Alive with Beasties

Thrumming with life and bursting with flowers, the gardens delight us every time we open their doors and walk into flowery worlds within the walls. The garden at Downton, which for so many years before we took on the lease two years ago was managed as two acres of mown grass, is starting to feel a little more alive, now that it has flowers and chickens; we are noticing more insects and small birds around than we did last year. At Stokesay, which we’ve been gardening along organic lines for twelve years now, there are nests in the walls, vines and trees, busy little rodents and exciting snakes in the warm, less disturbed places. We are in no way squeamish about sharing our gardens with other members of the natural world; on the contrary we feel privileged to exist alongside them.