On a balmy Autumn afternoon, nine members of the garden club met at Chevithorne Barton, a late Elizabethan Manor House near Tiverton, for a tour of the gardens and the inspired woodland of rare trees and shrubs.  Bought by the Amory family in the early twentieth century, the gardens and woodland were developed by Mary Amory after the death of her husband in WW1. Their descendants still live in the Barton and continue to preserve and develop the gardens and the National Collection of Quercus. 

 

Our tour guide was Head Gardener Greg Watson who curates the garden and Quercus collection. He took us on a fascinating two hour tour, introducing us to the many different types of oaks of which they have over 200 varieties from all over the world (there are over 400 species world-wide). We are all familiar with the English oak leaf, but we were surprised to find that the shape of leaves of different species can look completely different, some being more like sweet chestnuts or beeches.  The recent dry and hot summers have of course stressed the trees and Greg identified for us those that were doing better, the most resilient being the oaks native to Iran. He is continuing to plant and diversify the collection with this in mind.

 

Greg’s knowledge and passion for trees made for a wonderful and absorbing visit. The afternoon was rounded off by tea and cake on the lawn near the house. No doubt some of us will return to see the Spring delights of their bluebell walks, handkerchief trees, the enormous tulip tree and their large collection of magnolias, camellias and rhododendrons when they open their garden and woodland for the National Garden Scheme.