Wildegoose Nursery & Gardens, Shropshire
It’s been becoming more and more of a challenge to find places to visit after Covid lockdown this summer but my OH came across Wildgoose Nursery and suggested we visit even it is was fairly small and a good hour and a half journey but to be honest just the drive through the glorious countryside was lovely and when we walked round the small 2 acre walled garden we were glad we’d made the effort.
Understated quality
If you visit their website it’s very subdued, not big and blousey like some, and at the bottom of the page it states:
Listed in Gardens Illustrated Top 100 Specialist Nurseries 2019
Wildegoose Nursery website
RHS Gold Medalists at Malvern 2014 & 2015 RHS SilverGilt Medalist Chelsea 2015 & 2016
They have also been featured in ‘Garden Illustrated’, RHS ‘The Garden’, ‘The Guardian‘ and ‘Country Life Magazine’ (but only the Guardian article is available on line).
They ask for a donation of £4 each on entry. You will need to book a time slot before you arrive and the dates they are open to the public is limited.
Opening days for 2020
The walled garden, nursery and tearoom will be open this season on the following dates: Fri, Sat, Sundays on – 31/7, 1/8, 2/8; 14/8, 15/8, 16/8; 28/8, 29/8, 30/8 & Mon 31/8; 4/9, 5/9, 6/9 and lastly 18/9, 19/9, 20/9. So hurry along there before it’s too late.
We chatted to Jack as he sorted our purchases and he was so modest about the nursery, their achievements and the choice of plants that they stock. Their love is mainly for Violas and Cornutas (a species of viola native to the Pyrenees it seems) but they have extensive choice of grasses, which I am into in a big way at the moment.
Grasses
Most of the grasses we saw as we meandered around the enclosed walled garden pathways were at least as tall as me (not difficult says my OH pointing out that I’m a mere 5ft 2ins so most things are taller than me!) but it was the way they had inter-planted which made such stunning displays, like small gardens within gardens which took you off in different directions on pebble and slate paths dispersed with small plants which had self seeded and had been left in situ. This all added to the charm and beauty of the relatively small space but you could easily see how small sections could be reproduced even in our very small garden.
Their published catalogue lists 40 different types of grasses alone, however they only mention 5 on their online shop. So a visit it a must.
No visit is complete without afternoon tea in the gardens. The tea room was closed due to Covid restrictions but they had placed a number of tables and chairs on the lawns next to the greenhouses and as it was a fairly mild day it was very pleasant to sit sipping on our tea and enjoying a toasted teas cake with strawberry jam. The OH was devastated when they said they’d run out of scones as I think he’s on a one man mission to taste a scone in every location he visits, but on the day we were there 2 small parties (of 6 people in the same family) had enjoyed full afternoon teas so all the scones had been scoffed!
Something else to visit whilst you’re there is the newly reconstructed glass house which is unique in that it’s curved to make the most of the sunshine. To make it curve thousands of small hand made curved pieces of glass have to be meticulously placed. They have had Lottery Funding in order to restore it and, along with the help of a team of volunteers, it is almost complete. Some 4000 small pieces of glass have been rescued, cleaned and reused. Have a look on their website for more information on the history of the glass house and its refurbishment.
Here are some photos that I took as we walked round.
If you are tempted to visit their address is:
Wildegoose Nursery and Gardens, The Walled Garden Lower Millichope Munslow Graven Arms Shropshire SY7 9HE Tel: (01584) 841 890 Email: office@widlegoosenursery.co.uk Instgram: @wildegoosenursery website: www.wildegoosenursery.co.uk
