Description:Unusual and challenging ½-acre garden set on steep hillside, with fine views. A wildlife-friendly garden with mixed borders, ponds, propagating area, vegetable garden, fruit cage, greenhouses and polytunnel, chickens and bees, nearby allotment. Daffodils, tulips and hellebores in quantity for spring openings. Come prepared for steep terrain and a warm welcome!
Wildlife-friendly, run on organic lines with plants to attract bees and other insects

Further details:Ivy House Garden was first mentioned in William Robinson's Cottage Gardening magazine, in the late 1890's, when C.W.Groves nursery, now relocated to West Bay, Bridport, was situated in Piddletrenthide. The garden as it is today was laid out in 1986 by the current owners. The steep, chalky hillside presents quite a challenge both to the gardener and the visitor! Within the half-acre plot are different areas of interest, including two ponds, an organic potager with flowers for cutting, and vegetables, a fruit garden and herbaceous borders. There are also two greenhouses and a poly-tunnel which is used for over-wintering perennials and growing early salad crops. A small herb garden is situated near the fruit cage; this uses slate chippings as a planting base for thymes as well as other herbs grown in pots. A Spring woodland garden above the Summerhouse is planted with a dolly-mixture of tulips and a collection of hellebores. Back in 2004, 25 trees, mostly Leylandii, were felled and an insect-attractant garden was created at the top of the plot with far-reaching views of the countryside. Nearby an area is planted with many different grasses and perennials in a Mediterranean style. The garden is fed annually with a mixture of garden compost, horse manure and leaf mould.