Visiting the garden at Baddesley Clinton

Spring in the Walled Garden, Baddesley Clinton, Warwickshire — Spring in the Walled Garden | © National Trust/Abi Chandler

Over the years the garden at Baddesley has evolved into a mix of pleasure and production, with new areas being added all the time. Explore the woodland, walk around the lake or simply find a quiet seat and relax. The formal walled garden, with flower borders and fruit trees, makes a lovely contrast to the nature trail through the woods and around the fish pools.

The gardens in spring

Lift your spirits and enjoy the delights of spring in the garden. From beds of colourful tulips to delicate apple blossom, our gardens are finally shaking off those winter blues.

One of the first spring flowers here at Baddesley are the primroses that grow in clusters along the banks. The damp shady conditions are perfect for primroses where they grow in small clusters.

The Primulas found in the wildflower meadow are especially lovely in spring, not only providing delightful colour but also cover and food for wildlife.

Daffodils are the cheeriest of spring bulbs with their bright colours and can be seen in swathes all around the grounds but look particularly lovely along the Church Walk. Early spring also brings displays of Iris Reticulata in the walled garden, where over 2000 bulbs have been planted.

As the weather warms and days begin to lengthen, carpets of woodland bluebells, especially along Church Walk, create a magical sight.

Take a gentle stroll in the walled garden or the orchard and be greeted with the delightful sight of a variety of trees in blossom.

Our gardening team look forward to seeing the fruits of their winter labour in the gardens in the spring. 3000 mixed tulips, hyacinths and narcissi have been planted in the annual border and promise an impressive spring show and will be at their best in April and May. Hellebores and Muscari are also among the many spring attractions.

In late spring take a wander into the courtyard where the wisteria is a magnificent sight with its lovely trailing scented blooms.

A clump of snowdrops shot at a low angle, set amid green grass and crisp brown leaves. Slightly damp from recent rain. — Snowdrops are always one of the first signs of spring | © National Trust Images/Annapurna Mellor

Snowdrops at Baddesley

Flowering snowdrops are traditionally seen to herald the end of winter and the garden team are planting a snowdrop wood in the historic garden this winter.

With thanks to the Southeast Staffordshire National Trust Association, staff and volunteers are embarking on a 10-year project to create carpets of the native winter flower in the woodland area of the garden. This will obviously take time to mature, but there is always a beautiful display in the churchyard just a short stroll away.

According to legend, the snowdrop became the symbol of hope when Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden. When Eve was about to give up hope that the cold winters would never end, an angel appeared and transformed some of the snowflakes into snowdrop flowers. Each year when the snowdrops push up through hard soil and even snow they prove that even the harshest winters do eventually give way to the spring.

The Courtyard Garden

Created in 1889, the Courtyard Garden is home to yews, lawns and brick paths that have little changed since creation. The main charge of the Ferrers’ arms (seven mascles, or lozenges) is laid out on the lawn and is planted in its gold and red heraldic colours. During the summer months hanging wisteria fills the courtyard with its heady scent.

The vegetable garden

Originally the medieval residents of Baddesley Clinton would have used the garden to provide food, with stewponds as a source of fresh fish. Nowadays gardeners work hard year-round to grow vegetables and herbs.

Over the winter of 2017-18 the team undertook the mammoth task of moving the vegetable garden from its old position, which had problems and wasn’t in the right place, to a new area which historical research revealed was the original site – much closer to the house and a much better place for a vegetable garden.

It’s now home to a new cut-flower border where the team are growing beautiful blooms to decorate the house, with some to be dried for decorations.

Daffodils at Baddesley Clinton, Warwickshire — The garden will be full of spring colour | © National Trust/Ellie Wilmer

The walled garden

The walled garden was created in the early 18th century as an enclosed formal garden on the sunnier side of the house. Little survives of any early planting, as much of the garden was simplified from the 1920s onwards, but watercolours from 1915 show a traditional flower garden was in place. In the 1980s the sundial and formal rose beds around it were re-introduced and the traditional apple trees were planted.

The lake

In many ways the development of the lakeside walk is similar to that of the garden, from utilitarian beginnings to modest pleasure grounds. The great pool which forms part of the lakeside walk is thought to have once been a millpond, and also part of the fish-stocking process, alongside the medieval stewpond.