Explore the garden at Coughton Court

Winter garden

The winter season has started early this year with frost, snow and floods.

Winter is here but neither nature or the gardeners stop, find out what we get up to during the closed winter months... 
The gardens here at Coughton are beautiful throughout the seasons and highlights include the variety of roses, daffodils around the lake and the plentiful vegetable garden, orchard and bog garden.    Throughout the winter there are lots of preparations going on for the following seasons. Whilst the plants and flowers sleep waiting for the spring, other parts of the garden come into their own.

The gardens are full of birds which have stayed behind for the winter and some shrubs which go unnoticed during the summer season take centre stage when they drop their leaves in winter and the colour of their branches shines out along the pathways.
Along the riverside walk the catkins on the hazels are preparing themselves for spring and the lake is often full of shimmering reflections or transforms into a sheet of ice on particularly cold days. You may even be lucky enough to see the otters that have just moved in.
Beneath the trees and buried within the borders thousands of bulbs lie in wait for the warmer months but a few spring to life during the cold season such as winter irises, hellebores and cyclamen.
Some of the plants, such as our phillyrea in the courtyard, are tender and have to have special attention during winter to protect them from the frosts so they are wrapped up well.
After we close for the winter it's a very busy time for the gardeners and a good time to carry out works ready for when we re-open in the spring. The herbaceous borders which look so good through the summer and autumn are now looking a little bare as the plants are cut back and mulched to protect them overwinter to burst up again in the spring.
 

An award-winning rose garden 

The Throckmorton family rose garden at Coughton Court is recognised as one of the finest in the world and received the Award of Garden Excellence from The World Federation of Rose Societies in 2006 – the first British garden to have done so. 

The gardens boast over 200 varieties of roses with a large selection of rambling and climbing roses, including Damasks, Albas, Teas and Noisettes, all releasing a delicate fragrance. These are found not just in the labyrinth but in many other areas as well.

Explore the orchard

Meander through the orchard and see if you can identify the quince, plum, gage, medlar, damson, cherry and of course apples trees. The best time to visit is either in the spring for the beautiful blossom, or the autumn for the bountiful fruit. 

The orchards are comparatively young but contain lots of old varieties. There are two orchards either side of the vegetable garden. The hedge on one side of the vegetable garden consists of apple trees being trained into a diamond formation. 

A productive vegetable garden 

Step into the veg patch and see what you can spot. It might even give you some inspiration to start your own patch at home. 

Visit the bog garden 

Fed by fresh water from the spring, the bog garden is home to Gunnera the size of elephant ears, Hostas and the unusually named skunk cabbage. There are lots of ferns which look amazing when they are unfurling in the spring. It’s bursting with life from April to September. 

Water features to spot

There are several water features here at Coughton including the expansive Westminster pool, the symmetrical courtyard quatrefoil pool, the marshy bog garden, the River Arrow, the weir stream and the tranquil pool garden set within the walled garden. Take a look at the centre piece of the water feature in the walled garden which has been specially manufactured to match the previous one which had detiorated beyond repair. 

Wildlife to spot at Coughton 

Due to the variety of habitats, from woodland to meadow, river to lake and the mature trees dispersed around the well-maintained grounds, the diversity of wildlife at Coughton Court is fantastic. 

The ranger and garden teams work hard all year to create habitats where wildlife can thrive. Thanks to their efforts the parkland and gardens are overflowing with wildlife, especially during the summer months, from bees enjoying the nectar, swallows returning for the warmer months and butterflies fluttering through the walled garden. 

Swans

The swans have hatched some cygnets which you may see as you walk around the pool and the bog garden. They grow up very quickly but will be around for a while before they learn to fly.

Woodland wildlife

Over in the bluebell wood there's a variety of animals and wildflowers, including cow parsley lining the pathways and birds calling from above. If you're lucky you may even spot some roe and fallow deer as well as lots of squirrels and insects hiding under fallen branches. 

As you wander through the woodland listen out for the tapping of a great spotted woodpecker hollowing out a tree ready to be used to raise their young. Here at Coughton you can spot birds of all shapes and sizes, from blue tits and nuthatches to buzzards and herons. There are also swallows nesting in a variety of places. 

Waterside wildlife

Around the lake and riverside, spot the ducklings and goslings as they grow throughout the summer months. If you're very lucky you'll spot the distinctive flash of blue of a kingfisher as they shoot across the top of the water. 

The cygnets of Spring are now almost as big as the adults. Next year they will shed their feathers and the new ones will be white like their their parents.