The 12 acre hillside garden and visitor attraction The Dorothy Clive Garden in Staffordshire is now open to groups all year round.
Groups can also now arrange to have exclusive access to the garden on any week day between October and March.
There’s allocated coach parking, special discounted group rates, private guided tours, afternoon teas and private eating/meeting facilities at the gardens.
In the grounds there is a laburnum arch, an alpine scree with pool, a rose walk, edible woodland, seasonal borders and rhododendron filled woodland with a waterfall.
New areas that have been landscaped and developed in the last five years under management of the new curator include a royal botanic glasshouse with Mediterranean planting, edible woodland, a winter garden, rose garden, tropical borders and an orchard.
It is recommended that groups spend approximately three hours at the garden to see all 12 acres and attractions and to also enjoy afternoon tea or lunch.
History of the garden
In 1940, Colonel Clive decided to create a series of walks in a disused and overgrown quarry for his wife Dorothy, who was suffering from Parkinson’s disease at the time.
Throughout the 1940s and 1950s, a collection of diverse woodland plants were planted and the quarry garden was created.
The garden was then officially set up in 1958 by Colonel Harry Clive in memory of his wife Dorothy.
It had been subsequently managed, developed and enhanced to include a wide variety of stimulating landscaped areas and special features such as a larger woodland quarry with a waterfall and sculpture, a pond and alpine scree, colourful herbaceous borders, laburnum tunnel and spacious garden paddocks.
Nearby in Market Drayton
If groups should find their afternoon free after a trip to Dorothy Clive, there’s also plenty of things to do nearby.
Wollerton Old Hall Garden is just a four acre garden but has been popular since it opened in 1984. It’s set around a 16th century Hall House and has developed into a modern garden in the English garden tradition, with echoes of arts and crafts.
There’s also Woodseaves Miniature Railway nearby, which was launched in 2003 featuring around 275 yards of track. A further route was added in 2008, extending the track to 400 yards.
For more information visit www.dorothyclivegarden.co.uk.
