
When Margaret Nettlefold planned the garden at Winterbourne, daughter Valerie revealed that her mother ‘lived with gardening books for a year or so’. Here, the influence of Gertrude Jekyll is inescapable. Winterbourne is filled with Jekyllian detail inspired by her 1899 classic Wood and Garden. Each month, we follow in Margaret’s footsteps to see how…

Jeni Neale is a former knitwear designer with a passion for watercolour. Now living in Warwickshire, she tutors classes for adults on all aspects of botanical art and regularly exhibits her paintings. This year, Jeni has led a series of workshops at Winterbourne painting plant material collected from the garden. We asked Jeni to tell…

When Margaret Nettlefold planned the garden at Winterbourne, daughter Valerie revealed that her mother ‘lived with gardening books for a year or so’. Here, the influence of Gertrude Jekyll is inescapable. Winterbourne is filled with Jekyllian detail inspired by her 1899 classic Wood and Garden. Each month, we follow in Margaret’s footsteps to see how…

Do it: prune wall trained fruit Step 1 Wall trained or growth restricted fruit trees such as espalier, fan and cordon trained apples, pears and plums should be pruned in late summer exposing ripening fruit to additional light and air. Pruning should only take place once the bottom third of the current year’s growth has…

Jo Gooding is a Birmingham-based photographer with an eye for detail, subtle shades and tones. A former exhibiter in our own Coach House Gallery, Jo is also a Project Support Officer for the University of Birmingham where, in between a busy work schedule, she makes time to indulge her passion for plants at Winterbourne. We…