardens at our own pace. Having failed to anticipate this opportunity, I had not taken my camera, but fortunately I had my phone with me, so here are some of the photos I took with it.
Ashe Park visit

Gosh, that photo emphasises the leaden sky! I'm sure the gardens would have been even nicer in sunshine but...
Ashe Park visit

Ashe Park visit

The Wildflower meadow - a huge expanse of white Daisies:
Ashe Park visit

The gardens are full of little gems like this:
Ashe Park visit

And this...
Ashe Park visit

And sculptures, some of which I liked...
Ashe Park visit

And some of which I didn't...
Ashe Park visit

Ashe Park visit

Ashe Park visit

For me the main attraction of course was the potager, aka veg garden. As soon as I saw it, I thought of Chateau Villandry! (Perhaps in slightly smaller scale).
Ashe Park visit

Hey look, their raised beds are just like mine!
Ashe Park visit

It's amazing how ornamental  a few Pak Choi can be...
Ashe Park visit

Or some red Lettuces.
Ashe Park visit

The leaves of the Red Cabbage had no holes at all. How do they manage that???
Ashe Park visit

More sculpture, this time combined with a water feature.
Ashe Park visit

Looks like a good crop of Gooseberries.
Ashe Park visit

A study in perspective:
Ashe Park visit

The Guardians of the Gate - penguins, of course!
Ashe Park visit

Naturally, with so many flowers, the gardens were full of bees...
Ashe Park visit

Ashe Park visit
  Just in case anyone reading this is also a wine fan, here is a link to the website of the new business I mentioned at the start of the post - Domaine du Grand Mayne, in the Cote de Duras, not far from Bergerac. I can't recommend the wines highly enough. Not "fancy" wines. Not £50 a bottle wines, but £7 or £8 a bottle wines, and wines that win lots of awards - even in France! Fantastic value for money.

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