The Grounds

The Grounds at Beldorney

As the house was built in 1902, I can only presume the grounds were designed and partially planted then. As well as having a wealth of very mature trees, shrubs, climbers, perennials and bulbs. There is also an abundance of physically built structures around the garden, such as a croquet lawn, curling rink, pergola and herb garden to name a few.

A wall of stunning rhododendrons and azaleas

An extremely mature ceanothus, which the Bees go crazy for.

Mid spring in an opening in our forest, Leopard’s-bane

Croquet lawn

Unfortunately time has taken its toll and grounds have been left to fall into a state of disrepair;

• Dry stone walls have fallen down/are falling down.

• The curling rink is almost unrecognisable.

• The forested areas still have their mature tree. However, planted rhododendrons have been allowed to expand and get out of control. These plants are now covering the whole understory of the forest with dense intertwined branches, blocking out light and preventing any new or existing flora on the ground to grow.

• The herb garden is over grown, with a distinct lack of, well…..herbs.

• The pergola is completely over grown with climbing roses.

• Rhododendrons have expanded over large amounts of the grounds.

• The croquet lawn’s boarders are undefined and messy, as they have been taken over by Rhododendrons.

• The stone paths around the grounds are overgrown and covered with moss and grass.

• All flowering beds have been left to become overgrown, with only the hardest of plants surviving.

• Large amounts of the daffodils have become bald (much like their owner, haha).

• The tennis court and vegetable garden has become overgrown.

• Plants haven’t been pruned and allowed to become dense (with little air circulation) or very leggy and crossed.

• The swimming pool has been left to become a pond.

• The several wooden outbuildings have either been blocked out by over growing Rhododendrons or started to become unstable as bits start to rot.

Yeah, there is a curling rink hidden under there.

An uninspiring mass of shrubs

Hidden stone path

Rhododendron covered understory

The Plan

Whereas the potential for the grounds is through the roof, I’m not in any doubt about the difficulty of the task ahead. The following are the main principles that I am aiming to achieve with the renovation of the grounds;

1. Restoration of structures.

2. Increase diversity of plants for wildlife.

3. Reduce rhododendron coverage.

4. Create a multi-tiered forest structure.

5. Expand wildflower coverage.

6. Using mixed hedges, delineate areas around the grounds.

7. Encourage more wildlife back to the ground, which in turn, will hopefully spread to forest outside the grounds.

Stay tuned for how all the renovations pan out.