Denmans Plants

Describes plants found in Denmans Garden

There is something about the garden at Denmans which is quite unlike any other in Britain, for its display is not only to do with flower colour, but foliage form, textures and, of course, as it moves to autumn, with foliage colour as well.

Although the garden is only four acres in size, its layout is such that the visitor enjoys many small areas within the overall, for it is punctuated with pieces of statuary, a well designed pot or a warm sitting corner. In fact, it is a garden full of ideas to take home, and which can then be interpreted within smaller garden spaces.

One of the most interesting features in the garden is the use of gravel. It is used both to walk on and as a growing medium so that you progress through the plantings rather than past them. It creates a casual, jungly effect, particularly in the walled garden, whilst allowing the plants to develop naturally.

And to cut down on the labour of constantly mowing the grass to one length, much of it is left longer and is cut monthly with a rotary mower, though with meandering mown paths through it, cut down each week.

The effect is of a tamed wilderness, and the organic patterns this creates combine with the random growth of plant material through gravel to create a thoroughly relaxed and very different mood.

At the bottom of the garden there is a large natural-looking pond which a family of moorhens has taken over. Early in the year the chicks bob in a line across it like wind-up toys.

Denmans was the garden to a country house, so there is a walled garden containing a recently introduced herb garden, a newly refurbished conservatory- now alive with the chatter of budgerigars, and a larger area for frost-tender plants.

And if that isn't enough, The Garden Café is available for morning coffee, lunches, afternoon teas and is fully licensed so you can enjoy a glass of wine with your meal. There is also a Gift Shop selling a range of exclusive gift items and a beautiful Plant Centre selling a variety of perennials, shrubs, pots and statuatory.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Aldingbourne is a mixed rural and residential civil parish in the Arun district of West Sussex, England. It is centred 4 miles (6.4 km) north of Bognor Regis and 4 miles (6.4 km) east of Chichester.

The parish, named for the small village of Aldingbourne, also contains the much larger settlement of Westergate, as well as smaller settlements Norton, Nyton, Woodgate and Lidsey.

The developed south and east of the parish is on fertile soil 7-15 metres above sea level, whereas north of the A27 road at the foot of the South Downs National Park the land reaches 37 metres in altitude. Eartham is the neighbouring parish to the north which reaches 223m above sea level on the wooded escarpment which is visible from some second storeys and looking up lanes of Aldingbourne.

History

First documented in 683AD as Aldingburne, then 200 years later as Ealdingburnan, the name describes a stream or bourne (now known as Aldingbourne Rife) belonging to Ealda, a Saxon settler.

The Anglican parish church is named St. Mary. According to Sussex Notes and Queries, the history of the church building "is not clear". Different parts of the church date from both the twelfth and thirteenth century, with the chancel having been built in the thirteenth century. Later additions include a porch dating from the seventeenth century and an organ chamber that was "wholly modern" in 1944.

Economy

Agriculture occupies most of the land use and is a major employer. Other key industries include food and hospitality, general retail, the public sector, care, science and automotive-related careers.

Education

Ormiston Six Villages Academy is the main secondary school for the parish and surrounding area. If was formerly called Westergate Community School.

Sports

The parish is home to Fontwell Park Racecourse, a venue in horse racing and Denmans Gardens which specialises in exotic and unusual plants. Fontwell Park has a compact figure-of-eight chase course and an oval hurdles course.