Aulden Farm Home Page
Aulden Farm is situated in the beautiful rolling countryside of the Welsh Marches. Surrounding our old farmhouse we have created an informally planted country garden and nursery.
There are many different aspects to enjoy from the dry stream which is planted with ferns and Iris ensata to the natural pond, a haven for wildlife surrounded by siberian iris.
Other iris are found around the garden and our hemerocallis collection is planted in two colour co-ordinated stock areas. Looking back, what can be said about 2008? A year of contrast would perhaps be the kindest thing to say. We enjoyed a good number of group visits and hopefully this feeling was reciprocated. Unfortunately, the weather did not smile on us for NGS days, but some folks still enjoyed the garden in the rain. The Malvern Show was another success, good weather was appreciated by everybody. We were really pleased with our silver medal as only three medals are awarded amongst the numerous outside nurseries.
The garden feels as if it has reached adolescence, some hedges were definitely getting out of hand - so this autumn has seen a large amount of cutting back. This is something we could not have imagined when we came here 12 years ago, then we were just glad when things grew! We are also pleased to say that we are in the process of re-establishing the collection of siberian iris. All the remaining plants from the lapsed National Collection have been dug and replanted here.We are especially pleased that Brita Carson in Scotland has offered to take a duplicate collection to help safeguard its future.
At Aulden we do all we can to encourage nature and garden in an environmentally friendly way. The birds, bats and butterflies give never ending pleasure. We are still trialling peat free composts. The results are interesting and a number of our plants are grown in a coir based mixture. We propagate most of the plants ourselves and are limited by what two pairs of hands can do. Besides, we are only human and enjoy working with a variety of plants thus you can expect small numbers but a wide range. Our plants are grown naturally without heat or forcing.
Opening Times: We are open Tuesday & Thursday 10am-5pm from April to August inclusive and Thursdays only in March & September. However, visitors are welcome at other times by arrangement. We are also open some Sundays for the National Garden Scheme—19th April, 31st May, 28th June and 30th August 2009 (2.00-5.30pm). Homemade ice cream is available on these days. Groups are also very welcome, evenings or during the day, and we can supply tea/coffee and homemade cake - so please enquire.
For those interested in irises, we can give 2 talks at present; Irises for the Natural Garden (concentrating on beardless irises) or Irises - some history, some people, some plants (a more general talk on irises).
Alun & Jill Whitehead
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Aulden Farm Aulden, Leominster, Tel: 01568 720129 |
 
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