Back to the garden

I went for my weekly visit to the wound clinic, mainly to collect supplies, and update the duty nurse on recent events. A man, and an elderly lady were waiting for treatment. She stood uncomfortably, leaning on her walking stick. Either the physical act of sitting down on the queuing bench was too painful for her, or as I've been so often, sitting down was painful enough to want to avoid unless necessary. There'd been some appointment mix-up. She'd arrived an hour early, when I was due, and the nurse was in any case running late, as often happens, given the demand. The supplies I wanted weren't available as none had been delivered (again), so after a brief word with the nurse I skipped my appointment and returned home.

As the weather was fine, I took out my Sony Alpha 68 and several lenses we drove out to Dyffryn Gardens for lunch and a wander around the grounds, which are looking wonderful. Recently, some of the enclosed gardens have been revised according to the original 19th century master gardener's plan. Best of all, the water garden which runs the length of the main lawn in front of the house has now been completely restored, and filled with a variety of different coloured water lilies. The fountain in the pond at the far end of the lawn is working again, and beyond it, the sunken garden which for years was like a wilderness, is re-ordered and populated with plants. What a lot has been achieved by the team of fourteen gardeners and scores of volunteers over the past year. And more is to come.

Attempts to trim and restore the hedges around gardens on the west side came too late to bear fruit. Some of the bushes will never grow back as desired and others have died after pruning, or maybe due to old age. These will be uprooted and replaced in coming months, and large sections of hedge will then be grown from saplings and re-trained to reflect the originals. It'll take some years to complete, but will be worthwhile. 

There's also renovation work to be done on the south facade this autumn. So good to see a distinctive and beautiful building and its setting restored to former glory. Originally it was the home of an elite landowning family which could afford the artists and staff. Under the ownership of the National Trust it belongs to everybody in different ways - workers, volunteers and tens of thousands of visitors. It was indeed a busy place today at the height of the summer holidays. The rest of my photos are here