June 2025 hurtled past in what seemed to me a blizzard of NGS Garden Ferns Lodge openings: our Saturday and Sunday openings on the 14th and 15th, a private opening for the Bartley Horticultural Society on the 17th, and another for the Forest Ramblers on the 27th – all for the NGS.
We raised over £2,600 – beating our number in 2024 – and I am exhausted! Ghillie slept through most of it, but of course he is worn out too, and has returned to his favourite place beneath the big yew tree in the top garden to recover…
Thank you so much to the many people who helped on the days – baked cakes, made marmalade, wrestled with plant sales (I am beyond hopeless with names and prices!) – and provided plenty of moral support.
Also, thank you to the higher power who arranged sunshine for practically the whole time (if you could now manage some rainfall, that would be amazing!).
To Karen, Marnie and Anne for baking; Isabel, who took the money (and baked!); Helen, who was on money too; and Barbara, who dealt with plants, made marmalade, and baked cakes as well…
To Charles, our superior car park (field) attendant, and to Cameron and his horses, who made way for us on the days.
Also to Sue, who was Kitchen General for all the openings; to Adele (who also made cakes); and to Susan and Amelie, who made tea and coped brilliantly in the kitchen.
To Michael, who priced and sold plants, as well as to Corinne; to Harry, for taking videos and explaining what was happening to our bees; and to Ben, for ferrying tables around and being in charge of putting up and making swings.
And of course to my wonderful gardener, Simon – who was everywhere, worked on everything, and ignored my panicking.
And, as with all the posts, to Lawrence – who makes them make sense…
And also to all the lovely people who visited, were so kind about the garden, ate cake, drank tea, and bought plants.
Without you, we look very ordinary…!
So now, the furniture is back in its usual places, the alarming-looking urn is back in storage for another year, and the place has settled into its normal rhythm. We’re back to the business of gardening – and trying to cope with this ferociously dry weather.
In a week or so, Dan will be back with his machinery to make sense of the middle part of the garden. Then we’ll build a wonderful, sculptural mound with planting all around – I can’t wait!
We’ve moved from spring to summer in a heartbeat, and we’ll be into autumn before we know it. The vegetables are maturing, and the battle to persuade the deer not to feast on our new planting continues.
Living here and gardening this old place is a joy – so thank you for visiting in June, and for sharing it with us.
Contact sue.grant@fernslodge.co.uk.