The Garden

The garden is intimate, informal and inspiring. Located in the woodland quarter of Staffordshire close to both the Shropshire and the Cheshire borders, this lovely garden has delights and surprises whatever the season.

There are many areas of diverse interest within this 12 acre, hillside garden. These include a new winter garden, an edible woodland, a woodland quarry with waterfall, an alpine scree and pool, rose walk and amazing seasonal borders.

Additionally the garden has several notable collections of plants including: rhododendrons, azaleas, camellias, sarcococca and hydrangeas.

The garden’s initial creation lay in Colonel Harry Clive’s wartime decision of 1940, to provide his ailing wife – Dorothy – with a ‘series of interesting walks’ as she battled with Parkinson’s disease. Unfortunately Dorothy died in 1942 but Colonel Clive continued work apace throughout the 1940s and 1950s, especially in The Quarry Garden which covers approximately 2 acres.

In 1958 management of the then ‘fledgling’ garden was entrusted, by Colonel Clive, to a newly established, small-scale, independent charity – The Willoughbridge Garden Trust. This charity still manages, what is now a much larger and considerably enhanced 12 acre garden. Currently, the ‘Trust’ directly employs a small specialist team of staff to manage the site’s affairs. These core staff members are ably supported by a dedicated group of volunteers who primarily help with gardening, administration and the running of events.

Garden Trails

arts_trail

heritage_trail

tree_trail

Plant Labelling in the Garden

Plant labelling

Planting Lists 2

Dry Border planting list

Old Drive planting list

Wedding Border planting list

The Garden’s Year