Explore the garden at The Firs

Visitors in the garden at The Firs, Worcestershire — Visitors in the garden at The Firs | © National Trust Images/Chris Lacey

The classic cottage garden at The Firs offers a place to sit and relax, with colourful borders throughout the year, a fruitful orchard and views of Elgar’s beloved Malverns. Explore the Sound Garden and fill the air with music or take a seat and have a quiet moment in Elgar’s summerhouse.

A classic cottage garden

The garden at Elgar’s birthplace is planted in the classic cottage garden style. After opening the birthplace to the public in the 1930s, Carice, Elgar’s daughter, had the garden redesigned, using a painting by John Chessell Buckler as her inspiration.

Painted in 1856, only a year before Edward Elgar was born in the cottage, the painting shows the garden with an arch, standard roses near the house and two central paths, all of which are still here today.

Visitors sitting on a bench in the garden at The Firs, Worcestershire, in autumn — Roses | © National Trust Images/Chris Lacey

The garden in winter

Winter is full of blustery, damp days where the leaves are being blown to the ground and the rustling sound of talking trees in the woodland ceases until the spring. There is still colour and joy to be found in the garden in the winter months. Mahonia x media ‘Charity’ is in full bloom, a handsome addition to the garden at this time of year – its scented flowers and evergreen leaves are a delight.

Look out for the wonderful collection of winter berries which will help to feed the wildlife over the winter months. There are bunches of mistletoe flushed with fat white berries and clusters of ivy, holly and pyracantha berries just waiting to be gobbled up on a cold winter's morning, when all other food may be scarce.

The brightly coloured polyanthus stand out against a garden in slumber and lead along the gravel pathway to where the hellebores and heather are in full bloom. The woodland walk is quiet with a hedgehog house and bug hotels ready for residents to occupy them for the winter hibernation season and wait for the spring sun to awaken them.

The orchard

Though relatively small, the orchard at The Firs holds over 60 trees including a wide variety of cooking, eating, and cider apples, as well as a few pear trees including the famous Worcester Black pears.

The orchard grass is managed closely and only mown when necessary. The grass is left to go to flower and seed over the whole season, this enables a range of wildflowers to cultivate including three species of wild orchids. This wonderful environment encourages birds, bees and butterflies to visit each day to feast on the nectar within.

Visitor in the garden sitting next to statue of Edward Elgar at The Firs, Worcestershire — Visitor in the garden sitting next to statue of Edward Elgar at The Firs | © National Trust Images/Trevor Ray Hart

The Sound Garden

Whatever the weather you can make some noise in the outdoor Sound Garden. From ‘Three Blind Mice’ to ‘Pomp and Circumstance’ the dulcet, and perhaps not so dulcet, tones pervade the air around The Firs.

Choose between the three large instruments that wind around the pagoda. There is a vertical xylophone, hammock xylophone and a metallic swirl to create thousands of tunes. Just add your imagination.

Built in 2012 to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and made out of recycled materials these wonderful wooden instruments not only decorate the garden but give The Firs the right atmosphere which may just inspire the next musical genius. Come and fill the air with music.

Woodland area

A short walk from the sound garden, the woodland area allows you to see a wide variety of habitat areas for birds, small animals such as mice, rabbits and hedgehogs plus an array of insects, crickets, slugs and beetles.

Take a moment to sit on the log seats and listen to the birch trees as they sway and rustle their leaves above.