A Local Adventure

Charles was off carting straw this afternoon so I made my own plans to go explore a local garden called Dyffryn Fernant. I picked up a leaflet a while back and made a mental note to go and visit when I had some spare time, seeing as I had a few hours on my own I decided to take the short drive (5 minutes in fact!) to go off on an adventure. I was a tad excited because I haven’t been around a garden in ages, I just love strolling around at my own pace, taking in every flower, butterfly and view that is on offer. I had my camera, a new book and the sun was shining… what more could I want?

After driving up some tiny roads and parking in the grassed car park I made my way to the little hut where I paid the £6.00 entrance fee, grabbed a map and started walking towards the pond. A dark cloud hovered over and it started to rain so I sheltered underneath a huge oak tree whilst watching the rain drops and the wind brush through all the beautiful grasses in ‘Nicky’s Field’.  It was so peaceful sat under the tree that when the rain stopped I almost didn’t want to move, alas whilst running my hand through the many grasses I made my way towards the pond and the ‘Waun Fach’ wild meadow beyond.

I walked around the entire edge of the wild meadow whilst stopping every now and again to admire all the butterflies, bees and insects enjoying the flora. I made my way up towards the house and was greeted with my favourite part of the garden ‘The Orchard’. Although you wouldn’t think it was an orchard with all the beautifully coloured flowers jammed packed into the beds and spilling out onto the path. I just loved the wild nature and colourful palettes here as well as the extra bonus of having a few apple trees dotted around.

The next level to the back garden was ‘The Rickyard’ which was yet again full of lots of flowers as well as clipped evergreens. My favourite flower, Verbena Bonariensis, was the star of the show here and it looked amazing in such a large quantity, they put my 3 plants to shame! I walked up through the ‘Nursery Garden’ which was very much a working place and into the ‘Kitchen Garden’. I’ll admit that this was the area I was most looking forward too, I love having a mooch around other kitchen gardens and allotments because I miss mine so much but I was a little disappointed. There wasn’t much growing but I could see the potential and foundations of a wonderful little kitchen garden settled right behind the house, it would be perfect.

There was only a small part of the garden left to explore so I wondered out from the kitchen gardens to the ‘Courtyard’ which also had a lovely display of flowers including some beautiful white agapanthus. The ‘Bog Garden’ was too overgrown to look around so instead I marvelled at the display of succulents and made a note to make my own succulent garden (but maybe on a smaller scale!) Next I peeped into the ‘Fernery’ a small but perfect little space next to the old tractor shed before making my way up the the magic garden where you could get some beautiful views of the front garden and courtyard.

After having a good look at near enough everything I decided to walk round to the pond again, I could spy a swing chair on the map and I wanted to investigate. I sat here on this make shift swing bench for nearly an hour, I had brought along a new book of mine called ‘The Handmade Apothecary’ and find it all so fascinating and something I want to incorporate into the allotment. It was so peaceful and beautiful sat there looking out at the pond and listening to the nature, now I find myself wanting a swing bench at home!

I prized myself away from the bench to go and have one last look at the ‘Orchard’ and ‘Rickyard’ before heading to the ‘Library’ which was empty this time around. What a lovely space this was and full of so many books to read! There was an area to make yourself a cup of tea or coffee for a small fee with a long table and chairs to sit down at and read a book. I had a good look at the shelves and came across some stunningly beautiful old books and spent some time flicking through them all.

Alas time was getting on and Charles would soon be home for supper, so I put the books back on the shelf and headed for the exit. Dyffryn Fernant is the perfect little garden to spend a couple of hours strolling round, relaxing and enjoying the flowers. It looks much bigger on the map but still manages to fit just about everything you need in with lots of inspiration too. I had such a great time there having a bit of ‘me’ time and came home with lots of ideas, all in all a good afternoon spent amongst nature and a much needed one too… I do miss my own garden so much!