During the 230th anniversary year of Houghton Lodge and Gardens our new Oriental Garden was opened officially by Gardening expert and TV presenter Charlie Dimmock on Thursday 25th May at 12.00 noon.
In the new Oriental Garden our visitors can explore its cherry orchard, rose garden and enjoy the exquisite joinery of the beautiful Torii Arch, Moon Gate and Nikko Bridge, as well as new water-loving marginal plants growing on the banks of the pond and island, and a moss garden on the bank of the stream. The Moon Gate provides a doorway between the new oriental garden and the old eighteenth century garden leading our visitors to the acer walk which takes you into the park. Visitors can make a wish by tying a ribbon to the branches of the twisted willow – a popular Japanese custom.
The inspiration for the new addition to our garden came from a visit to the Japanese Garden at The Chateau de Courances, France in 2008 where the colours, shapes and sounds made a lasting impression on me. Too much time in lockdown made us restless and impatient for a new project! We think this is a fabulous addition to the garden at Houghton Lodge and unique to the Test valley, and we very much look forward to watching it grow with our visitors.
The Oriental Garden is designed by Richard Taylor from leading landscape designers Taylor Tripp. Charlie’s Gardens moulded the landscape and created the stream. Darren Howard supplied the estate fencing. An irrigation system was installed by Seth Crosswaite to keep the trees and roses watered: harvesting rainwater from the apple room’s roof and from little ‘baths’ that have been formed round each tree. Jon Dodson advised us on the many roses (over 100!) that have been planted with the labels made by Gail Norris. Andy Phillips has created the moss garden. Rodney Malcomber all the joinery-painted by Tony Marsh, and Debbie Spiers painted the gate on the bridge. The stone Lantern came all the way from Japan via a collector in the Netherlands and artist Fred Clark has made the statues of the Goat and Deer. Kevin Barnett, Leslie Lloyd, Lynda Middleton and Catherine Tarrant are doing an incredible job of maintaining the new garden with volunteers Jonathan Henton and Peter Hughes. Heavy moving of stone and statues has been done by Sean Waters and Kevin Leader, and the Purbeck setts laid by Seth Crosswaite. The beautiful ribbons for the Wishing Tree have been made by Gill Richards.
We have dedicated the yew hedge, comprised of 170 plants, to the Queen’s Green Canopy ‘Plant a Tree for the Jubilee’ celebrations.
The Oriental Garden can be visited as part of the garden admission. The gardens are open daily from 10am – 5pm until 30th September 2023.
Tickets are available to purchase here with an online saving.
