Himalayan Garden

This area lies immediately to the east of the entrance path to the Bear Pit, and is a sunlit, south-facing slope sheltered by Birch Hill.

This Garden extends across the path to the Bear Pit where a gorgeous hybrid Rhododendron x loderi ‘King George’, derived from a Himalayan specimen can be found, as well as a very large ‘Christmas Cheer’. 

The top of the site is dominated by a large beech tree,  a small stand of Tsuga heterophylla (Western hemlock) and sprawling masses of spotted laurel and common yew. Most of the plantings are derived from wild seed collected on a series of Himalayan expeditions by Chris Chadwell, a modern day plant collector who opened the Garden in June 2014.  It is probably the only Himalayan garden of its kind in the United Kingdom. 

  • Androsace sarmentosa May 2014

  • Bear Pit September 2015

  • Rhododendron ‘Christmas Cheer’ March 2022

  • Himalayan Garden May 2014

  • Potentilla atrosanguinea May 2014

  • Rhododendron ‘Christmas Cheer’ March 2015

Berberis, Iris and Rosa have all been particularly successful in the open areas.

Androsace and Potentilla hug the ground and their flowers provide early spring colour, while Lilium nepalense follows in the summer with its striking dark-centred flowers. Hypericum, Morina and Neillia are well established.

Dryopteris wallichiana and Indigofera heterantha flourish in the damper slopes close to the Bear Pit.

Other plants include Artemisia roxberghiana, Inula racemosa, Boenninghausenia albiflora, Iris kamaonensis, Neillia thryrsiflora, Corydalis chaerophylla, Piptanthus nepalensis, Cotoneaster schlechtendalii, Rosa brunonii, Selinum wallichianum, Eryngium biebersteinianum, Sibbaldia cuneata, Gentiana tibetica, Spirea canescens, Hypericum uralum, Wullfenia amberstiana.