‘The Lookout ‘ opens its gardens this month as part of The National Garden Scheme, which raises millions each year for charities including Marie Curie, Macmillan Cancer Support and Help The Hospices. It is open on Sunday 5th June, from 2.00 pm to 6.00 pm.
On BBC & ITV Gardening programmes and in national magazines, this 2 acre, wildlife friendly garden sits with its toes in the water close to the mouth of the Exe Estuary. This vast tidal area, famous for its birdlife, is designated an Area Of Outstanding Natural Beauty, an International Ramsar site and National Nature Reserve. Tucked away on the eastern edge of the picturesque and historic fishing village of Lympstone, The Lookout occupies what used to be the derelict 1920s-built mussel purification station.
The site has undergone an incredible transformation in recent years. Its garden designer owner has endeavoured to make the house disappear back into the estuary bank, landscaping with natural materials and including numerous indigenous species in the planting scheme.
Beachcombing finds compliment the relaxed naturalistic seaside planting, designed to harmonise the garden with its coast and countryside surroundings. Quirky driftwood sculptures and maritime artefacts sit amongst hummocky drifts of planting to evoke the nearby sand dunes and give that washed up from the beach feel. Over 200 varieties of carefully selected plants, sea trialled for their salt and wind tolerance, enjoy the challenges of coastal living!
A short circular walk leads you from an area of jungly planting, past banks of ornamental grasses, along the wild flower meadow’s mown paths, past a pond into a fern-filled copse and then back through wilder shore-side planting to a Mediterranean-style courtyard garden. Take your time… there are numerous places to stop and enjoy the extensive views and estuary birdlife, and take in the salty air.
To arrange a visit please at other times of the year, contact Jackie Michelmore on 07866 580471 or email jm@lookoutlandscapes.co.uk
