If we make our goal to live a life of compassion and unconditional love,
then the world will indeed become a garden
where all kinds of flowers can bloom and grow.
Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
On the third weekend in June, many of our village's rich selection of gardens are open to the public. This has become a popular event in the calendar and attracts lots of visitors from around and about.
As newcomers to the village, Piers and I looked forward to the Open Gardens weekend with anticipation. A concentrated four hours took us round every one of the twenty seven, and each was a delight in its own way. The most amazing thing was the variety. The largest is probably half an acre, the smallest is pocket-handkerchief sized. Some have the River Cerne, (quite a small stream, in fact), flowing through, some have views of the surrounding hills, some partner the village vernacular and ecclesiastical architecture. Some are especially wildlife-friendly and one tiny garden gives onto a paddock where a three-week-old Shetland pony foal lives with a few older ponies.
Styles vary from the almost wild to the immaculately tamed, from those that have grown with their owners and previous owners, to those which are professionally designed, with artfully placed designer shrubs and scented plants in all the right places. Two gardens particularly appealed to me - a small patch of riverside wild-flower meadow and a cottage garden that seems to have been there for ever; but every garden had something to say.
All the gardeners are there to welcome the visitor and are keen to enthuse and answer questions. As one garden owner said: 'considering there are only about eight hundred people in the village, there's a high density of serious gardeners here'. Another said: 'opening the garden seems to come with the territory'. Every gardener has a passion for gardening and wants the fruits of their efforts to be offered to a wide public.
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