Overlooking the Bristol Channel near the coastal village of Porlock Weir is a delightful three and a half-acre garden brimming with beautiful flowers, rare plants and where you’ll always receive a warm welcome from the affable hosts.
Greencombe, situated along the sheltered wooded slopes of Exmoor, is a north-facing garden surrounding a 1940s house built for Horace Stroud, a local businessman who owned a department store in Minehead, the primary town in this neck of the woods.
Stroud sowed the seeds for what would become one of the region’s best gardens, but it’s when the plot fell into the care and custody of Joan Loraine in 1966 that this floral feast really took off. Everything seen in the garden today is the result of her hard work and love of gardening.
The garden’s layout appears very natural but, in fact, it’s been carefully designed and contains four national plant collections, including Gaultheria (Berries for Bears) and Vaccinium (Wortleberries)). The organic garden’s bountiful display is due, in part, to the use each year of 25-30 tons of home-produced compost and leaf-mould.
Greencombe Gardens, a registered charity, contains myriad delights, such as a champion English holly tree (ilex aquifolium), arguably the largest and oldest in Britain.
We enjoyed strolling along the moss-covered paths winding their way through a fabulous collection of ornamental plants thriving beneath a variety of trees, including conifers, sweet chesnuts and oaks. Among the plethora of flowers on offer are magnolias, azaleas, lilies and hydrangeas.
After exploring every corner of the garden, we relaxed at the table and chairs near the entrance which afforded us sublime views out across ancient fields to Porlock Bay and the Welsh coastline across the channel. It was the perfect way to end a delightful visit to an outstanding garden.
Opening dates/tines: 1st April – 31st July; Saturday-Wednesday
Entrance fee: Adults £7, Under 16s £1 – no dogs allowed
More information:
Greencombe Gardens, Porlock, Somerset TA24 8NU
Tel: 01643 862363
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