Visit: Forest Lodge, Pen Selwood

By kind permission of Mr and Mrs James Nelson.

Forest Lodge didn't really have a garden when Lucy and James Nelson bought the house in 1996.  They set about deer fencing and creating a lake and then tackled the difficult and expensive business of hard landscaping the south west facing slope, which looks towards the Blackmore Vale.  Lucy was helped by Michelle Prior and they based their plans loosely on some of the Arts & Crafts gardens created by Lutyens and Jekyll, especially Hestercombe in Somerset, which is such an inspiration.  Gradually the planting plans emerged and the more formal borders around the house were planted up with many David Austin roses and underplanted with bulbs salvias, lilies and lavender.  Some of this has changed over the years and the orchard full of malus huphensis has taken over, but the garden meanders down a slope and you can walk under the lake which is carpeted with bluebells and wild garlic in spring.  The garden works hard throughout the year, starting with Hamamelis in January, followed by huge mounds of camellias and magnolias all the way through till May and the summer season of roses and hydrangea and out the other side with dahlias and ending up in October with camellia sasanqua.  Lucy is helped by the patient and hardworking Amanda Fowler without whose help none of this would be possible.