Located in the small backyard of a family-owned property in Wallsall,
England, is one of the most incredible-looking gardens in the world.
The Four Seasons Garden may not be as large as other famous English gardens you may have visited, but it certainly makes up in beauty and charm.
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| Photo © Four Seasons Garden |
There are hundreds, probably thousands of breathtaking gardens all
over Europe, but most of them were designed and looked-after by teams of
professional gardeners, at a considerable cost. The Four Seasons Garden,
created by self-taught gardeners Tony and Marie Newton, started out as a
hobby, but slowly grew into one of the most popular suburban gardens
in Britain. 20 years ago, the couple from West Midlands decided to
transform their traditional garden into a stunning display of creative
gardening. Tony hated weeding, but loved building things, while his wife
Marie just loved plants, so together they set out to create Four
Seasons, their version of the ideal backyard garden.
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| Photo © Four Seasons Garden |
Since they started their labor of love, the Newtons managed to squeeze
over 3,000 plants into a small 180 x 55ft space, creating a mind-blowing
array of colors throughout the four yearly seasons. The Four Seasons
Garden includes over 200 acers, 350 azaleas, a variety of conifers and
shrubs, as well as exotic elements like tree ferns, palms, bamboos and
banana plants. In the last 20 years, Tony and Marie totally
re-landscaped and re-planted the entire garden themselves, in their
quest to create an outdoor family living space that would be exciting in
all four seasons. They won their battles with weeds, created all the
pathways, as well as three water features, including a cascading 17
metre stream, and even a big oriental pagoda.
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| Photo © Four Seasons Garden |
But maintaining a beautiful garden like the Four Seasons is no easy
task, especially with unpredictable weather like this year, but the
Newtons go to great lengths to make sure their plants survive in any
conditions. This year’s late frost was a big concern, so to protect the
plant life Tony and Marie ended up using anything from specialist
material like horticultural fleece to tablecloths and plastic bags.
Their efforts paid off as they managed to save all their plants.
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| Photo © Four Seasons Garden |
This year, the Four Seasons Garden, in Walsall, was open for visits on
Sunday, June 10th, and will open its gates to visitors again, on Sunday,
August 5th. The entrance fee is £3 ($4.60), and the proceeds go to the
National Gardening Scheme charity. In all the years that the Four
Seasons has been opened for visits, the Newtons have raised over £20,000
($31,000) for charity.
For more incredible photos of the Four Seasons Garden throughout the year, and pics of how it came to be, check out the Flickr stream Tony and Marie Newton set up. There are thousands of photos waiting to be discovered.
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